Puy-de-Dôme: what to see and do

Les Roches Tuilière et de Sanadoire

In the deep, wooded cirque of the Chausse, two great monoliths spring up, the Tuilière and Sanadoire rocks.

Cascade de Queureuilh

A few minutes from Queureuilh, a suburb north of Le Mont-Dore: a waterfall over basalt organ pipes.

Clermont-Ferrand

Historic capital of Auvergne, whose Gothic cathedral in black Volvic stone dominates the city born from the merger of two rival towns.

Le Lac Pavin

Due to a powerful volcanic explosion, Lac Pavin is a crater lake carved on the north flank of the Puy de Montchal (1,411 m).

Le Puy de Dôme

The Puy de Dôme is a dormant volcano of the Chaîne des Puys, in the Massif Central. It is about fifteen kilometres from Clermont-Ferrand and gave its name to the Puy-de-Dôme département.

Le Puy de la Vache

The Puy de la Vache and Lassolas are two twin volcanoes with breached craters. Fluid lava flows carried away half of the craters.

Pyramides - Vallée des Saints

The Valley of the Saints, an Auvergne mini-Colorado, owes its name to its great penitents (10 to 30 m high!) that emerge from the vegetation – the clash of materials and colours is striking.

Tourbière de la Plaine Jacquot

At the place called La Godivelle (Lac d'en Bas). A discovery trail lets you discover the fauna and flora of one of the most interesting peat bogs in Auvergne.

Agrivap Train Touristique

Besse Super Besse

Cascade de Pérouse

In the nature reserve of the Chaudefour valley, the Pérouse waterfall attracts many hikers and park visitors.

Cascade de la Barthe

The Barthe waterfall, ideal for cooling off, originated in erosion. The Neuffonds stream tumbles in a cascade over the front of the lava flow eroded by time.

Cascade des Essarts

In the heart of the Chastreix-Sancy nature reserve, the Essarts waterfall is discovered at the end of a family hike of about an hour and a half, a loop from the village church.

Cascade du Creux Saillant

The Creux Saillant waterfall is in the pretty Credogne valley (wild, enclosed valley, ravine forests, oak coppices on the slopes, beeches on the valley floor).

Cascade du Crève Coeur

The Crève Cœur waterfall flows on the Burande stream, in the Puy-de-Dôme, where it actually forms a succession of discreet and spectacular falls over nearly two kilometres for about 200 metres of drop.

Cascade du Saut du Loup

The Saut du Loup waterfall is in the commune of Le Mont-Dore, in the Puy-de-Dôme, at the end of the Ronde des Cascades, a forest route that also links the Queureuilh and Rossignolet waterfalls from the landscaped cemetery car park.

Cascade du ruisseau des Mortes du Guéry

The Mortes de Guéry stream, which rises on the slopes of the Puy Gros in the Puy-de-Dôme, feeds Lac de Guéry, the highest natural lake in Auvergne at 1,244 metres' altitude.

Cascades de Chiloza

Cascades de la Vernière

At the east exit of La Bourboule, in the Puy-de-Dôme, the Cliergue stream forms two successive falls: the Vernière waterfall and the Plat à Barbe, about ten metres high.

Château d'Aulteribe

Château d'Effiat

An exceptional residence for the region as much by its style and setting as by its history.

Château de Busséol

Château de Chazeron

In the Middle Ages the castle was a simple wooden military fortress, benefiting from a strategic position on the Chazeron hill (next to Châtelguyon).

Château de Cordès

Château de Murol

Built on a basalt cone, the castle overlooks the surroundings. Built in the thirteenth century, the fortress belonged to the Murol and Estaing families. It remains one of the finest medieval ruins in Auvergne.

Château de Parentignat

Château de Randan

Château de Ravel

The construction of this vast fortress, a royal property, goes back to 1147 and that of its gardens to the eighteenth century.

Château de Saint-Saturnin

Château de Tournoël

Château de Villemont

Château de Villeneuve-Lembron

Château de Viverols

Château de la Batisse

Château de la Faye

Château de la Roche Aigueperse

Château-Dauphin

Château-Rocher

Gorges d'Enval

Gorges et site de Montfermy

Grotte de la Pierre de Volvic

Grotte des Fées

Grottes du Cornadore

L'Aventure Michelin

Set off for the Michelin Adventure!

La Cascade de Vaucoux ou d'Anglard

The Vaucoux or Anglard waterfall is about 3 km from Besse on the Compains road.

La Cascade de la Biche

This waterfall of about thirty metres is in the heart of the Chaudefour valley nature reserve, an ancient glacial cirque of the Sancy massif, in the commune of Chambon-sur-Lac.

La Cascade du Rossignolet

The Rossignolet waterfall is a limestone concretion. This waterfall pours the water of the Ruisseau de l'Enfer, then joins the Dordogne.

La Grande Cascade du Mont-Dore

The Grande Cascade rises on the wind-swept plateau of the Durbise at 1,450 m altitude.