AUVERGNE-RHÔNE-ALPES

The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region located in the center of France has 12 departments. Its capital is the city of Lyon.

The French administrative region brings together the former cultural and historical regions Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes.

The distance between Paris and Lyon is : 466 km

​

Sitting on a fire for 25 million years, the former Auvergne region & its 80 volcanoes has worked to preserve its natural wealth & its wide open spaces.

​

The chain of volcanoes & the Bourbon mountains thus provide a bucolic and sporting change of scenery of the first order. Assets to which are added the spa tradition, the many casinos and the still very vivid traces of Romanesque and fortified architecture.

Lyon, a city very well served, reflects the country of gastronomy in its Lyonnais figure Paul Bocuse, with tastings of more than forty wines & dozens of cheeses...

​

The region also has one of the largest equipped ski areas in the world; with over 200 winter sports resorts & thousands of hectares of lakes and whitewater.

The Isère, the Dranse or the gorges of the Ardèche, places of predilection for water sports, are all majestic sites giving stays an invigorating and sporty tone.

​

 

MAIN TOWNS

​

• Mills (Allier)

• Montlucon (Allier)

• Vichy (Allier)

• Clermont-Ferrand (Puy de Dome)

• Issoire (Puy-de-Dome)

• Aurillac (Cantal)

• Saint-Flour (Cantal)

• Le Puy-en-Velay (Haute-Loire)

• Bourg-en-Bresse (Ain)

• Privas (Ardeche)

• Aubenas (Ardeche)

• Valence (Drome)

• Montelimar (Drome)

• Thonon-les-Bains (Haute-Savoie)

• Annecy (Haute-Savoie)

• Chamonix (Haute-Savoie)

• Grenoble (Isere)

• Vienna (Isere)

• St-Etienne (Loire)

• Rouanne (Loire)

• Lyon (Rhone)

• Villefranche-sur-Saone (Rhone)

• Chambery (Savoie)

• Albertville (Savoy)

​

​

CURIOSITIES & ESSENTIALS

​

VICHY & ITS SURROUNDINGS

• Discovery of the Bourbon mountains

​

MONTLUÇON & ITS SURROUNDINGS

• Walk in the forest, discovery of the Cher gorges

​

CLERMONT-FERRAND & ITS SURROUNDINGS

• Discovery of the volcanoes of Auvergne

 

AIN 

• Ornithology park in Villars-les-Dombes

• Allymes Castle in Ambrieu-en-Bugey

• Ambronay Abbey

• Authentic village of Pérouges

​

ARDECHE 

• Gorges of Labeaume

• Ardèche Gorges (Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc cave exhibition)

• Vine & Wine Museum in Ruoms

• Le Pradel (Olivier de Serre estate)

• Coiron plateau

• To discover: castles, wine cellars, tourist train

• Towns & Villages : Vogüé, Ruoms, Largentière, Aven d'Orgnac, Labeaume, Aubenas, Vallon-Pont-d'Arc

​

DROME

• Crocodile farm in Pierrelatte

• Circus of Combe-Laval

• Chateau de Grignan in Valréas

• Authentic villages: La Garde-Adhémar, Mirmande, Montbrun-les-Bains…

​

  

• Discovery of the cities of Annecy by horse-drawn carriage, Evian, Thonon-les-Bains

• Chamonix & Mont Blanc website

• Lake Geneva, Lake Annecy

• Visit of the Evian bottling plant

• Abbeys

• Horseshoe Circus

• Rouget Waterfall, Pleureuse Waterfall and Savefaz Waterfall

• Tines Gorge

• Many hiking trails

• Maison de la Réserve Naturelle de Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval (permanent and temporary exhibitions, model of the valley, stuffed animals)

• Castle of Allinges, Castle of Ripaille

• Cities: Geneva, Evian-les-Bains, Thonon-les-Bains, Nyon

• Authentic villages of: Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval, Yvoire, Nernier

• Possible extension to nearby Geneva for visits & shopping

​

ISERE

• Discovery of Grenoble

• Visit of the modern art museum of Grenoble (Picasso, Matisse, Magritte, Masson, Miro, Tanguy, Ernst & abstract art, American pop'art & conceptual art)

• The Abbey of St-Antoine (stonemason's workshop, departmental museum, medieval garden of the abbey)

• Monastery of Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse

• Bournillon caves & Choranche caves

​

SAVOY   

• Wine route in 4X4 or hot air balloon

• Visit of a Savoyard cellar with tasting of Apremont & Abîme wines…

​

MAIN ALPINE RESORTS

• La Plage

• Les Menuires

• Seizures

• Les Arcs, Chamonix

• Courchevel

• The 2 Alps

• Megeve

• Meribel

• Morzine Avoriaz

• Valley of Isere

​

THE LAKES REGION

• Aix les Bains / Lake Bourget

• Annecy / Lake Annecy

• Evian & Thonon les Bains / Lake Geneva

 

​

CULINARY SPECIALTIES

​

• Hotpot Auvergnate

• Stuffed Cabbage

• Pounti (made with chard leaves, bacon, onions and parsley)

• Aurillacoise truffade and aligot (mixture of cheese and mashed potatoes)

• Potato Dough

• Small savory with lentils

• apple pump

• Bresse poultry

• Lamb from Drôme

• Charolais beef

• Pork (sausage, andouillette, sausage, etc.)

• Freshwater fish (carp, pike, arctic char, trout)

• Cheeses (Tome de Cantal, Bleu d'Auvergne, Fourme d'Ambert or Saint Nectaire)

• Cheeses (Reblochon, Saint-Marcellin, Tomme de Savoie, Comté)

• Flognarde (custard)

• Clafouti with cherries

• Vichy and Volvic waters

• Various liquors

• Saint Pourçain wine

• Wines (Crus du Beaujolais (Brouilly, Morgon, Beaujolais Nouveau)

• Grands crus of Côtes du Rhône and wines of Savoie

​

 

ACTIVITIES

​

• hot air balloon

• Microlight flight

• Paragliding & hang-gliding baptisms

• Helicopter flight over the Mer de Glace

• Archery

• 18-hole golf course

• Sailboat

• Sailboard

• water skiing

• Canoe

• Rafting

• Canyoning

• Thalassotherapy & balneotherapy, hydrotherapy, algotherapy… 

• Escalation

• Potholing

• Cross-country & downhill skiing in winter

• Mountain hikes to meet the Chamois

• Snowshoe raid

• Snowmobiles

• Horseback riding & 4×4 excursions

• Ride in horse-drawn carriages, tram, donkey, mountain bike

 

​

REGIONAL PRODUCTS

​

• Basket of Vichy beauty products

• Gingham pastilles

• Thiers knife

• Glazed lava stone objects

• Auvergne fruit jellies

• Basket of Auvergne specialties

• Bernachon & Weiss chocolate liqueurs

• Honey, jams

• Bottles of Auvergne wine

• Bottles of Beaujolais

• Chartreuse liqueur

• Walnuts (confectionery)

• Photo books on the region

• Silk scarves & ties

​

 

EVENTS CALENDAR - ANNUAL

 

For information :

The news/region is being updated...

​

​