Hiking and Heritage on the Auvergne Volcanoes

Overnight in hotel

Arriving in Clermont-Ferrand, you will do the checking at your hotel.
If you arrive not too late, you can visit the centre of the city with his black cathedral build with lava stone.
Night at your hotel in Clermont-Ferrand.

Night in hotel or guest room / 13.5 km /Walking time 4.30 h / Elevation : +680 m /-550 m

In the morning, a short transfert by taxi* to the little village of Orcine, where you will start your hike. From Orcines, you join one of the finest cinder cones, the volcano Pariou, aged 8000 years. Then you’re going-up to the top of the Puy de Dome for a 360 ° view over the Puys before continuing to the small village of Lachamps.

Night at the cottage of Lachamps under the watchful eye of the giant dome.
(*) : Sundays and holidays, extra cost for taxi fare (see details further down).

Night in hotel or guest room / 16 km /Walking time 5 h / Elevation : +350 m /-454 m

A short climb on the lava flows brings you closer to twin volcanoes of "La Vache" and "Lassolas" among younger cinder cones of this alignment of more than 80 volcanoes ... You descend on the lava flows of the Strombolian volcanoes and continue your way between pastures and hamlets mountains to the small village of Orcival, known for its medieval basilica.
Night in hotel or guest room.

Night in hotel or guest room / 23 km /Walking time 6 h / Elevation : +660 m /-653 m

In the morning, you join Servière and its small crater lake, nestled in lush lava. Its clear waters invite you to refresh. You continue through the woods until Pessade village then Beaune-le-froid village, known for its Saint Nectaire cheese cellars. From there, by "the leap of Pucelle", you descend to Chambon, a small natural lake formed by the lava flows dam of Puy du Tartaret.
Night in hotel or guest room in Lake Chambon.

Night in hotel or guest room / 11 km /Walking time 4 h / Elevation : +230 m /-390 m

Today, shorter walk, a bit more cultural too.
In the morning, you go around the lake Chambon, passing through the village of Le Chambon-sur-Lac, now a little away from the lake because of the sediments carried by the Couze Chaudefour in recent decades. After the Puy de Tartaret, visit the medieval village of Murol, known for its twelfth century castle built on a promontory of basalt.
In the afternoon, you continue to the village of Saint-Nectaire, famous for its cheese, but also for its beautiful Romanesque church, perched on Mount Cornadore.
Night in hotel or guest room in Saint Nectaire.

Night in hotel or guest room / 14 km /Walking time 5 to 6 h / Elevation : +480 m /-164 m

Morning through small hamlets and pastures, you ascend the ancient lava flows to reach Saint Victor River. After lunch, you will leave on the landscape full of history and go up on the southern slopes of the massif to reach the small fortified village of Besse en Chandesse.
Night in hotel or guest room. Enjoy this stage in the heart of a medieval village.

Night in hotel or guest room / 20.8 km /Walking time 6 to 7 h / Elevation : +889 m /-850 m

The mountain is calling you today to climb the peaks of Sancy, the highest point of the Auvergne. From Besse, along the Couze Pavin, you gradually go up by summer pastures. You will walk to the edge of an ancient glacier valley, The Natural Reserve of Chaudefour along the ridges where you will not fail to observe marmots, or more discrete chamois.
Possibility to climb the top of Sancy : 1:30 more (go and return).
After the 360 ° panorama, in the descent, you pass by the Great Cascade before arriving at the thermal baths of Mont Dore.
Night in hotel or guest room in this small spa village.

End of your stay

End of services after breakfast.
Possibility to extend your stay. There is a multitude of hiking around Mont Dore.
Possibility of returning by train to Clermont-Ferrand from Mont Dore.