Where to stay in Auvergne: the 5 areas to know in 2026
Three of our four reviews of Clermont-Ferrand send the reader elsewhere, and one says it in so many words: "I advise you to stay elsewhere and flee toward the Puy de Dôme". A second member even names the fallback addresses, "small towns like Royat and Chamalières", and both carry a 5/5 review with us. It is rare for members to answer the question of where to stay themselves: this guide follows that answer.
The counterweight is volcanic. The Puy de Dôme carries nine of our 39 reviews, the most commented place in the region, and you cannot drive to the top: on foot, by rack railway or by bike. Around it, four spa towns, two lakes where swimming is forbidden and one park our reviews cannot agree on. Five areas below, and a principle our members wrote before us: in the Auvergne, you do not sleep in the big city.
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If you can, I advise you to stay elsewhere and flee toward the Puy de Dôme to breathe some fresh air.
One base or several?
The whole northern half of the guide fits within an hour of Clermont-Ferrand, and Le Puy-en-Velay is two hours away. So the question is not the distance, it is whether you sleep in the city three of our four reviews advise leaving.
- A long weekend: Royat, three nights, with the city as a day trip. You keep Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral, which five of our reviews defend, and the Puy-de-Dôme, which carries nine, without sleeping in the centre our reviews find grey.
- A week: Royat then Besse: three nights near Clermont-Ferrand, four in the Sancy. It is the shift between the volcanoes you climb and the lakes you walk around, and our reviews treat them as two different trips.
- Ten days: Add Le Puy-en-Velay, two nights. It is the best-rated area in the guide, five reviews out of five at 5/5, and our review places it "near the Ardèche, the Cévennes and the Auvergne": it opens onto the next leg.
- Two weeks: One night in Saint-Ours to give Vulcania its full day, which our four reviews agree on despite their scores, and Issoire as the last stop: our review made it its budget base, on the A75.
How much driving between two bases?
One station served by the TGV, Clermont-Ferrand, and one useful motorway, the A75 heading south. The rest is done by car, except the summit of the Puy de Dôme, where it is forbidden: our review reminds us that you go up on foot, by rack railway or by bike.
| Route | Driving time | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Clermont-Ferrand → Royat | 10 min | 4 km, served by bus |
| Clermont-Ferrand → Col de Ceyssat | 25 min | 15 km, start of the sentier des muletiers |
| Clermont-Ferrand → Saint-Ours | 25 min | 20 km on the D941 |
| Clermont-Ferrand → Issoire | 35 min | 35 km on the A75 |
| Clermont-Ferrand → Besse | 1 h | 55 km, mountain roads |
| Clermont-Ferrand → La Bourboule | 50 min | 50 km on the D2089 |
| Clermont-Ferrand → Le Puy-en-Velay | 2 h | 130 km, no motorway |
| Besse → Lac Pavin | 10 min | 5 km south of the village |
At a glance: our picks by traveller type
Pick the profile that fits you and go straight to the recommended area.
Map of the areas in Auvergne
See how the areas sit relative to one another before choosing your base. Click a name to jump to its description.
Clermont-Ferrand and the Puy de Dôme Historic centre, place de Jaude, col de Ceyssat
24 of our 39 reviews, and three reviews out of four telling you to go elsewhere
Our four reviews of the city spread from 5/5 to 2/5, and the three harshest say the same thing: "the city centre in volcanic stone is really depressing", "it is a very grey city", "I found the place rather dull, sad and not very reassuring". The fourth defends it for its "open city heart" and its people, "especially after an ASM win". All of them agree on two things, though: Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral, five favourable reviews, and the Puy-de-Dôme, nine reviews, "a few minutes by car from the centre".
I really do not like Clermont-Ferrand at all, but if there is one thing to see, it is definitely the cathedral.
What to see and do in this area
Where to stay in this area
Radisson Hotel Clermont-Ferrand Mid-range Listed on Avygeo This property has its own page on Avygeo: it introduces itself there, collects guest reviews and answers the community's questions. It does not influence our recommendations, which stay editorial.
Hotel
+6 recs 5.0
Avenue de la Libération, a stone's throw from the Place de Jaude and its tram. It is the only accommodation in the region listed with us, and it sits exactly where our reviews grant easy access.
Pros
- The only area with a station, an airport and a tram: "easy access with the tram", says our review of the place de Jaude
- The Puy de Dôme is "a few minutes by car from the centre", according to our most detailed review
Cons
- Three of our four reviews of the city advise spending your time, or your night, elsewhere
- One review warns about the season: "when it is hot, it is sheer torture"
Royat, Chamalières and the spa towns Royat, Chamalières, La Bourboule
The addresses our Clermont reviews point to, and they score 5/5
This is the area our members recommend without being asked. Royat is "mainly famous for its casino and its baths", but "you should not reduce it to that": "plenty of lovely monuments but also plenty of greenery nearby". Chamalières "combines the advantages of a town with the calm of an outstanding spa resort", and our review finds the same black stone there, this time to praise it. La Bourboule, higher up, carries the memory of a spa cure and of a "park up in the hills", with a present-day reservation: "unfortunately the snow is not always there any more".
I don't think you go to the Auvergne region just to stay in the big cities.
Where to stay in this area
Hôtel Princesse Flore Luxury
Five stars on the place Allard, 43 rooms and suites in nineteenth-century Royat, with direct access to the Royatonic spa centre. Four kilometres from the centre of Clermont-Ferrand, which is exactly what our review asks for.
Hôtel Radio Mid-range
Built in 1930 on the avenue Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, up on the heights of Chamalières: mosaics, wrought iron and a starred restaurant. The view reaches over the city and the puys.
Pros
- Four kilometres from the centre of Clermont-Ferrand: you keep the station without keeping the city
- Two of our reviews insist on the greenery "nearby", which is exactly what the Clermont reviews hold against the centre
Cons
- Not a single sight in these three towns has received a member photograph: we cannot rank them
- La Bourboule is 50 km away, not 4: it is a mountain stop, not a suburb
Saint-Ours, Orcival and Vulcania Saint-Ours, Lemptégy, Orcival, lac de Servières
Four reviews of the park, from 5/5 to 3/5, and one point of agreement on duration
Vulcania is the only place in this guide our reviews argue about. "The whole family loved it", "a park that is both fun and educational, ideal to visit with children" on one side; "there are very few rides and they are not scary", "the explanations were really too scientific for my taste" on the other. One member settles it by comparison: "a mix of the Cité des Sciences de la Villette and the Futuroscope". All four agree on the duration, a full day. Further west, Lac de Servières is "a hiking spot out of the ordinary" where you do not swim.
Heads up, Vulcania is not focused on thrill rides. If you are looking to be scared, keep looking.
The towns in this area
What to see and do in this area
Where to stay in this area
Les Lodges de Lemptégy Mid-range
Twenty-four lodges on the flank of the Lemptégy volcano, a twenty-minute walk from Vulcania and a quarter of an hour from Clermont-Ferrand. The only accommodation in this guide set inside a crater.
Pros
- One review measures the queue at the park, "never more than 20 minutes", and another says the opposite: read both
- Fifteen minutes from Clermont-Ferrand, right in the UNESCO-listed Chaîne des Puys
Cons
- Two of our four reviews advise against the park for adults without children
- You do not swim in Lac de Servières: it is "a refuge for many animal and plant species"
Issoire, Besse and the Sancy lakes Issoire, Besse-et-Saint-Anastaise, lac Pavin
The budget base our review picked, and it says why
Our review of Issoire is a lodging review before it is a city review: "for a stay in the Auvergne, we had found cheap accommodation in Issoire", and "by road, you are well situated to see quite a few things in the region". On the town itself it is blunt: "you cover it quickly", despite "a historic centre and an interesting abbey church". Higher up in the Sancy, Lac Pavin gets the one lyrical review in the guide: "you get the feeling it is the doorway to another world". Swimming forbidden there too.
By road, you are well situated to see quite a few things in the region.
The towns in this area
What to see and do in this area
Where to stay in this area
Club Belambra Le Chambourguet - Super-Besse Listed on Avygeo This property has its own page on Avygeo: it introduces itself there, collects guest reviews and answers the community's questions. It does not influence our recommendations, which stay editorial.
Hit the slopes just 4 hours and 30 minutes from Paris with a stay at Club Belambra Le Chambourguet - Super-Besse in Besse-et-Saint-Anastaise, France. Located in Europe inside the Parc naturel Régional des Volcans d'Auvergne, this rental combines cozy, renovated mountain-view apartments with all-you-can-eat dining, a fireside bar, and kids' clubs.
Hôtel-Restaurant Le Lac Pavin Budget
On the shore of Lac Pavin itself, five kilometres south of Besse. Our review speaks of the "paths around the lake": they start here.
Hôtel Le Clos Budget
Twenty-five rooms five hundred metres from the medieval centre of Besse, with an indoor pool and a jacuzzi. The skiing and hiking address of the area.
Pros
- The lowest rates in the guide, and it is our review itself that makes the argument
- Issoire is on the A75: thirty-five minutes from Clermont-Ferrand, an hour from the Sancy
Cons
- "You cover it quickly" in Issoire, our review warns: it is a base, not a destination
- Besse is an hour from Clermont-Ferrand on mountain roads, not on the motorway
Le Puy-en-Velay Historic centre, rocher Corneille, rocher Saint-Michel
Five reviews, all 5/5, and all of them warn about the climbing
This is the best-rated area in the guide, and the most physical. Our city review says so from the start: "plan on doing a lot of walking and climbing, especially to see the Statue of Notre-Dame de France". The four site reviews confirm it one by one: Saint Michael Church, "260 steps and not very big ones at that", the rocher Corneille, "the climb is physical, but doable if you take breaks", the cathedral, "less demanding than the rocher Corneille, don't worry". The musée Crozatier is the only visit on the flat, "a vast cabinet of curiosities".
However, plan on doing a lot of walking and climbing, especially to see the Statue of Notre-Dame de France.
Where to stay in this area
Hôtel Le Régina Mid-range
Built in 1918 on the boulevard du Maréchal-Fayolle, triangular façade and a dome, a five-minute walk from the cathedral. At the bottom of the steps, which is what counts here.
Pros
- Five reviews, five times 5/5: it is the only area in the guide without a single reservation
- "It is well located near the Ardèche, the Cévennes and the Auvergne", notes our review: it is a hinge, not a dead end
Cons
- Two hours from Clermont-Ferrand by road, with no motorway: it is a stop in its own right
- Everything is earned by staircase, and our five reviews each repeat it in their own way
Our tips for booking the right place
- Three of our four reviews of Clermont-Ferrand advise going elsewhere: This is the measurement this guide rests on. "If you can, I advise you to stay elsewhere and flee toward the Puy de Dôme to breathe some fresh air", writes the harshest. "But the best thing is to take the car and explore the surroundings", concludes the second. "I would rather recommend seeing the natural areas or small towns like Royat and Chamalières", specifies the third, who gives the names. The fourth review, the only 5/5, defends a "nice city with an open city heart". None of them says there is nothing to see: all four cite the cathedral.
- Volvic stone makes the cathedral and unmakes the neighbourhood: Five reviews of Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral, all favourable, and all of them talk about the same material: "its dark colour is not down to dirt, it is the natural colour of the volcanic stone", "a look at once shadowy and superb", "it is just as impressive, and just as dark, when you get closer". Three reviews of the city hold exactly that blackness against it: "the city centre in volcanic stone is really depressing", "a very grey city", "the concrete architecture has no character at all". The same blackness, two verdicts, and nobody is wrong.
- You do not drive up the Puy de Dôme, and our reviews give the three ways up: "To reach the summit, cars are not allowed", our review states. On foot it is "perfectly doable in under 2 hours" by the sentier des douaniers, and our member warns about coming back down: "the descent is even harder, because you have to watch out not to slip on loose stones". The sentier des muletiers, "which starts from the col de Ceyssat, stays fairly easy". Otherwise the rack railway: "in about ten minutes, you are at the top". Three of our reviews cite it as the answer for anyone who does not walk. And the bike, "on the dedicated cycling days".
- Two of our lakes forbid swimming, and both reviews could not care less: At Lac Pavin, "you cannot swim in it (though given the depth, I would not particularly want to)", and the review goes straight on: "I promise you there is more than enough to do with the paths around the lake". At Lac de Servières, the same rule and the same reason: "it is a refuge for many animal and plant species", and "there are paths suited to everyone". The Auvergne of our reviews is walked at the water's edge, not swum in. Worth knowing if you are booking in July.
- Four spa towns, and only one has kept its snow: Royat is "mainly famous for its casino and its baths", Chamalières is "an outstanding spa resort", La Bourboule still receives spa patients. But that is where our review places the most concrete reservation in the guide, on what it knew as a child and what it sees today: "we used to do cross-country skiing and sledging. Unfortunately the snow is not always there any more." A winter stay in the Sancy is therefore booked by looking at the snow cover, not the calendar.
- Vulcania: our four reviews argue, except about the duration: "The whole family loved it", "a park that is both fun and educational, ideal to visit with children" on one side. "There are very few rides and they are not scary. They give you neither a little thrill nor any real fun" on the other. A third member explains the gap better than we could: "Vulcania is not focused on thrill rides", it is "a mix of the Cité des Sciences de la Villette and the Futuroscope". On one single point all four agree, and it is the one that decides a night on site: "you can easily spend the day there", "you end up spending the day there anyway".
- Booking in the centre of Clermont-Ferrand without having read our four reviews: three of them advise staying, or spending your time, elsewhere.
- Expecting to drive to the summit of the Puy-de-Dôme: our review reminds us it is forbidden, and the train leaves from the bottom.
- Planning a swim in Lac Pavin or Lac de Servières: it is forbidden at both, and our two reviews say so.
- Going to Vulcania as adults looking for thrills: two of our four reviews explicitly advise against it.
- Aiming for La Bourboule for skiing without checking the snow cover: our review warns that "the snow is not always there any more".
FAQ: where to stay in Auvergne
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