Natural features
Aiguille du Midi, Chamonix
Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, Haute-Savoie
A cable car from Chamonix climbs to the Aiguille du Midi, a granite peak at 3,842 m, in about 20 minutes, with one of the most spectacular views in t…
Travel tips in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
About Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes · All tips in France
France › Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Country facts
Historic sites
Annecy old town and lake
Annecy, Haute-Savoie
Annecy's old town has canals, flower-lined bridges and pastel houses, earning it the name 'Venice of the Alps'.
Natural features
Pont d'Arc and the Gorges de l'Ardèche
Vallon-Pont-d’Arc, Ardèche
A huge natural stone arch, 54 metres high, spanning the Ardèche river at the entrance to its gorges, where limestone cliffs rise 300 metres above the…
Natural features
Aven d'Orgnac
Vallon-Pont-d’Arc, Ardèche
One of the largest and most beautiful show caves in France, discovered in 1935, with vast chambers full of giant stalagmites up to 20 metres tall.
Walks and treks
Cirque du Fer-à-Cheval
Samoëns, Haute-Savoie
A horseshoe of limestone cliffs up to 700 metres high in the Haute-Savoie Alps, with dozens of waterfalls pouring down in spring.
Buildings
Le Puy Cathedral and cloister
Le Puy-en-Velay, Haute-Loire
A Romanesque cathedral at the top of the old town of Le Puy-en-Velay, with Moorish-style striped arches and a famous Black Virgin.
Natural features
Puy de Dôme
Clermont-Ferrand, Puy-de-Dôme
The highest of the Chaîne des Puys, a line of about 80 extinct volcanoes in the Auvergne, which form a UNESCO World Heritage Site with the Limagne fa…
Walks and treks
Puy Mary
Vic-sur-Cère, Cantal
A pyramid-shaped summit at the heart of the Cantal volcano, the largest ancient volcano in Europe, with green valleys radiating out like the spokes o…
Historic sites
Royal Monastery of Brou
Bourg-en-Bresse, Ain
A Flamboyant Gothic church and monastery built in the early 1500s by Margaret of Austria in memory of her husband, the Duke of Savoy.
Historic sites
Vieux Lyon and Fourvière
Lyon, Métropole de Lyon
Lyon's old town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, stretches along the Saône river below the hill of Fourvière, with Renaissance houses, the Gothic Saint…
Historic sites
Château de Villeneuve-Lembron
Saint-Germain-Lembron, Puy-de-Dôme
A château in the Auvergne built around 1500 for Rigaud d'Aureille, a steward of the French kings, known for its rare Renaissance wall paintings, its …
Historic sites
Château de Voltaire, Ferney
Ferney-Voltaire, Ain
The country house where Voltaire spent his last 20 years, a short way from the Swiss border so that he could flee if he got into trouble.
Walks and treks
Mont Gerbier de Jonc
Saint-Martin-de-Valamas, Ardèche
A distinctive cone-shaped volcanic peak in the Ardèche mountains, at the foot of which rises the River Loire, the longest river in France.