Among the inexpensive and little-known French-speaking destinations, we're going to tell you about the Auvergne. This little-appreciated region is often summed up in people's heads as "a land of greens and hills", whereas the Auvergne is packed with history, unusual places and great family activities to do all year round. We take a look at the family outings and weekends to do in the area.
Getting your kids to discover volcanoes
The Auvergne is a region stretching across a seismic fault, a very old mountain range so eaten away by time that it has become hills, and where whole chains of volcanoes line up. And when we say "chain", we mean the Puys chain alone, which contains no fewer than 80 volcanoes...! In fact, this chain is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the region is so geologically and culturally rooted in the issue of volcanoes that it has naturally opened an amusement park on this theme.
Visit volcania on a family holiday in auvergne
If you're going away for a weekend or a whole week in the region, take a tour of Vulcania, an amusement and educational park that puts volcanoes in the spotlight, but also other equally impressive themes such as the sea bed and space. An opportunity for your children to learn about the movements of faults, volcanic eruptions, or even the formation of mountains.
Because of its geology, the Auvergne has always been a very rich region inhabited by man. Between the protection afforded by the volcanoes and the abundance of lakes, the region has enjoyed great periods of prosperity and has therefore seen some of the greatest names in history pass through its doors. Vercingetorix and Caesar, Urban II, Catherine de Medicis, and even later Napoleon III - to name but the most famous - are all greats whose eras have left a strong architectural mark on the region.
The region is studded with châteaux and abbeys to visit, many of which organise medieval events that will delight the whole family.
Skiing, hiking and gastronomy in the Auvergne
And to give the five senses a huge jolt of freshness and clean air, tiredness and beautiful images, gustatory pleasures and good smells, the Auvergne offers a multitude of activities to do with the family.
All year round, you'll find hiking trails among the puys and volcanoes, in winter you'll find ski resorts with the FamilyPlus label, and to get your calves into shape, you can cycle along the greenways that wind through the valleys.
At lunchtime and in the evening, to reward yourself for all that energy expended, you'll discover Auvergne charcuterie, cheese soup and Aligot. For dessert, blueberries and cantal, saint-nectaire and bleu d' will go perfectly with a Saint-Pourçain or a little Salers worm as a digestif.