The Auvergne definitely has the most explosive landscapes in France, but I find it a remarkably relaxing, gentle region today. It’s packed with enchanting surprises to unearth, many hidden among its stunning, long-extinct volcanoes.

A glitzy golden crater greets visitors to the Auvergne’s intelligent theme park on volcanology, Vulcania, set in the heart of the Puy-de-Dôme. This is just one of the spectacular volcanic mountain chains included in the Parc Naturel Régional des Volcans d’Auvergne, stretching down the western side of the region, from the Dôme range, through the Monts-Dore, with its cute ski resorts around the Puy de Sancy, down to Cantal, that whole deeply rural, unspoilt département (or county) actually consisting of just one vast volcano, the largest in Europe. Across in southeastern Auvergne, Robert Louis Stevenson set off on his famous voyage with a donkey, starting out amidst the dreamy volcanoes of the Velay. The last name reminds me of Le Puy-en-Velay, and how much I love exploring the Auvergne’s extraordinary major towns, with their larger-than-life characters. At Le Puy-en-Velay, each towering natural pinnacle of rock is topped by a magical church or statue. Clermont-Ferrand, capital of the Auvergne, isn’t all about Michelin (although the company has opened a big new attraction in town). The city’s staggering black cathedral stares down on impressive fountain- filled squares and mansions.

Other Auvergne towns I have a soft spot for include Riom and Moulins, La Chaise-Dieu and Souvigny, Aurillac and St-Flour, Brioude and Issoire – not well-known names, but perhaps all the better for that. As to Vichy on the Allier, revisiting it recently, I saw a place that has regained its pride, its plush spas now in good shape, the sporty riverbanks spruced up with style. The River Allier, which also gives its name to the Auvergne’s most northerly département, the former heartlands of the Dukes of Bourbon, in fact travels right up through the centre of the region in a splendid broad plain. Gorgeous villages and castles (including that of the Marquis de Lafayette, so crucial to in America’s War of Independence…against the British) look down on it from the slopes of the Livradois range, incorporated into the region’s second regional natural park, which encompasses the unspoilt Forez heights too. As to the Dordogne River, it rises on the Mont Dore, watering traditional spa towns along its first, dramatic stretch.

The Auvergne’s volcanic mountains famously produce fine spring water. Food-wise, the region is recognized for its array of cheeses, from blues to intense Salers or St-Nectaire. This last place is as well known in France for its decorated church as for its fromage, and the churches trail is very popular in the Auvergne, along with hiking. I’ll finish, though, by bringing you full circle back round to boating in that volcanic crater – the place concerned, in the uplifting Monts Dore lakelands, is the mystical Lac Pavin, one of my favourite spots in a fabulous region.

As a postscript, I should say that among its bag of surprises, the Auvergne represents excellent value for your euros in France at the moment.

Philippe Barbour, respected Anglo-French travel writer, author of many Cadogan regional guides to France

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