Auvergne hailed as unknown jewel

VOLCANIC landscapes of Auvergne have been named one of the 10 ‘must visit’ regions of the world in a list put together by celebrated travel guides Lonely Planet, which calls it an “unknown jewel”.

Reputed for its dramatic 40km chain of volcanoes, the region is already notable for its Unesco world heritage sites in Clermont-Ferrand and Puy-en-Velay plus the Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle pilgrimage routes but Lonely Planet highlights it as “overlooked by visitors”.

Now the guide is selling the region and its four departments of Puy-de-Dôme, Haute-Loire, Cantal and Allier across the world to “travellers weary of tourist-clogged rivieras”.

The Auvergne is also reinventing itself through art projects linking its volcanic past and unparalleled landscape – which sees skiing in winter and miles of hiking trails in summer and hosts a wide selection of wilderness adventures.

The Chaine des Puys is a remarkable sight with its chain of craters and lava domes and the 1,465m Puy de Dôme has a Gallo-Roman temple at the top which is thought to have been the site of one of the largest places of worship in the western Roman Empire from 140AD.

Already this year the Vulcania science and leisure park has attracted five million visitors to learn more about – and enjoy – the lava domes that were pushed up between 95,000 and 8,500 years ago. Vulcania is open until November 11 when it closes for four months of renovation.

Lonely Planet also praises the changes in the region’s cuisine, moving from “carb-heavy mountain cuisine” to more inventive fare and lighter interpretations of local flavours.

Add in friendly waiters with the legendary dour humour summed up in its T-shirts: Ici commence l’Auvergne, ici finit la France [This is where the Auvergne starts and France finishes].

Auvergne comes in at sixth place on the Lonely Planet list with the others being: Transylvania, Romania; western Iceland; Valle de Viñales, Cuba; Friuli’s wine regions, Italy; Waiheke Island, New Zealand; Hawaii, US; Bavaria, Germany; Costa Verde, Brazil; St Helena, British Territories.