Clermont-Ferrand travel guide
Black lava-stone cathedral, Michelin and the Puy de Dôme
Clermont-Ferrand is the capital of Auvergne volcano country, with a dark lava-stone old town and the Puy de Dôme on its doorstep. Come between May and September, when the summit railway and crater trails are at their best, and allow two days: one for the city, one for the volcanoes. Costs are above average, and Schengen rules apply.
Clermont-Ferrand sits on the Limagne plain in the Massif Central, with the Chaîne des Puys lined up along its western skyline and the summit of the Puy de Dôme about 10 km from town. People come for the volcanoes first. The chain is on the UNESCO list as a tectonic hotspot, and the city is the obvious base for walking it. The other draw is the old town on the Clermont mound, built from dark lava stone that gives it a sombre look found nowhere else in France.
Start at Place de Jaude, the big central square ruled by Bartholdi's bronze Vercingetorix on horseback, then walk uphill to the black Gothic cathedral of Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption. Work on it started in 1248. It was not finished until 1902. The lanes around it hold antique shops and small restaurants. Notre-Dame-du-Port, a Romanesque basilica a few minutes north-east, is older and more rewarding inside. Michelin was founded here, and L'Aventure Michelin tells the tyre maker's story close to its factories.
For the volcanoes, the Panoramique des Dômes rack railway climbs to the 1,465 m summit, where on a clear day the grassed-over craters run north and south below you. Fit walkers can go up the steep chemin des Muletiers instead. Gergovie, the plateau 6 km south where Vercingetorix beat Caesar, makes a good half day. Visit in late January or early February and cinemas are packed for the international short film festival, one of the largest of its kind.
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A lava-stone old town, a Romanesque basilica and a chain of volcanoes half an hour away.
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Best time to visit Clermont-Ferrand
Month by month, so you can pick the weather and the crowds you want.
Highs of 21-27C in town, long days for the Puy de Dôme and busy café terraces on Place de Jaude; June is the wettest month, at under 70 mm.
Highs of 8-12C on the plain, frosty nights and snow on the puys, but surprisingly dry, at under 30 mm a month from December to March; the short film festival around early February is the reason to come.
The short film festival fills hotels for its week in late January and early February; book a room well ahead if your dates overlap.
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Getting there
Intercités from Bercy and the Aulnat runway
Clermont is not on the TGV network, so the train from Paris is a classic Intercités from Paris-Bercy, about three and a half hours. The station lies on the eastern edge of the centre, about 20 minutes' walk to Place de Jaude, with city buses for the hop. The small Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne airport at Aulnat, about 15 minutes east by road, has Air France flights from Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Ryanair from Porto and a few seasonal routes. Bus B and local trains link it to the centre. The coach station is two blocks south of Place de Jaude.
- Intercités from Paris-Bercy
- About 3 1/2 hours, roughly every two hours
- Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne (CFE)
- Bus B to Jaude in about 30 minutes, or 10 minutes by local train
- Gare de Clermont-Ferrand
- Eastern edge of the centre, 20 minutes on foot to Jaude
- Motorways
- A71 north, A75 south (toll-free), A89 east-west
- Paris-Bercy is not Gare de Lyon: allow time for the short walk between the two if you are connecting.
Where to stay
Jaude, the cathedral hill or Montferrand
Everything central is within a 30-minute walk, so stay inside it. Place de Jaude has tram A at the door and the most hotels, an easy base if not a quiet one. The cathedral quarter on the hill, around Rue des Gras and Place de la Victoire, puts you among the lava-stone lanes, restaurants and late bars, with noise to match on weekends. Montferrand, the separate medieval town to the northeast joined to Clermont in the 17th century, is calmer, with Renaissance mansions and the tram into town, but fewer places to eat.
- Place de Jaude
- Shops, cafés and tram A at the door; busy and noisy
- Cathedral quarter
- Old lanes, restaurants and late bars around Café Pascal
- Montferrand
- Quiet medieval streets on the tram; few restaurants
- Station area
- Cheap and handy for trains; dull streets
Getting around
Tram A from Les Vergnes to La Pardieu, then the rack railway
Walk the centre and the old town hill; the climbs are short but steep. For longer hops T2C runs one tram line, A, north to south through Montferrand and Place de Jaude, with buses filling the gaps. One ticket covers tram and bus for an hour; buy it at stop machines and validate each ride. The whole network is free on Saturdays and Sundays, though buses thin out sharply on those days. For the volcanoes the city network stops short: you need the seasonal Navette Panoramique des Dômes, a taxi or a car to reach the base station of the Panoramique des Dômes, whose rack railway takes about a quarter of an hour to the summit. The summit road is closed to private cars.
- Tram A
- Les Vergnes, Montferrand, Jaude, Cézeaux, La Pardieu Gare
- Bus
- Covers the suburbs; sparse at weekends
- Panoramique des Dômes
- Rack railway to the Puy de Dôme summit
- Car
- Best for the crater lakes and the Gergovie plateau
Know before you go
What makes Clermont-Ferrand worth the trip, and what catches visitors out.
Why travelers love it
- The Puy de Dôme summit on a clear morning, with the ruins of a Gallo-Roman temple to Mercury at your feet and dozens of craters beyond.
- Notre-Dame-du-Port, whose pale Romanesque stone and quiet crypt feel like the opposite of the black cathedral up the hill.
- Jardin Lecoq for a picnic on the lawns, with a café and an old carousel in the middle of the park.
Good to know
- Weekend buses are sparse, so check timetables before relying on them on Saturdays and Sundays.
- Summit weather turns fast on the Puy de Dôme; take a warm layer even in July, as cloud can sit on the top while the city is in sunshine.
Trip fit
BookingMentor editorial ratings out of 5, based on a first-time visitor's experience.
Weather in Clermont-Ferrand, month by month
Clermont-Ferrand has warm summers and cold winters, and the Puy de Dôme summit is often in cloud when the city is clear. Pick a month below for Météo-France averages from the city's weather station.
Climate figures are approximate long-term averages for Clermont-Ferrand (Meteo France, via Wikipedia).
The Puy de Dôme, Gergovie and old Clermont-Ferrand over two days
Clermont-Ferrand needs two days. Spend one on the volcanoes: the first Panoramique des Dômes train to the Puy de Dôme summit, then the Gergovie plateau where Vercingetorix fought Caesar in 52 BC. Spend the other in the city, at the black lava-stone cathedral, Notre-Dame-du-Port, L'Aventure Michelin and Montferrand.
Morning. Catch the first Panoramique des Dômes train from the base station before the cloud builds, and give yourself a couple of hours on top. A path loops the summit past the Gallo-Roman temple of Mercury, and the neat crater of the Puy de Pariou stands out to the north. If your knees are good, walk down by the chemin des Muletiers.
Afternoon. Drive south to the Gergovie plateau, where a museum explains the battle and the digs and the edge looks across the Limagne to the puys.
The city day. Begin on Place de Jaude under Bartholdi's Vercingetorix, climb to the black cathedral and up its tower if open, then walk down to Notre-Dame-du-Port and its crypt. After lunch, choose between L'Aventure Michelin near the factories, for the story of the tyre and the guide, and a walk around Montferrand's Renaissance mansions, one tram ride north. End with a drink on Place de la Victoire as the lava stone darkens in the evening light.
Truffade, aligot and Saint-Nectaire cheese in Auvergne
Expect Auvergne upland food in Clermont-Ferrand. Order truffade, potatoes fried with fresh Tome cheese, or aligot, and in winter potée auvergnate and pounti. The cheese board includes Saint-Nectaire, Cantal, Salers, Bleu d'Auvergne and Fourme d'Ambert. The Marché Saint-Pierre sells cheese and charcuterie, and Rue des Petits Gras has the bistros.
Truffade is sliced potatoes fried in pork fat and folded with fresh Tome cheese until it strings; aligot, from the south of the region, beats the cheese into mashed potato. In winter look for potée auvergnate, a pot of pork, cabbage and root vegetables, and pounti, a savoury loaf of pork, chard and prunes.
Saint-Nectaire comes from the volcano country just south, and Fourme d'Ambert is the milder of the two blues. Drink a red from the Côtes d'Auvergne, mostly Gamay, and buy pâtes de fruits, the fruit jellies Clermont confectioners have made for centuries.
The covered Marché Saint-Pierre, a few streets from Place de Jaude, adds mountain ham and dried sausage. Bistros and wine bars also line the lanes around the cathedral and Place de la Victoire. Portions are generous, so one main course is usually enough.
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How we research our Clermont-Ferrand travel guide
T2C tram, Intercités and Panoramique des Dômes details are compared with the operators before each review. City facts come from clermont-ferrand.fr and France.fr, entry rules from the EU's Entry/Exit and ETIAS portal.
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Checked against trusted sources:
Official website of Clermont-FerrandFrance.frEU Entry/Exit System and ETIAS
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Quick answers to the questions travelers ask most before visiting Clermont-Ferrand.
Getting there
Take T2C bus line B from the Aulnat Aéroport stop to Place de Jaude, about 30 minutes, or walk five minutes to Aulnat-Aéroport station for a 10-minute local train to Clermont. Taxis and ride-hail cars can be booked.
Take the Panoramique des Dômes rack railway from its base station, or hike up the steep chemin des Muletiers. The summit road is closed to private cars, and a seasonal bus runs from the city in summer.
Timing & weather
About three and a half hours, with departures roughly every two hours between early morning and evening. There is no TGV.
It runs for about a week in late January and early February each year. Screenings are spread across the city, and hotels fill up early.
The best time to visit Clermont-Ferrand is May to Sep. Clear summit views and dry crater trails; winter on the puys is cold and often fogged in.
- Best overall: May - September (Highs of 21-27C in town, long days for the Puy de Dôme and busy café terraces on Place de Jaude; June is the wettest month, at under 70 mm)
- Winter: November - March (Highs of 8-12C on the plain, frosty nights and snow on the puys, but surprisingly dry, at under 30 mm a month from December to March; the short film festival around early February is the reason to come)
July is the warmest month in Clermont-Ferrand, with average highs of 27°C, and January the coolest, with lows of 1°C. June is the wettest month, at about 68 mm of rain; February is the driest. Clermont-Ferrand has warm summers and cold winters, and the Puy de Dôme summit is often in cloud when the city is clear.
General
It was built from Volvic stone, a dark volcanic rock quarried nearby. Many old buildings in the region use the same stone, which is why the old town looks so dark.
Yes. Two days works well: one for the old town, Notre-Dame-du-Port and L'Aventure Michelin, and one for the Puy de Dôme and Gergovie.
May to September gives the best odds of a clear summit and dry trails. In winter the puys often vanish into cloud, even when the plain is bright.
Yes, for an hour or two. The old walled town has Renaissance mansions and quiet streets, and tram A gets you there in minutes.
Both are potato and cheese. Truffade is sliced potatoes fried and folded with fresh Tome; aligot is mashed potato beaten with cheese until it stretches.
For families, yes. The volcano theme park lies west of the city in the Chaîne des Puys, and with a car you can also tour the crater lakes and villages nearby.
Walk the centre and the old town hill; the climbs are short but steep. For longer hops T2C runs one tram line, A, north to south through Montferrand and Place de Jaude, with buses filling the gaps. One ticket covers tram and bus for an hour; buy it at stop machines and validate each ride.
Visa & documents
France belongs to the Schengen area. Citizens of the EU and of many other countries, including the US, UK, Canada and Australia, can visit visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180-day period; other nationalities need a Schengen visa. The EU's Entry/Exit System (EES) records non-EU travelers' fingerprints and a photo at the border.
Health & safety
Crime against visitors to France is mostly petty. Pickpocketing is common in Paris on the Metro, especially line 1, and around the Eiffel Tower, Montmartre and Gare du Nord. Rail and air strikes and street demonstrations can disrupt transport, so check before travel days and keep away from protests.
