Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France

State guide with cities, regions, and key information.

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Introduction
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes spreads across south-eastern France from the Rhône valley to the Italian and Swiss borders — a vast region that pairs France's second city and culinary capital, Lyon, with the highest summits of the Alps and the extinct volcanoes of the Massif Central. For travellers it is one of the most varied regions in the country: world-class gastronomy and Renaissance streets in Lyon, the glaciers and ski resorts of the Mont Blanc massif, the turquoise lake and old town of Annecy, the green volcano chain of the Auvergne, the spa town of Vichy, and the steep vineyards of Beaujolais and the northern Rhône.

Discover Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Lyon is France's third city and its gastronomic capital, and its whole historic core is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Vieux Lyon, at the foot of Fourvière hill, is one of Europe's largest Renaissance quarters — a warren of cobbled streets, pastel façades and traboules, the covered passageways that thread through courtyards and once let silk-workers move their bolts of cloth out of the rain. Above it, Fourvière hill holds two Roman theatres still used for summer festivals and the ornate nineteenth-century Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, with a sweeping view over the city to the Alps on a clear day. Across the Saône, the Presqu'île — the peninsula between the Saône and the Rhône — is the grand commercial heart, with the vast Place Bellecour, elegant shopping streets and the Musée des Beaux-Arts, while the steep Croix-Rousse above was the workshop of the city's nineteenth-century silk industry. But Lyon's defining pleasure is the table: the bouchons serving hearty Lyonnais cooking (quenelles, andouillette, salade lyonnaise), the covered market Les Halles de Lyon-Paul Bocuse, and a constellation of fine restaurants carrying on the legacy of Paul Bocuse and the mères lyonnaises. Each December the Fête des Lumières turns the whole city into a four-night festival of light.

Travel Types

Gastronomy & Lyon

France's culinary capital — the bouchons, Les Halles Paul Bocuse and fine dining, plus Renaissance Vieux Lyon, Fourvière and the December Fête des Lumières.

Alps & Mountains

Mont Blanc and Chamonix, the lake and old town of Annecy, and the great ski domains of Val d'Isère, Tignes and the Trois Vallées.

Volcanoes & Spa Towns

The UNESCO Chaîne des Puys and Puy de Dôme, the Volcans d'Auvergne park, the spa town of Vichy and the pinnacles of Le Puy-en-Velay.

Wine & Rivers

Beaujolais and the steep northern Rhône vineyards (Côte-Rôtie, Hermitage), and the Ardèche gorges with the Pont d'Arc and Chauvet cave.

Frequently asked questions

Very much so — Lyon is France's gastronomic capital and a UNESCO World Heritage city, and two or three days do it justice. Wander Renaissance Vieux Lyon and its traboules, climb Fourvière hill for the Roman theatres, the basilica and the view, cross to the Presqu'île for Place Bellecour and the museums, and above all eat — in a traditional bouchon, at the Halles de Lyon-Paul Bocuse and at the city's celebrated restaurants. If you can, come for the Fête des Lumières in early December, when the whole city is illuminated.

Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, about two hours from Lyon or Geneva, sits directly beneath Mont Blanc and is the classic base — the Aiguille du Midi cable car and the Mer de Glace glacier railway are unforgettable in any season. For skiing, the Tarentaise valley holds the biggest domains: Val d'Isère and Tignes, Les Arcs and La Plagne, and the French side of the Trois Vallées. Annecy, Grenoble and Chambéry make good gateways, and many of these valleys are just as rewarding in summer for hiking, cycling and lake swimming.

The Chaîne des Puys is a UNESCO World Heritage alignment of around eighty long-extinct volcanoes behind Clermont-Ferrand, crowned by the Puy de Dôme — a rack railway, the Panoramique des Dômes, climbs to the summit for a view along the whole chain. The surrounding Parc Naturel Régional des Volcans d'Auvergne is laced with walking trails among craters and high pastures, and the spa town of Vichy and the volcanic town of Le Puy-en-Velay are easy additions. It is a green, uncrowded counterpoint to the Alps, best enjoyed from late spring to autumn.

Cities in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

1 city with detailed travel information

Lyon