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.
Overview
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes is France's second region by population and one of its most geographically dramatic, reaching from the broad Rhône valley up to Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Western Europe. At its heart is Lyon, France's third-largest city and its acknowledged gastronomic capital — a UNESCO World Heritage city where Renaissance Vieux Lyon, the Roman theatres and basilica of Fourvière hill, the silk-weavers' Croix-Rousse and the grand Presqu'île between two rivers come together, and where the bouchon tradition and a galaxy of celebrated chefs (the legacy of Paul Bocuse among them) make eating the main event. East of Lyon the land rises into the Alps: Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, the cradle of mountaineering, sits beneath Mont Blanc (4,808 m) with the vertiginous Aiguille du Midi cable car and the Mer de Glace glacier; Annecy charms with its turquoise lake, canals and medieval old town (the 'Venice of the Alps'); and the great ski domains of the Tarentaise and Savoie — Val d'Isère, Tignes, Les Arcs, La Plagne and the French side of the Trois Vallées — draw skiers all winter and walkers and cyclists all summer, with Grenoble and Chambéry as alpine gateways. To the west lies the gentler, greener Auvergne: the Chaîne des Puys, a UNESCO-listed alignment of some eighty extinct volcanoes crowned by the Puy de Dôme, rises behind Clermont-Ferrand, while the Belle Époque spa town of Vichy and the volcanic pinnacles of Le Puy-en-Velay add their own character. Wine runs through the region too — the granite hills of Beaujolais north of Lyon and the steep terraced vineyards of the northern Rhône (Côte-Rôtie, Condrieu, Hermitage) — and the south brings the Ardèche gorges with the Pont d'Arc and the Chauvet cave. Lyon's airport and the TGV (two hours from Paris) make the region easy to reach; summer suits the lakes, volcanoes and vineyards, winter the ski resorts, and Lyon rewards a visit year-round, never more so than during December's Fête des Lumières.
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.
Ways to Experience This Destination
France's culinary capital — the bouchons, Les Halles Paul Bocuse and fine dining, plus Renaissance Vieux Lyon, Fourvière and the December Fête des Lumières.
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.
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.
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
Tourism & destination guides
Official regional tourism board — Lyon, the Alps and Mont Blanc, the Auvergne volcanoes, spa towns, vineyards, itineraries and accommodation across the region.
Official Lyon tourist office — the UNESCO old town and traboules, Fourvière, the bouchons and gastronomy, the Fête des Lumières, museums and the Lyon City Card.
Official tourism site for the Chamonix valley — the Aiguille du Midi, the Mer de Glace, skiing, mountaineering and summer hiking beneath Mont Blanc.
Cities in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Visaja keeps this page's contact details and visa guidance under continuous review — still, requirements can change at short notice, so confirm the essentials with the mission or the official government portal before you travel.