Puy de Dome Volcano

It sounds a bit surprising, but there are volcanoes in France. Actually, there are many volcanoes in Europe and not only in Italy, but also in Spain, Germany, and other countries, just they are not so well known.


The large volcanic zone of Chaîne des Puys is located near the city of Clermont-Ferrand, where a lot of tourist infrastructure was built, for example, the European Volcanology Park Vulcania (https://www.vulcania.com/).

We were interested in the highest volcano Puy de Dôme, which is also one of the youngest, it was formed during the eruption of 10700 years ago. Its height is 1465 meters, but you can go up by a tourist train. Find the schedule and the price of tickets on the official website https://www.panoramiquedesdomes.fr/.




If you have a lot of power or little money, then it is possible to climb on foot. Parking is located at an altitude of 1 km, so, you have to climb about 500 meters.


At the top of the volcano are restaurants and an excellent walking area.




Since ancient times, the volcano was considered sacred, the Romans even built a temple of Mercury on top. Hence the name of the volcano: puy - mountain, dome - temple.


Great views of the volcanic zone.


The most beautiful of the other volcanoes is Puy de Pariou, it is visible in the distance.


It stands out due to its ideal crater. In the next photo from the drone in the foreground is Puy de Pariou, and in the background is Puy de Dome.


If you have time, you can walk to the Puy de Pariou crater from the top of Puy de Dome.


Getting there: parking N 45 46.261 E 2 59.191. There is a shuttle from Clermont-Ferrand to the lower train station (https://www.panoramiquedesdomes.fr/page/comment-venir).