Camping Royat

What a royally cracking locale this is, settled at the foot of Puy de Dôme lava crater and around the gateway to Europe's Largest regional park, the Auvergne Volcanoes Regional Park.

Camping Royat is in the regal thermal town of Royat, five kilometres from Clermont-Ferrand; here you’re surrounded by hiking trails through the volcanoes for easy days out in the open, and the (of course) volcano-themed visitor attraction of Vulcania is a fast 20 minutes’ drive from base.

Royat’s reception area is stocked with all the bumf you might need to help you map out your days of sightseeing and outdoor adventuring around the local lands (tickets to Vulcania and Royatonic thermal spa can be purchased there), and an internet point is there to help you delve deeper for more local knowledge (or to keep your inbox in check). Also at reception, you can hire bikes if you fancy a two-wheeled tour of your new (albeit temporary) neighbourhood.

Open all season, the park’s cosy central lodge is where you can sip on coffee while swotting up with a guidebook on the region’s highlights; play board games or watch TV with the fam; or coil yourself up beside the toasty log stove.

For food, the café/restaurant (and its splendidly roomy terrace) is the place to munch on snacks and homemade pizzas, salads and grills, and if you keep your wits about you and order the night before, you’ll have some warm baguettes and croissants allotted to you in the following day’s morning bread delivery. If you’re opting to go self-catered, then the site’s small grocery store has all the usual basics plus a few regional products too to keep you sorted and sated on site.