Cabanes et Yourtes de la Vallée de l'Ance

The wildlife-filled forest around you is the eastern edge of the Livradois-Forez Regional Natural Park, which is full of stuff to clamber up, float on and zoom down. For a first taste, head 20 minutes’ drive to the Montpeloux volcano; it’s not smoking anymore but its basalt columns are so like a vast church organ that you fear they might start blowing Bach and brimstone any minute. The surrounding area is thick with trails for hiking and biking, and it’s around an hour’s walk from the volcano to the thundering Creux de l’Oulette waterfall. If quieter waters for swimming, fishing and kayaking are more your thing, you can do the lot on the lake just outside Saint-Anthème (25 minutes); the fish also bite (so they say) on the tributaries of the Ance river near Sauvessanges, five minutes away. After high-up action? Head half an hour to Prabouré: in the summer this ski resort becomes a mountain adventure magnet where you can zipwire your way through valleys; go-kart and scoot your way downhill at great speed or saddle up for more sedate mountain travels on a pony. The views from the various trails and bike paths are brilliant, possibly only rivalled by the massive canyon at Bouzols, an hour away.