La Garnasette

With so many paths around your base at La Garnasette, you could easily hike the surrounding terrain for your whole holiday. If you want to venture further, there’s a great forest walk from Agizoux, 40 minutes away, finishing with a thundering waterfall. You can continue from there to explore the gorges and rafting thrills on offer on the Allier river. Cascade de la Beaume, a similar distance away, offers another terrific waterfall-walk combo. Rivers mean watersports round here: it’s 20 minutes to Vorey for kayaking and canoeing, an hour to Brioude for more of the same, or if you prefer more sedate ways of seeing the surrounds, you can take the extremely scenic tourist train from here down to Langogne. Closer to the site, the ancient village of Chamalières-sur-Loire (20 minutes) remains a popular halt for pilgrims on the St. Jacques de Compostela route between Lyon and Le Puy: it’s in a suitably spiritual setting surrounded by gorges between Artias Castle and the mini-mountain of Gerbizon. As well as soaking up the atmosphere, you can try rock climbing at Chamalières or savour the extreme scrambles of the via ferrata at Puy de Juscles, also 20 minutes. Follow the pilgrims (or drive, about half an hour) to UNESCO listed Le Puy-en-Velay, a town famed for lentils, lacemaking and its magnificent black-and-white striped cathedral. Nearby, the 10th-century chapel of Saint-Michel d’Aiguilhe sits on top of a steep conical rock reached by a great many arduous steps, rewarding visitors with the best views around.