Take the time to drive via Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, cease within the villages, drive via volcanic landscapes, and uncover heritage websites alongside the best way: that’s the thought behind the Grand Tour. Spanning 28 levels and over 3,000 kilometers of routes, this regional highway journey connects the area’s main pure and cultural websites.
Between Montbrison and Brioude, the route passes via the Livradois-Forez area on its solution to the Abbaye de La Chaise-Dieu, nestled within the coronary heart of the Haute-Loire countryside.
The Grand Tour: a area to discover at your individual tempo
The thought is easy: comply with a route designed to attach the landscapes and locations that inform the story of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. You’ll journey from an Alpine go to a historic city, from a lake to a winery, and from a stone village to a protected pure web site.
Every stage begins in a metropolis, passes via a number of factors of curiosity, and ends at a brand new vacation spot. You’re free to cease alongside the best way to have lunch on a terrace, stroll to a lookout level, go to a landmark, or spend the evening there.
A stage of the Grand Tour via charming villages and wide-open areas
The route between Montbrison and Brioude winds via the Livradois-Forez Regional Nature Park for 113 kilometers, passing via a mixture of coniferous forests, basalt formations, rivers, and hilltop villages. This stage of the Grand Tour connects the Loire to the Haute-Loire by way of secondary roads that invite you to discover the area at your individual tempo, taking within the surroundings and cultural stops alongside the best way.
The route begins in Montbrison, an historical medieval city within the Forez area, identified for its slim, historic streets, its riverbanks, and its market, the place you will discover Fourme de Montbrison AOP cheese. Steadily, the plains give solution to the hills of Livradois-Forez and the landscapes of the low mountains. The route winds via a area wealthy in craftsmanship, the place artisans, producers, and small native companies improve the journey.
The highway then results in Marols, a charming village that has develop into a haven for artists. Behind its ramparts and stone homes, the slim streets are residence to studios, murals, and cultural occasions set in opposition to a mid-mountain backdrop. Additional on, Saint-Bonnet-le-Château seems on its rocky promontory. Its cobblestone streets, historic homes, and Gothic collegiate church overlook the landscapes of the Forez area all the best way to the Auvergne mountains.
Within the coronary heart of the Livradois-Forez Regional Nature Park, the roads wind via heathlands, forests, and streams. The panoramic views generally confide in the Chaîne des Puys within the distance, whereas alternatives for climbing and strolling abound alongside the route. A detour to Lavaudieu additionally affords an opportunity to find one other aspect of the Haute-Loire, with its winegrowers’ homes, Romanesque abbey, and peaceable banks of the Senouire.
The route ends in Brioude, on the banks of the Allier River, between Clermont-Ferrand and Le Puy-en-Velay. Listed among the many Most Lovely Detours of France, the city blends historical past and nature in a setting outlined by the river. Within the historic heart, colourful facades encompass the Basilica of Saint-Julien-de-Brioude, the biggest Romanesque church in Auvergne, identified for its polychrome stones and modern stained-glass home windows. Close by, the Maison de Mandrin, the Hôtel de la Dentelle, and the Heart for Structure and Heritage provide additional cultural discoveries.
Positioned on the gateway to 2 regional nature parks, Brioude additionally affords a wide range of landscapes excellent for outside actions, together with climbing, biking, canoeing, and walks alongside the Allier River. However earlier than you get there, be sure you go to a must-see cease alongside the route: La Chaise-Dieu Abbey.
La Chaise-Dieu Abbey: A Mix of Medieval Heritage and Cultural Programming
Perched at an altitude of over 1,080 meters, La Chaise-Dieu Abbey overlooks the medieval village that has grown up round it for the reason that eleventh century. Based in 1043 by Robert de Turlande, a canon of Brioude, it arose from a monastic lifestyle primarily based on poverty and ease. A Benedictine group fashioned round it, organized round prayer and work, giving rise to the Casa Dei, the “home of God,” which turned La Chaise-Dieu.
A masterpiece of Southern Gothic structure, the abbey is an architectural complicated formed by practically a thousand years of historical past. The abbey church notably homes the tomb of Pope Clement VI, represented by a white marble recumbent determine on his black marble tomb, in addition to a set of 144 monks’ choir stalls, that includes carved decorations populated by fantastical figures and symbolic components drawn from the medieval creativeness. The mural of the Dance of Dying, created round 1430, extends this interpretation of the medieval world by depicting the universality of dying throughout the assorted strata of society.
The tour continues via the convent buildings, together with the cloister, which was in-built a number of phases between the late 14th and fifteenth centuries, the Echo Room, in-built 1682, and the rooms devoted to Flemish tapestries, a group of 14 items listed as Historic Monuments since 1840. This tapestry, which depicts episodes from the lives of Christ and the Virgin Mary, is displayed in a former chapel that was restored to showcase it.
The city additionally preserves a number of traces of its medieval improvement across the abbey, with historic homes nonetheless seen within the abbey district. The positioning is a part of a customer route enhanced by audio guides, themed excursions, and accessibility options. In 2026, the abbey will host the pictures exhibition The place It All Begins, offered in collaboration with Magnum Photographs from Might 1 to September 20. It brings collectively greater than 60 portraits of Twentieth-century artists of their studios, together with Andy Warhol, Frida Kahlo, Francis Bacon, and Yayoi Kusama, as seen via the lenses of photographers similar to Martin Parr, Inge Morath, and Abbas. This program is a part of a cultural season that features, notably, the sixtieth La Chaise-Dieu Music Competition, the Organ Days, and different annual occasions on the web site.
An app to make touring simpler
Le Grand Tour additionally affords a cellular app designed as a contemporary journey journal. It enables you to pinpoint must-see points of interest, observe your progress, save your favorites, and uncover suggestions alongside the best way.
It’s handy for making an impromptu cease or adjusting your itinerary primarily based on the climate and the way you are feeling in the meanwhile.
The Grand Tour is finest explored in small doses, relying on the season and your temper. Whether or not it’s a weekend getaway, a number of days within the mountains, or an extended summer time journey, everybody can tailor their journey to their very own tempo. Greater than only a journey, the Grand Tour affords a approach of touring the place the landscapes you go via, the stops, and the detours are an integral a part of the expertise.
Have an amazing journey in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes!
Cowl photograph: En Velay Tourisme
