Le Traversin walks

A grand tour of the Puy de Dôme allows you to admire this local landmark from multiple angles. The ascents of the Grand Knoll and Cliersou, peaks overlooked by most hikers, offer beautiful views of the Chaîne des Puys.

At the foot of the Puy de Dôme, take the Chemin des Gouris, named after the young shepherds who once accompanied the cows to the summer pastures, to discover the Puy Pariou crater and its slopes covered with a beautiful beech forest. Further on, explore a few caves before taking the beautiful Chemin des Gravouses to cross the Fontmagnie Forest.

A beautiful circular route passing through three peaks with stunning panoramic views and lovely sections in the forest, starting from the centre of Fontaine du Berger, a car park that is less busy than Parking des Goules. The Visorando app is recommended as some paths are not marked. Very busy in summer.

A mainly woodland walk circling the Puy de Dôme, starting from Montrodeix, a hamlet of Orcines. The route passes through beautiful beech woods and the mountain pastures at the foot of the Puys, offering some lovely views of the Puy de Dôme and its neighbouring peaks.

Circular loop, starting from Laschamps, which allows you to climb to the summit of Puy de Dôme via the Chemin des Muletiers and descend via the Sentier des Chèvres.In the footsteps of Roman builders: on the slopes of Puy de Grosmanaux, the route skirts Kilian Crater, the remains of a powerful volcano that was exploited by the Romans to build the Temple of Mercury, which you will discover further along the route.

On 19 September 1648, Blaise Pascal stood before his Torricelli tube in the Jardin des Minimes – now Place de Jaude – in Clairmont (Clermont). His brother-in-law, Florin Périer, had set off earlier with his own Torricelli tube for the summit of the Puy de Dôme. Over the course of the day, 17 experiments were carried out to measure the level of mercury in the tubes, which had been placed at different altitudes; these experiments would go on to confirm the hypothesis of the ‘weight of the mass of air’, which would later become known as atmospheric pressure. At both locations, once filled to the brim, the tube was turned upside down so that its open base was in contact with the mercury contained in a vessel. Due to its weight, the liquid inside the tube sank under the force of gravity. In Clermont, the mercury remained at a height of 71.2 cm. At the summit of the Puy de Dôme, it dropped to 62.70 cm. This difference of a few centimetres is the result of a height difference of 1,078 metres, which I invite you to appreciate for what it is.

A stunning view of two of the Puys’ most iconic peaks. The climb is longer from this side, but more pleasant and varied than the ascent via the Sentier des Muletiers.

In the Clermont-Ferrand metropolitan area, the Transport à la Demande (TAD) service, in addition to regular bus and tram lines, allows you to travel quite far around the city. This seven-stage itinerary takes advantage of this. Each stage begins and ends at a bus or TAD stop. In between, the routes allow you to discover the villages of the metropolitan area's green belt and the foot of the Puy de Dôme: the built heritage of their old wine-growing or mountain villages, their spa resorts, their natural environments and a few geological curiosities. The first stages follow the course of the Artière, and the last ones follow the course of the Tiretaine, two pretty little rivers, tributaries of the Allier, which originate at the foot of the puys.See "Practical information" for a 4-stage variant with accommodation.

And finally, here is the fifth stage, marked by the ascent of Puy de Dôme. The route takes the Chemin des Muletiers for the ascent, then the Sentier des Chèvres to descend towards Orcines. There is, of course, a vast panorama from the highest point of this stage, overlooking the city of Clermont-Ferrand, the chain of puys, the Combrailles, the Plateau des Dôme and the Massif du Sancy.