Massif Central, France - any tips for great roads?

[will_]

Hoping that someone on here knows the Massif Central area of France? I'm struggling to find details of particularly decent roads in the area around/to the south and west of Clemont Ferand.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? Either road names or start/end points.

Many thanks in advance,

Will

[G Man]

The puy de dome the the extinct volcano you need to visit, I watched the tour de france stage near clemont last year which I thought was a nice trip and put on my list
http://www.letour.fr/2011/TDF/LIVE/us/900/etape_pa...

Hope it helps

[will_]

G Man said:

The puy de dome the the extinct volcano you need to visit, I watched the tour de france stage near clemont last year which I thought was a nice trip and put on my list
http://www.letour.fr/2011/TDF/LIVE/us/900/etape_pa...

Hope it helps

That's very helpful, many thanks.

[dom180]

Cover these cols for a perfect day's drive.

Col de Guéry - 1.268 m
Col de la Croix St. Robert - 1.452 m
Col de Serre - 1.335 m
Col d’Eylac - 1.420 m
Pas de Peyrol - 1.588 m
Col de Redondet - 1.531 m
Col du Perthus - 1.309 m
Col de Curebourse - 994 m

[Chris71]

Have you tried BestBikingRoads.com? That's usually pretty good for this type of thing.

[will_]

Chris, Dom - many thanks.

I've checked alpineroads.com but will have a look at some other biking sites.

Sounds like it should be a good trip!

Thanks again.

[qualityscrew]

Another for the Puy de Dome. Buy a Michelin map and select the green edged roads in the area.

The area was Volcanic, so beautiful scenery and very hilly. The Autoroute south of Clermont to the Viaduc de Millau is pretty good as well!

[will_]

qualityscrew said:

Another for the Puy de Dome. Buy a Michelin map and select the green edged roads in the area.

The area was Volcanic, so beautiful scenery and very hilly. The Autoroute south of Clermont to the Viaduc de Millau is pretty good as well!

Thanks Gerry.

I did the Millau viaduct in 2010, so will be heading east-ish from Clemont Ferrand towards Grenoble (where there also appear to be some fantastic roads) rather than heading too far South I think.

I'm staying near Issoire so should be able to do most of the cols to the west of Clemont Ferrand on a couple of day trips I think.

Thanks to all for your help.

[qualityscrew]

In that case I suggest you go via Le Puy-en-Velay then Villard-de-Lans, good roads and great scenery.

[will_]

Just a quick close-out to this thread for anyone's future reference.

The Massif Central is fantastic for driving. The biking websites listed above included many good roads, but to be honest almost anything in the Vercours national park is excellent, both for views and roads. My particular favourites were the D120 Col du Menee and the D518 north of Die. These are easily drivable from Grenoble.

Somewhat less travelled and known than the Alps, but in my view no less brillant.

The roads to the west of Issoire were also terrific, including the D996 towards Mont Dore, and the D36 out of it. The road up to Puy Mary (and the views from the top) were also excellent.

[crispyshark]

do not miss the road the runs through the gorge du tern, absolutely awesome. D907.

[Dazanator]

Thread revival as a couple of mates and myself are planning a visit in October for a long weekend.

We have the bones of a route and some tips from the bikers forums.

Anyone been there recently - any tips for low traffic, driving focused roads?

TIA

Daz

Edited by Dazanator on Tuesday 19th September 11:28