THE MASSIF CENTRAL

Here, at the very heart of the Massif Central, you’re in a land of sweeping landscapes, deep gorges and ravines - a truly amazing location for a walking holiday. There are green fertile valleys, and windswept uplands vivid with yellow broom. Walking the ancient volcanoes of the Auvergne, and the dramatic ridges between them, you get views extending from the mountains of the Cantal to Mont Blanc in the Alps and Mont Ventoux in Provence.

The Massif Central is an inclined plateau, highest at its eastern edge near Les Estables, where it falls away in deep ravines to the Rhône Valley a thousand metres below. So there are a lot of different habitats, at different altitudes. You can see red and black kites, eagles, buzzards, and harriers. There are deer too, and marmots near Les Estables.

The tall yellow gentian, and the martagon lily, are among the special flowers of the Massif Central, and the sénécon argenté, with its grey leaves and yellow flowers, is found only here and on Mt Canigou in the Pyrenees. There are wild strawberries and bilberries in summer and people report seeing an amazing variety of butterflies.