Open a GPX file

Auvergne volcanoes and the Puy Mary

A loop through the old volcanoes of the Massif Central: from Clermont-Ferrand past the Puy de Dome to Le Mont-Dore and Besse, south to Murat, over the Pas de Peyrol under the Puy Mary, and back through Salers and La Bourboule.

Distance
186 miles (299 km)
Type
Loop
Where
Massif Central

Plotted by us, not yet ridden

Click a dot for details. White dots are the stops, each with a bed search. Yellow dots are places to see.

Main roads

M68D68D942D216D983D996D5D149D36D978D678D679D16D436

From the map

Longest gap between fuel
45 miles
Fuel stations near the line
29
Curvature
207 ° a mile
Campsites within 2 km
61

Measured on the route line from OpenStreetMap data, which can be missing or out of date. Curvature is degrees of turning a mile, measured every 100 metres. On our routes they run from 6 on the E19 to 701 on the SP638.

Before you go

  • The Pas de Peyrol road below the Puy Mary is closed in winter, usually until spring. Check before you go.
  • Mountain roads here can be foggy and cold even in summer.

On the way

  1. Clermont-Ferrand
  2. Besse-et-Saint-Anastaise
  3. Pas de Peyrol
  4. Salers
  5. Bort-les-Orgues
  6. Clermont-Ferrand

Split it into days

Pick the miles you like to ride in a day. Each day ends at the named place on the route nearest that distance, and you get a GPX file for each day.

This is your pace, not our estimate of how long the riding takes. Day lengths vary because each day ends at a named place.

Ready to ride it?

Book this trip

Plan it with dates in the tour planner

1Getting there

Most riders cross to Calais by Le Shuttle or a Dover ferry, or take a longer ferry nearer the route.

Compare every crossing

2Places to stay

Split the route into days above and each day gets its own bed search for where it ends.

Back to the days

3Cover

Check your bike insurance covers riding abroad, get travel insurance that covers motorcycling at your engine size, and breakdown cover that recovers a motorcycle in every country on the route.

What to check before you buy cover

The country on this route

What GOV.UK says riders need for it, checked 05/11/2026. Rules change, so read the official page before you go.

France

Money
Euro
Ride on the
Right
  • Riding into central Paris, Lyon, Grenoble or another low emission zone? You need a Crit'Air sticker. Buy it only from the official site (official site)
  • Some mountain areas require winter tyres or chains from 1 November to 31 March: check which vehicles and areas it covers (official site)
  • The drink-drive limit is a third lower than in England and Wales, with regular roadside checks

On every trip abroad: your licence, insurance that covers riding abroad, the V5C and travel insurance with medical cover. The tour planner turns all of this into a checklist each rider in your group can tick off.

Places to see on the way

Castles, passes, viewpoints and more within easy reach of the line, in the order you reach them. Yellow dots on the map.

col de Guéry
Pass · On the route

col de Guéry

Mountain pass in Puy-de-Dôme, France.

Photo: Pymouss, CC BY-SA 4.0
Château de La Trémolière
Castle · On the route

Château de La Trémolière

Château à Anglards-de-Salers (Cantal).

Photo: MOSSOT, CC BY-SA 3.0
Enceinte romaine Clermont-Ferrand
Fort · On the route

Enceinte romaine Clermont-Ferrand

Site archéologique ; fortification à Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme).

Photo: Aavitus, CC BY-SA 4.0

Place details from Wikidata. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each card.