Introduction and site map for Walking in the Cantal mountains

The site is divided into six sections. "General walking in France" covers footpaths and walking precautions; "The Cantal" describes the area, its features and topography; "Accommodation" describes what is available and how to find details; "Food and drink" gives the specialities of food, cheese and wine; "Other activities" gives examples of other active pursuits possible; "Cantal walks" recommends walk starting points and suggests a number of day circular walks.

"General walking in France" is a brief introduction to the French footpath system and lists some precautions, particularly for mountain walking.

Precautions 2

Food and

drink,

cattle,

walker's

code.

The Cantal is the southern part of the Auvergne Volcanoes National Park. It was originally the largest volcano in Europe. It is now a region of mountains, valleys and ridges. There are a number of major Grande Randonnée footpaths in the area plus many local tracks and paths. The area and its many varied walking attractions are described in "The Cantal" which includes The Auvergne Volcanoes National Park with details on The region plus Features and Topography .

Details on the geography, geology, agricultural history and flora and fauna of the Cantal are in the website "Cantal Volcanic Views".

As well as the superb walking in the Cantal, most people will be interested in the other essentials for enjoying a stay in the area. We discuss Accommodation in general, particularly camp-sites, chambres d'hôte, gîtes, gîtes d'étape and hotels. Details on the key villages in the area are given with special reference to St.Jacques des Blats, a suitable and convenient centre for walking and other activities. Appropriate links are included in the text to sites dealing with the relevant means of accommodation.

Other items of essential interest to visitors are the food and drink available locally. Many of the traditional dishes of the area are described in food ("Tripoux", "Truffade", "Aligot" etc.) with separate pages for the very well-known cheeses (Cantal, Salers, Bleu d'Auvergne, Fourme d'Ambert etc.) and the less well-known wines of the Auvergne.

Walking is clearly a major activity in the Cantal but there are many other sporting and sightseeing activities available. Information is given on facilities and sights plus some special local activities.

The walks discussed here are a long distance circular tour of the Cantal plus a variety of day/ half day circular walks from a number of starting points. In the latter case all the walks start from places with adequate parking facilities. Details are given below for the four day walking pages.

of possible walks from Col du Pertus and Thiézac.