Sporting activities in the Cantal

Whilst the Cantal is a paradise for hill walkers it obviously has other activities to offer and much to see.

The winter sports station at Super Lioran offers opportunities for other activities in summer, as well as downhill and cross-country skiing in winter. The cable car to the top of Plomb du Cantal leaves from there and there are mountain bike hire facilities close to the cable car station. Paragliding is posible locally.

Many villages have tennis and mini-golf facilities and some of the larger villages have swimming pools and sports complexes. Murat has a covered swimming pool and Laveissière and Vic sur Cère have open air pools in the summer.

Fishing is possible in most of the local rivers and information and packaged week ends are available from many hotels. A few kilometres south of St.Flour is the Lac de Garabit-Grandval which offers lake fishing facilities and is a water sports centre.

For levels of excitement varying from relatively gentle to totally scary the "Lioran Aventure" park is a must. This is a series of high level obstacle courses built in the forest at Super Lioran. The courses are colour-coded from yellow (for "small adventurers") through green and red to black ("no limits"). Details are available on the "Lioran Aventure" web site.

A much more sedate but exhilarating day out is the "Velorail" at Allanche in the Cézallier. Pedal-powered bogeys are run on the old railway lines of the area (some used for the transhumance in the past i.e. moving cattle to the higher pastures). The tours vary from 7km in distance to a grand tour of 36km. The Velorail is a most interesting way of seeing the sights of the area with some exercise! Details are available on the "Velorail" web site.