Clermont-Ferrand & Around Getting there & around

Getting there & away

Land

Bus

The bus station (04 73 93 13 61; place Gambetta) has an efficient information office.

Bus 73 runs to Riom (€4, 25 to 45 minutes, nine daily) and bus 1 serves Thiers (€8, 1¼ hours, eight daily). For Vichy, you’re better to travel by train.

Linebus (04 73 34 81 16; 10am-7pm Mon-Sat), with a kiosk at the bus station, runs to many cities in Spain. For other European destinations, consult Eurolines (04 73 29 70 05; 82 blvd François Mitterand).

Car & motorcycle

Car-rental agencies:

Avis town (04 73 91 72 94); airport (04 73 91 18 08)

Europcar town (04 73 92 70 26); airport (04 73 91 18 07)

Hertz town (0 825 845 220); airport (04 73 62 71 93)

Train

Clermont-Ferrand is the Massif Central’s most important rail junction. It has two boutiques SNCF (ticketing offices; 0 892 353 535; 43 rue du 11 Novembre & 80 blvd François Mitterand).

Major destinations include Paris’ Gare de Lyon (€43.10, 3½ hours, six to nine daily) and Lyon (€24.30 via St-Étienne, three hours, more than 10 daily). The route through the Gorges de l’Allier to Nîmes (€34, 4¾ hours, two or three daily) via Langeac (€14.10) and Monistrol d’Allier (€17.10), known as Le Cévenol, is one of the most scenic in France.

Short-haul trains run to/from Le Mont-Dore (€11.20, 1¼ hours, four or five daily), Le Puy-en-Velay (€19.30, 2¼ hours, four daily), Murat (€16.30, 1½ hours, four to seven daily), Riom (€2.80, 10 minutes, frequent), Vichy (€8.50, 40 minutes, frequent) and Thiers (€7.40, 45 minutes, eight to 10 daily).

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Air

Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne airport (04 73 62 71 00), a major Air France hub for domestic and European flights, is 7km east of the city centre. An airport bus (04 73 84 72 57; adult one-way €4) runs four to seven times daily, stopping at the bus and train stations.

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