Your Holiday in the Livradois-Forez region
Discover the beautiful landscape of the Auvergne and the many activities it has to offer during your stay in Ambert at the heart of the Livradois-Forez Regional Nature Park.
Visit the Livradois-Forez Tourist Office website for more information.
“Nature-based” activities
- The sentier des papetiers
This walking and running trail is an ideal way of discovering the remains of the Livradois-Forez paper mills.
This circular route, which starts at Valeyre and passes through the Moulin de Nouara, winds its way through the valleys of the Valeyre and Lagat streams just outside Ambert.
The walk lasts for around 2½ hours and is suitable for families.
- Livradois-Forez Rando: Smartphone App
An invitation to come and explore, this app helps you plan walks in the Livradois-Forez region: tips, descriptions, illustrations, routes shown on a map and in 3D are all freely available for download.
It is user-friendly and comprehensive, offers a range of useful and innovative features and is free for all users.
All the fun of the mountains at any time of year!
Visit the Parc de Prabouré, where you can discover the remarkable natural riches of the Forez mountains as you enjoy unique thrills.
110 metres up among the peaks, and gripping a scooter or clinging onto rocks, you can experience a very different kind of encounter with Mother Nature!
In winter, the Prabouré ski resort offers an opportunity to enjoy the thrill of downhill skiing on its seven runs for skiers of all levels.
- Val Dore leisure centre
A lake, play areas, a fitness trail, picnic areas, a skate park, a basketball court… there’s no shortage of activities in this magnificent, wooded park.
- Tourist train and rail bikes: Agrivap
Tourist train: with its 42 km of viaducts, tunnels, streams and splendid views of the Livradois region, the railway line between Ambert and La Chaise-Dieu offers a panoply of protected landscapes that will charm everyone who travels on it.
Hop on board for an exciting and enjoyable train ride.
Sit back and explore nature in an authentic and relaxed atmosphere.
Rail bikes: head out for an original trip through unspoilt nature.
Come with the family or in a group and enjoy an amazing ride along an old railway line.
Visit Ambert’s star attractions
- The Maison de la Fourme d’Ambert et des Fromages d’Auvergne
Love cheese? Then you’ll be in seventh heaven at this museum which is housed in a beautiful 14th century building.
You can watch Fourme d’Ambert cheese being made, visit the maturing cellar to see the five AOP Auvergne cheeses – and try a few samples before you leave.
The Fourmofolies event at the beginning of August showcases this unique gastronomic heritage.
- Le Moulin Richard de Bas
The Moulin Richard de Bas is the Auvergne’s last operational “paper mill”.
The mill is a museum that still produces paper for publishers, artists and lovers of fine paper. France’s first living history museum, it was listed as a Historic Monument in 1983 and was awarded ‘Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant’ status in 2020.
- La Manufacture d’images
Still in connection with the papermaking tradition of the Ambert basin, the Manufacture d’Images is a fascinating space devoted to printing, micropublishing and many other paper-based arts.
In addition to its workshops (silkscreen printing, etching, lino cutting, typography and wood engraving), the Manufacture d’Images welcomes visitors to its gallery and art library, and also stages temporary exhibitions relating to printing and paper.
- Ambert town centre and its heritage
Ambert is a pretty town in a beautiful natural setting, and its centre also boasts some fine monuments to admire as you stroll around its streets and alleyways.
Ambert’s stand-out attraction has to be its unique circular town hall.
Originally built as a corn exchange in the 19th century, it became Ambert Town Hall in 1827 and was listed as a Historic Monument in 1975.
Another building worth visiting is the Église Saint-Jean, which was built in the 15th century. It boasts stunning Gothic architecture and a magnificent 55-metre-high Renaissance belltower.
The Mandrin tower, the Père Gaschon chapel, and the Notre Dame de Layre chapel are other must-see attractions.
Cultural and artistic day trips during your stay
- Le Bief Cultural Centre
The Le Bief cultural centre is a multidisciplinary space for artistic expression that organises a packed year-round programme of events.
With its exhibitions, live shows and off-site events, Le Bief has become an institution in the Ambert Livradois-Forez region.
- Nouara Cultural Centre
Since its launch in 2022, the Moulin de Nouara cultural centre has further enriched the cultural life of the region, adding its own events to those already offered at Le Bief.
Over the summer, between April and October, you can enjoy shows and concerts on a different theme each month in an auditorium with excellent acoustics.
The centre regularly hosts exhibitions, particularly at the end of an artist’s period in residence.
- NB: people staying in Nouara’s guest rooms and gites are entitled to reduced ticket prices for events at the cultural centre. View the programme of events at Nouara
- Ambert en scène
Like the Nouara cultural centre, Ambert en Scène was launched in 2022.
With its three performance spaces, this new venue invites you to come and enjoy a range of different cultural events (music, dance, poetry, comedy, etc.).
- Ambert Festival: World dance & music festival
Combining world dance and a high-quality programme of concerts, this festival is now a not-to-be-missed event every year in July!
The Ambert festival was first held in 1989 and has already played host to more than 7,000 artists from around the world.
And if contemporary music is your thing, major stars such as Cali, Sinsemilia, Imany and Boulevard des Airs come here every year to perform around the Ambert lake.
- Passage Kim En Joong
The South Korean artist and priest Kim En Joong is very fond of the town of Ambert where he once stayed and created some of his prolific oeuvre.
The Passage Kim En Joong gallery is dedicated to him and features more than 100 works by this artist who exhibits his work in every corner of the globe.
Further afield
Only a few kilometres from Ambert, you can explore the Livradois-Forez region’s many attractions: the medieval town of Thiers (France’s cutlery capital for six centuries), Lezoux artisanal pottery and ceramics in Billom, or the incredible Gothic heritage of La Chaise-Dieu.
For more information visit:
www.vacances-livradois-forez.com .