This département boasts some of the most stunning medieval villages.

The most attractive is probably Lavadieu, all hanging baskets of geraniums in summer with a romanesque cloister. Saint Arcons d’Allier has its own castle and has recently been sympathetically rejuvenated by incorporating most of the village into an hotel. Both villages often don’t make it into the guidebooks.

Brioude is a quiet, provincial town with one of the most beautiful romanesque churches in the Auvergne. The basilica of St Julien has a colourful exterior, a mixture of red sandstone, red and black basalt and pink and grey marble. Inside are 12th century frescoes, the best being in the St Michel chapel. Behind the basilica, the Hôtel de la Dentelle, the lace museum, in a 15th century house is worth a visit.

Twenty five kilometres west of Brioude, the isolated small town of Blesle is being rediscovered as a good “green tourism” base for exploring the interior of the Auvergne. The town was founded around a ninth century Benedictine convent, and the Eglise St Pierre, housing the abbey’s treasure, can be visited in summer.

In the centre of the town, the Donjon des Barons de Mercoeur dates from the 11th century. At nearby Vernassal, there is a small rustic museum dedicated to bees, Le Musée de l’Abeille. There are tastings of honey and mead.

	Le Puy

Another often neglected mention is the abbey church of St Robert in the village of La Chaise Dieu. Behind the tapestries, wall painting of the Danse Macabre and cloister, is the echo room where two people whispering in opposite corners can hear each other perfectly. The architectural device was installed for priests to hear the confessions from lepers, in days when the disease was rife.

The misnamed Monistrol sur Loire is, in fact, about three kilometres from the river. Its episcopal palace is open every day except Sunday afternoon. Nearby is the factory of France-Lames that makes blades for swords and fencing foils. The factory cannot be visited, but there are demonstrations by master craftsmen in the adjoining La Forge et Le Musée de l’Arme Blanche.

The small village of Chavaniac-Lafayette lies in the wooded hills under Mont Briançon, birthplace of La Fayette, the colourful hero who fought with the Americans in the War of Independence. His life is commemorated in Le Château Musée Lafayette, now owned by the American La Fayette Memorial.

Yssingeaux lies to the east in the Velay mountains. Its town hall in Place Maréchal Foch is a small château, previously the summer residence of the bishop of Puy. There is a good view of the Velay range from the hill of St Roch behind the hospital.

The stretch of the river Allier from Brioude to Langeac, is known as the Ribeyre, and is a particularly scenic route on the D16. From Langeac there is a small tourist train that crosses the Allier gorges. The Collégiale St Gal is the most impressive building in the town, built between the 14th and 15th centuries. The Musée du Jacquemart has some good exhibits of the local arts and traditions. For younger children, the Parc de Loisirs de l’Ile d’Amour has a beach, miniature golf, tennis and a canoeing base. It’s a good place for a picnic lunch.

Notre Dame cathedral

The sanctuary town of Le Puy en Velay with its Cathédrale de Notre Dame is one of the wonders of medieval France. Approached from a distance, the town appears to have three peaks topped with a landmark church or statue.

The city of the "black Madonna" - so called because of its many statues of the Virgin Mary originally carved in dark walnut or cedar, which have further blackened from age - continues to attract generous numbers of pilgrims. A special mass is heard every morning for those following the well trodden pilgrims' route which ends at Santiago de Compostela in north west Spain.

At the end of a steeply inclined street, the cathedral with its multiform arches and chequerboard facade indicates the considerable exchange of ideas that went on with Moorish Spain in the 11th and 12th centuries. Inside, the most recent addition is a hanging glass cross. Installed in 1999, it is made from the same glass used for the pyramid entrance in the Louvre, Paris.

In the third week of September the town plays host to the tradition of "The Renaissance of the King of the Birds Festival" a masked and costumed renaissance carnival. More than 4,000 costumed locals, artisans and tourists join in the excuse for festivities which celebrate the skill of the city’s past best archers.