Le Puy Travel Guide, France

Le Puy– Travel guideLe Puy - Travel guide- Facts

With more then 800, 000 visitors a year, Puy-en-Velay is situated in the south-east of the Massif Central Mountains, in the region of Auvergne, at 514 km from Paris and 75 kilometers from Saint-Etienne. It is an exceptional site where the town and the volcanic site combine in perfect harmony.

A prefecture, Puy-en-Velay has a population of 19,300 inhabitants, being an important commercial, administrative, educational, cultural and sportive crossroads, whose dynamism emerges in the entire department of Haute-Loire.

Le Puy - Travel guide – A place of Arts and Religion

Puy-en-Velay is the starting place for many Christians on their pilgrimage road to Saint James of Compostela in Spain. It is also a visit and congress place, in the heart of a department with various landscapes, offering many outdoor activities, visits of Roman structures, all in a region sheltered from pollution. That is not to say that the city is dead, not at all. The numerous animations use the local patrimony and the street arts give rhythm to seasons. The festivals (Le Festival de la Chaise-Dieu, Les Musicales, le Festival de Folklore, les Fêtes du Roi de l'Oiseau) attract each year thousands of participants and viewers.

Le Puy - Travel guide – How to Get There

By plane: Le Puy-en-Velay - Loudes aerodrome is at 10 minutes from the city, with correspondences to national and international lines. By train: there are many trains from Lyon, Saint-Etienne, Clermont-Ferrand and a TGV from Saint-Etienne (Paris at 4h15). By highway: RN 88 European Highway Lyon-Toulouse RN 102. From Paris: 514 km, Lyon: 134 Km, Clermont-Ferrand: 132 Km and Saint-Etienne: 75Km.

Le Puy - Travel guide – Where to Stay

Whether you are here for a longer stay or you are yourself a pilgrim, there are different accommodation choices. 3 star hotels with a restaurant: Christel, Regina, Hotel du Parc; 2 star hotels with a restaurant: Bristol, Ibis Saint-Laurent, le Val Vert, Le Bilboquet. Dyke Hotel, Ibis Centre Ville, Saint-Jacques; 2 star hotels with no restaurant and 1 star hotel Etap and Le Regional. If you prefer bed and breakfast, there are many self-catering cottages around the city. For the young, Auberge de Jeunesse – Youth Hostel – with 72 beds is waiting for them. For motor caravans and hikers there is a 2 star Camping Bouthezard. There is also an accommodation possibility in the seminary in Grand Seminaire Saint-George with 200 beds available during holidays.