Best Day Trips from Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 2026

Chamonix and Aiguille du Midi from Lyon

Chamonix sits at the foot of Mont Blanc and is the base for the Aiguille du Midi cable car, which climbs to just over 3,800m and puts you on a viewing platform and glass skywalk looking straight across the Mont Blanc massif. The town itself is a working alpine resort rather than a museum piece, with mountaineering shops and guide offices lining the main street. A day here is really about the cable car ride and the altitude, not the town.

Highlights: Aiguille du Midi cable car (3,842 m): two-stage ascent to panoramic terraces above the snowline with 360-degree views of the Mont Blanc massif and surrounding Alps · Mer de Glace: Europe's largest glacier, accessible by the historic Montenvers cog railway from Chamonix town centre (approx €30 round trip) · Step Into the Void glass-floored viewing box suspended 1,000 metres above the Chamonix Valley at the summit terrace · Balcon Sud trail: accessible mountain walk with unobstructed Mont Blanc views, no cable car required · Old town of Chamonix: glacier-view restaurant terraces, Musée Alpin, and specialist alpine outdoor shops

Annecy and Lac d'Annecy from Lyon

Annecy's old town is built around canals fed by the Thiou river, with arcaded stone houses and the Palais de l'Isle sitting on its own island in the water. The lake beyond it is one of the cleanest large lakes in Europe, ringed by mountains, and the paths along its edge make for an easy walk or bike ride. It's a compact, walkable day trip that combines a historic center with time by the water.

Highlights: Canal du Thiou and Vieille Ville: medieval canal quarter with the Palais de l'Isle prison island and arcaded Rue Sainte-Claire market street · Lac d'Annecy: one of Europe's cleanest natural lakes with sandy beaches, kayak hire, and lake cruise departures from the town quay · Château d'Annecy: hillside fortress with panoramic lake views housing the Musée Régional d'Annecy (€6 entry) · Lakeside cycle path to Talloires: 14 km flat route through waterfront villages, bike hire available near the station (approx €12–15 half-day) · Covered market on Rue Sainte-Claire: local Savoyard produce, freshwater fish, and regional cheeses (Tue–Sun mornings)

Beaujolais Wine Route from Lyon

Beaujolais is the granite-hill wine region immediately north of Lyon, known for gamay grapes and for the ten named crus like Morgon and Fleurie that sit above the simpler Beaujolais-Villages designation. Unlike the more manicured chateaux of Bordeaux, this is a landscape of small villages and family-run domaines, so a day trip here is about driving or cycling between low hills of vines and stopping at individual cellars rather than one grand estate.

Highlights: Beaujolais Crus: ten named villages (Morgon, Fleurie, Moulin-à-Vent, Juliénas, Brouilly) producing the region's most distinctive Gamay wines · Cave coopérative tastings: free or low-cost dégustation at village cooperatives throughout the Crus zone · Via Rhôna cycle route: flat EuroVelo 17 path following the Saône northward through vineyards from Belleville-sur-Saône · Beaujolais Nouveau release: annual street festival on the third Thursday of November, centred on Beaujeu and Villefranche-sur-Saône · Historic village of Beaujeu: former capital of Beaujolais with a Romanesque church and wine museum in the old town

Gorges de l'Ardèche from Lyon

Highlights: Pont d'Arc: natural limestone arch spanning 60 metres across the Ardèche river, accessible via a 20-minute walk from the main car park · D290 panoramic rim road: 30 km cliff-top route with six official belvederes overlooking canyon walls rising to 300 metres · Canoe descent: half-day and full-day paddling routes through the gorge from €20 per person, suitable for beginners · Caverne du Pont d'Arc: authorised replica of the UNESCO-listed Chauvet Cave with 36,000-year-old Palaeolithic art (€13; pre-booking required) · River beaches: secluded sandy beaches inside the gorge, accessible by canoe and offering swimming and picnic spots

Grenoble and Bastille Fort from Lyon

Grenoble sits in a bowl surrounded by three mountain ranges - the Chartreuse, Vercors and Belledonne - and the Bastille fort on the hill above the old town gives the clearest view of all three at once. The cable car up to it, the Bastille Telepherique, is itself a local landmark, running in bubble-shaped cars known locally as the Boules de Noel. The city below has a university-town feel with a walkable old center.

Highlights: Fort de la Bastille: 19th-century hilltop fortress at 476 m offering panoramic views of three surrounding mountain ranges — Chartreuse, Belledonne, and Vercors · Les Bulles cable cars: transparent-gondola cars from Quai Stéphane Jay, the oldest urban cable car line in France (1934), approx €8.50 return · Musée de Grenoble: major French art museum with works by Matisse, Picasso, Monet, and Chagall (€8 entry; Place Lavalette) · Old town walk: Place Grenette, Grande Rue, and the Cathedral of Notre-Dame surrounded by medieval streetscapes and local brasseries · Parc Guy Pape trail: 40-minute hillside descent from the fort through forested gardens back to the Isère riverbank

Vercors Plateau from Grenoble

Highlights: Pont-en-Royans: dramatic village with historic painted houses suspended over the Bourne gorge on the western Vercors escarpment · Grottes de Choranche: stalactite cave system with cave pool and rare cave-dwelling proteus salamanders (approx €10; pre-booking recommended in summer) · Grandes Goulets: road tunnelled through sheer limestone canyon walls — one of the most dramatic driving routes in southeastern France · Mémorial de la Résistance du Vercors at Vassieux: free museum documenting the 1944 German assault on the plateau resistance fighters · Griffon vulture colony: reintroduced birds soaring above the western Vercors escarpment, visible from viewpoints near Baume Rousse

Puy de Dôme and Clermont-Ferrand from Lyon

The Puy de Dome is the best-known of the Chaine des Puys volcanoes that run along the skyline west of Clermont-Ferrand, and a rack railway (the Panoramique des Domes) now carries visitors to its summit instead of the old toll road. From the top on a clear day you can see much of the volcanic chain laid out below. Clermont-Ferrand itself, built largely from dark local volcanic stone, is a distinctive base for the trip, most visible in its black-stone cathedral.

Highlights: Puy de Dôme summit (1,465 m): extinct volcanic cone offering 360-degree Auvergne panoramas and views across the full UNESCO Chaîne des Puys chain · Panoramique des Dômes rack railway: 15-minute scenic ascent from Pont de Nid d'Aigle to the summit (approx €15 return) · Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption: unique Gothic cathedral built entirely from black Volvic volcanic stone in Clermont-Ferrand old town · Chaîne des Puys UNESCO World Heritage Site: 80 volcanic cones, craters, and lava domes forming one of the world's best-preserved Cenozoic volcanic landscapes · Aventure Michelin museum: history of the tyre company through vintage vehicles, posters, and manufacturing exhibits (approx €12 entry)

Tain-l'Hermitage Wine Tasting from Lyon

Tain-l'Hermitage sits on the Rhone opposite Tournon, directly below the steep Hermitage hill whose terraced vineyards produce some of the northern Rhone's best-regarded syrah and marsanne wines. The town is small and easily covered on foot, built around its river frontage and the Cave de Tain cooperative, with the vineyard slope itself climbing straight up behind it. It's a compact trip suited to a half-day of tasting rather than a full day of sightseeing.

Highlights: Hermitage hill vineyards: 136-hectare granitic hillside Syrah appellation — one of France's smallest and most prestigious AOCs, walkable from the town centre · Cave de Tain cooperative: walk-in wine shop and tasting counter with Crozes-Hermitage and Hermitage wines from approx €10 per bottle · Cité du Chocolat Valrhona: interactive chocolate experience at the historic Valrhona factory (free entry to exhibition; workshops from €15 per person) · Tournon-sur-Rhône: medieval town across the suspension footbridge with Château de Tournon and riverside gardens (free entry) · Hermitage hill walk: 30-minute marked path from town to vineyard viewpoint overlooking the Rhône valley and Ardèche hills

Le Puy-en-Velay from Lyon

Le Puy-en-Velay sits in a volcanic basin in the Haute-Loire, its old town built up around two dramatic volcanic plugs: one crowned by the Chapelle Saint-Michel d'Aiguilhe, the other by the Rocher Corneille and its red statue of Notre-Dame de France. It is also the traditional starting point of the Via Podiensis, the GR65 pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostela, so you will share the streets with walkers setting off with backpacks and scallop shells. A day here covers a Romanesque cathedral, two volcanic outcrops, and the old lace and lentil trades that still define the town's shops.

Highlights: Chapelle Saint-Michel d'Aiguilhe: 10th-century Romanesque chapel atop a vertical basalt needle 82 m high, reached by 268 rock-cut steps (€5 entry) · Cathédrale Notre-Dame du Puy: UNESCO-inscribed Romanesque cathedral and start point of the Via Podiensis pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostela · Rocher Corneille: volcanic summit with 16-metre Notre-Dame de France cast-iron statue offering panoramic views over the Velay volcanic landscape (€3 entry) · Lentilles vertes du Puy AOC: regionally produced green lentils of exceptional quality, available in local markets and traditional brasseries · Musée Crozatier: collection of historical Puy bobbin lace, regional fine art, and natural history (€5 entry; Place Crozatier)

Geneva, Switzerland from Lyon

Geneva is a lakeside city built around diplomacy and precision: the Jet d'Eau marks the point where Lake Geneva narrows into the Rhône, the Old Town climbs the hill above it around St. Pierre Cathedral, and the international district to the north hosts the UN's European headquarters. It is also a border crossing into Switzerland, so travellers should carry a passport or ID and expect Swiss franc pricing rather than euros. A day trip here means covering a foreign currency, a different transport system, and a city that runs noticeably more expensive than Lyon.

Highlights: Jet d'Eau: Geneva's 140-metre water jet on Lac Léman, visible from across the city and best viewed from the Quai Gustave-Ador lakeside promenade · Vieille Ville and Cathédrale Saint-Pierre: Calvin's Reformation cathedral with free ground-floor entry and tower panoramas (CHF 5 for tower access) · CERN Microcosm exhibition: free interactive science exhibition at the European particle physics laboratory near Meyrin (tram 18 from Cornavin, 35 min) · Horloge Fleurie: floral clock in the Jardin Anglais on the lakefront promenade between Cornavin and the Old Town (free to view) · Carouge quarter: bohemian 18th-century neighbourhood with independent cafés and lower-priced restaurants, 30 minutes from Cornavin by tram