Thermes du Mont-Dore

Thermes du Mont-Dore draws bicarbonated mineral springs at the foot of Puy de Sancy, the highest summit of the Massif Central, in a Belle Epoque spa town set in the volcanic landscape of the Auvergne where the geological formation known as phonolite, a volcanic rock that resonates like a bell when struck, creates a mineral composition in the spring water unlike any other thermal source in France. The thermal complex itself, built between 1817 and 1900 in a grand Napoleonic III style with its columned hall, its pump room, and its theatrical bathing gallery, is one of the finest examples of nineteenth-century French thermal architecture, its ornate interiors home to a long tradition of inhalation rituals in a climate where the altitude of 1,050 metres and the pine forest air complement the spring water's distinctive character. Le Mont-Dore sits at the heart of the Parc des Volcans d'Auvergne, the largest regional park in France, whose eighty dormant volcanic cones, crater lakes, and lava plateaux create one of Europe's most extraordinary geological landscapes directly accessible from the spa town's walking trails.