Vulcania
A volcano theme park and museum opened in 2002, 15 kilometres north west of Clermont-Ferrand. It sits among the extinct cones of the Auvergne, and its shows and exhibits explain how volcanoes and the Earth work.
- Where
- Clermont-Ferrand, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
- Grade
- Local gem
- Worth
- 10 points collected on site
- Coordinates
- 45.8136, 2.9403
Get the Vulcania stamp
Open LOQAH when you are at Vulcania. It checks where you are once, at that moment, and the stamp is yours: confirmed on site in gold and struck with the date. It goes into your Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes volume with your photos and a note.
Near Vulcania
Puy de Dôme 4.9 km
A lava dome among the young volcanoes of the Chaîne des Puys, rising above Clermont-Ferrand. A rack railway climbs to the summit, which holds the ruins of a Roman temple to Mercury and looks over dozens of other volcanic cones.
Gouffre de Padirac 141 km
A great chasm in the limestone near Gramat, opening onto an underground river. Visitors go down by stairs and lifts into the pit, then travel by boat through galleries of rock deep below the surface.
Musée des Confluences 146 km
A science and anthropology museum opened in 2014 at the point where the Rhône and the Saône meet. The building is a cloud of steel and glass that seems to float over the water, with collections ranging from natural history to human societies.
Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière 146 km
A white basilica built between 1872 and 1896 on the hill above Lyon, on the site of the old Roman forum that gave the hill its name. Inside, the walls glitter with mosaics, and the terrace beside it looks out over the whole city.
Vieux Lyon 146 km
One of Europe's largest Renaissance quarters, 24 hectares of old streets between Fourvière hill and the Saône. Its three parts, Saint Jean, Saint Paul and Saint Georges, are threaded with traboules, covered passages that cut through the buildings from one street to the next.
Bourges Cathedral 147 km
A cathedral dedicated to Saint Stephen, built from 1195 to 1230 over an earlier Romanesque church. It has no transepts, so its vast double-aisled interior runs unbroken from end to end, lit by some of the finest medieval stained glass in France.
Parc de la Tête d'Or 148 km
Lyon's largest park, about 117 hectares in the 6th arrondissement, with a lake for boating in summer and the city's botanical garden. Joggers and cyclists circle it all year, and a small zoo sits among its lawns.
Cluny Abbey 149 km
The remains of a Benedictine abbey that once led a network of monasteries across Western Europe. Its great church was the largest in Christendom until St Peter's in Rome was rebuilt, and a soaring fragment of its transept still stands over the town.
More hidden gems in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Questions
Where is Vulcania?
Vulcania is in Clermont-Ferrand, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. The nearest other LOQAH stamps are Puy de Dôme (4.9 km), Gouffre de Padirac (141 km), Musée des Confluences (146 km).
How do I get the Vulcania stamp?
Open LOQAH when you are at Vulcania and get its stamp. The app checks where you are once, at that moment, and the stamp goes into your Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes volume, confirmed on site, with the date.
I have been to Vulcania before. Can I still have the stamp?
Yes. Add it from Earlier trips in your Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes volume, with the date if you know it, or import your Google Timeline and LOQAH matches the places you were.
Collect your first stamp.
LOQAH is free on iPhone and Android, in India and 20 more countries, with more countries on the way. Stand at a place, collect its stamp, and keep every trip in a passport that grows.