Auvergne…who can describe the first sight of that fair land in the early day, with its innumerable undulations, its banks, its rocks, its soft green pastures, its woods, its dells, its castles, and its thousand streams?
– from The False Heir, by George Payne Rainsford James
Picture this: smiling newlyweds embrace in a parterre garden. Behind them stands a weather-beaten and crenellated building, half-covered in ivy, the last remnant of a long-extinct peerage. Behind that, much further in the distance, something far statelier rises — the verdant Chaîne des Puys. Above it, scarlet-coloured hot air balloons soar in an azure, cloud-dotted sky.
Nothing about this is stuffy or boilerplate. Nothing has been airbrushed. The joy in the couple’s eyes, like the landscape around them, is real and frisson-inducing. This image only captures a spectrum of Auvergne’s many-splendoured appeal as a wedding destination. Here are a few reasons why the region is one of the best places to get married.

Castles — and villas — for every preference
Just as Auvergne’s volcanoes are the products of ancient clashes of fire and rock, the region’s abundant castles are the outgrowths of thousands of years of revolutions and wars. Each has its own history: a story of a unrequited love, a tale of a mad count, a legend of a sorcerer’s curse. You can find it all in Auvergne. And yet each castle is markedly different from the other. Some like the Chateâu des Martinaches, are romantically moated manors, nestled away in the woods. Others, like the Chateâu Royal de Saint-Saturnin or Chateâu de Maulmont, stretch out proudly beneath he sun, like the French royals who once owned them. “You have a fantastic concentration of castles here,” Sebastien Yepes, director of the Chateâu Royal, told Visit Auvergne. “It’s very eclectic.”





Majestic landscapes to explore
Thousands of years ago, the Roman senator Sidonius Apollinaris wrote that Auvergne’s beauty could make a man forget his “own country“. Today that still rings true. In one day alone, you could relax on a beach in Vichy, have lunch under the shade of cypress trees in Auvergne’s Tuscany, and then zoom off past mirror-like lakes to an alpine chalet in the Sancy mountains. According to Virgile Jonard and Caroline Capossela, owners of the Chateâu de Longevergne in Cantal, Auvergne’s rich landscapes offer authenticity and “depth of feeling”, providing the ideal setting to “share an unforgettable moment with your loved ones”.

At times, Auvergne’s geography can seem unreal — like something out of a fantasy novel . “Auvergne is the Middle-Earth of France,” Yepes said. “You can see many different views and types of mountains, plains, and, vegetation depending on the valley you are in.” Yepes isn’t the only one to hold this view. In 2021, Elijah Wood, who played Frodo in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings film series, specifically said parts of Auvergne “genuinely look like Middle-Earth”.
Farm-to-table cuisine
Auvergne’s nutrient-rich pastures as well as its biodiversity have done wonders for the region’s local cuisine. In addition to its world-famous Salers beef and its flavourful cheeses — such as Ambert, Saint-Nectaire, and the garlicky Gaperon — Auvergne also boasts a variety of prunelles and other stone fruits. Creative chefs have taken advantage of these natural resources, delicately weaving them into their menus — much to the great pleasure of their clientele. Auvergne’s more high-end restaurants include Le Pré (Clermont-Ferrand), Origines (Le Broc), and the atmospheric Restaurant Marcon (Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid). Founded by the gastronomic maestro Régis Marcon, Restaurant Marcon forms a key part of Maisons Marcon, an expansive resort, wellness centre, and cookery school.
Volcanic wine
Nurtured by basaltic soils, Auvergne has long been known for its volcanic, smooth-textured wines. The purple-coloured gamay is the region’s dominant grape variety. There are numerous wine producers in Auvergne and some — such as Domaine Miolanne and Domaine Sauvat — offer immersive tasting experiences. These dégustations, which can include musical storytelling and even sophrology sessions, can be great in the days leading up to or following a wedding. Spring and autumn, arguably the best seasons to get married in Auvergne, are the optimal time for these tasting sessions.

Location, Location, Location
Conveniently, direct flights will run between London and Clermont-Ferrand starting from March 2025. Other practical ways to reach Auvergne from the UK include taking a direct flight from London to Brive-la-Gaillarde and then driving to Cantal, or flying to Lyon and then taking the SNCF train to Clermont.
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