Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes trip planner

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes is a region of France created by the territorial reform of French Regions in 2014; it resulted from the merger of Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes. The new region came into effect on 1 January 2016, after the regional elections in December 2015.The region covers an area of more than 69711km2, making it the third largest in metropolitan France, with a population of 7,695,264, second only to Île-de-France.ToponymyThe text of the territorial reform law gives interim names for most of the merged regions, combining the names of their constituent regions separated by hyphens. Permanent names would be proposed by the new regional councils and confirmed by the Conseil d'État by 1 October 2016.The interim name of the new administrative region was a hyphenated placename, composed of the historic region of Auvergne, the river Rhône, and the French Alps. The same name has been chosen as the definitive name, which was officialized by the Conseil d'État on 28 September 2016.GeographyThe region borders Occitanie and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur to the south, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté to the north, Nouvelle-Aquitaine to the west, Switzerland (Cantons of Geneva, Valais and Vaud) and Italy (Aosta Valley and Piedmont) to the northeast and east. Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes is in France. Take a look at our France day trip planning tool to refine the details of your trip to Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes.