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is the capital of the Allier département in the Auvergne region. It is a fairly provincial town, surrounded by a very green landscape of hilly fields and woods. The town is build on the eastern bank of the Allier river. There are about 40 000 inhabitants and one of the main activities (on top of the various administrations) is tourism.
The town is about one thousand years old and was the capital of the Bourbonnais Duchy, at the time of the kings. Its is the origin of the last French king dynasty. It features numerous historical monuments dating back to the Middle Ages. Most of them are concentrated in the medieval centre, around the "Jacquemart" (the clock tower with its automatons ringing each quarter), the "Malcoiffée" dungeon and the cathedral.
Moulins also provides some very decent restaurants and hotels. It can be reached by train (the station is at the crossing of the Grenoble-Lyon-Nantes and the Paris-Clermont-Ferrand-Béziers lines). But there is also a motorway, the former national road 7, also known as the "holiday road" by most Frenchs. The closiest airport is Clermont Ferrand Aulnat
The region around the town is also particularly appealing, especially for amateurs of bicycle, horse riding or walking tours. The hundreds of small villages scattered over the country are as many base camps for excursions in the nature. Another particularity of this area is the incredible density of castles, the highest in France. A lot of them can be visited and some propose accomodation.