10 places in France you won’t want to miss

From soaring mountains to sparkling coastlines to medieval hilltop villages, France has something for everyone. Here are 10 places that stand out.

Mar 14, 2025 - 02:56

10 places in France you won’t want to miss

Where to start when it comes to planning a trip to France? After all, the country is an unapologetically gourmet, cultural and artistic titan of Europe – and the world.

From vertiginous peaks and narrow valleys in the French Alps and Pyrenees to sun-spangled blue vistas and chiseled cliffs along the country’s 4853km (3015 miles) of coastline, l’Hexagone (as the French call their six-sided country, which borders eight neighbors in western Europe) is endowed with remarkable natural treasures. Pair this with an astonishing range of human creations – ancient Roman towns, art-rich cities, a capital that is the last word in romance, and rural, jack-in-the-box hilltop villages – and you’d need years to really see it all.

To ensure a sweet taste of French art de vivre, count on moving slowly between map pins – by train, bicycle or car in rural regions. Spend days rather than just hours in each place, and factor in ample time for perusing open-air markets, dégustation (tasting) with growers and endless lunch lazing.

In between sightseeing and activities, here are the 10 best places to do just that.

1. Lorraine

Best for history geeks (and for something different)

Few linger in Lorraine in northeastern France, an industrial region with ample contemporary allure. History buffs naturally gravitate to Verdun’s WWI battlefields and the well-marked Remembrance Circuit, a 25km (15-mile) driving and cycling route along the Somme River, where one of WWI’s bloodiest battles was fought in 1916.

But there’s so much more here that enthralls and thrills. Art-loving types can admire the striking Centre Pompidou in Metz, and Nancy’s wondrous art nouveau architecture and neoclassical central square, best soaked up over alfresco coffee or an early evening apéro (predinner drink). Take an after-dark guided tour Parc du Haut Fourneau U4 ironworks in Uckange (we’d forgive you for thinking you’re in a sci-fi movie), and experience bucolic green escapes in the gloriously people-empty Hautes-Vosges mountains. Embrace the quiet – and difference.

An aerial view of people in summer walking along the walls of a castle. A turret is visible to the right of the image, and a forested valley beyond.

2. Rocamadour

Best for a hilltop-village family adventure

The Luberon in Provence is renowned for its flush of hilltop villages (gourmet favorite Bonnieux, château-capped Lacoste, and the scenic hike from lavender-stitched Abbaye de Sénanque to eagle-nest Gordes are undeniably gorgeous). Yet moving west, it is the less-fabled Lot where the tourist horde suddenly dissipates, and the natural grandeur and majesty of medieval villages strategically perched atop vertical crags and outcrops take rightful center stage.

Cliff-hanger Rocamadour, an ancient stop on the epic pilgrimage route from Rome to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, has the epicurean bonus of producing its own eponymous cheese. It’s crafted on goat farms such as La Borie d’Imbert, which opens its doors to the fromage-curious and goat-loving kids. Pair with tree trampolining (yes, really) at Saute-Mouton and wild swimming from pebble beaches along the frisky Lot and Dordogne rivers for an guaranteed, no-holds-barred family adventure.

Floor-to-ceiling shelving displays hundreds of wine bottles for sale in the shop inside La Cité du Vin wine museum.

3. Bordeaux

Best region for wine tasting

Dégustation (tasting) is an essential part of daily life in France’s celebrated wine regions: Burgundy, Bordeaux, Champagne, Alsace, the Loire and Rhône Valleys, Provence and Languedoc. But it’s the handsome wine city of Bordeaux – where in the 15th century English merchants rolled barrels of claret (red wine) from quayside to ship, and winegrowers stunned the world with mind-blowing Médoc and St-Émilion reds three centuries on – that pairs top-drawer vintages with easily accessible visits around ancestral estates.

Memorable stops on a tasting grand tour around Bordeaux include the “Guggenheim of wine,” La Cité du Vin; a wine flight at the superlative Bar à Vin, inside Maison du Vin de Bordeaux; and backstage cellar tours at Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion in the city, and out of town at Château Lynches-Bages.

Planning tip: Reserve cellar tours and lunch tables well in advance. In St-Émilion, you can dine among sun-soaked vines at Château Troplong-Mondot’s Les Belles Perdrix vineyard restaurant. In the Médoc, Nomade is the wine lover’s gourmet secret.

People on the ridge of a giant dune by the sea at sunset.

4. Arcachon

Best for old-school seaside charm

Artists fell for the shimmering blues, grays and greens of northern France’s Côte d’Opale in the 19th century, and the Côte d’Azur’s golden light in the 20th. Neither has lost its razzle-dazzle. Yet for retro chic, Arcachon on the Atlantic Coast might be France’s coastal masterpiece. A deep, golden-sand beach laces the seafront of this unpretentious seaside town in the southwest, with four quarters named after the seasons and a shoal of tasty seafood restaurants serving locally farmed oysters. (Reserve a table at Chez Pierre.)

Lingering for several days? Pair bucket-and-spade beach days with a coastal two-wheel spin to Europe’s mightiest sand dune, Dune du Pilat, and a boat trip across the bay to Cap Ferret, with a storybook lighthouse to clamber up, pine-scented beaches to surf and a traditional oyster-farming village to explore. If sea kayaking rocks your boat, paddle with Arcachon Kayak Aventure to Île aux Oiseaux, a chameleon of a bird island that almost disappears at high tide.

People walk on a stone path through a lakebed in a mountain valley. Rocky peaks hugged by clouds rise sharply from the valley.

5. Parc National de la Vanoise

Best for hiking and wildlife encounters

Fizzing with adrenaline and natural beauty, France’s oldest national park encompasses 529 sq km (204 sq miles) of mountain peaks, glaciers and pastoral valleys in the French Alps. World-class ski resorts Val d’Isère and Tignes (both open from late November to April) are household names, particularly among powder addicts and springtime skiers. But it’s the hundreds of miles of summertime hiking trails (including the mythical GR5 from Lake Geneva in Haute-Savoie to Nice on the Mediterranean) and wildlife-watching opportunities that pack the real punch.

Well-marked trails unfurl beneath 107 mighty peaks above 3000m (9842ft), which are home to France’s largest colony of wild ibex. Don’t miss the dramatic day hike to Lac des Vaches (“Lake of Cows”), a lake at an altitude of 2318m (7605ft) that doubles as pasture for grazing cows in August, when the lake completely dries up. Other months, you can “walk on water” across a 210m-long (689ft) path of stone slabs traversing its moraine-fringed length.

Planning tip: Pick up park information and trail maps at the Maison du Parc in the small Alpine village of Pralognan-la-Vanoise, a 1½-hour drive from Chambéry in Savoie.

An aerial view of a train on a track passing through a dense city on the sea. Houses are seen on the hills rising from the waterfront. The water in the sea by the beach is deep blue.

6. Côte d’Azur

Best for train travel (and winter sunshine)

When the urge hits to rattle past a cinematic mirage of vineyards, fruit orchards and indigo-blue water, ride the rails aboard a slow train along the Côte d’Azur (“Azure Coast”). Beach-blessed stops on the coastal route along the Mediterranean between unsung Hyères and Italianate Menton (lemons galore!) include red-carpet Cannes, Picasso’s Antibes, ochre-hued fishing village Villefranche-sur-Mer, the seaside wedge of hilltop village Èze, and Monaco, the world’s second-smallest (and probably most glamorous) country. Embrace lazy beach days, lively bar nights, sensational modern-art museums, historic gardens and open-air markets in spades.

The ultimate train journey south? A couchette in a sleeper aboard the revived Train Bleu (“Blue Train”) from Paris to Nice, beloved by 19th-century hivernants (winter vacationers). From 1896 onward, they began arriving in the Riviera capital by train in search of warmth, sunshine and nourishing sea air.

Planning tip: Pair coastal train trips with an inland rail adventure: to the perfume-making town of Grasse, off-grid into Côte d’Azur backcountry on the Train des Merveilles (“Train of Marvels”), or back in time from Nice to Digne-les-Bains aboard the narrow-gauge Train des Pignes.

An aerial view of beautiful white-chalk cliffs and islets rising from the sea

7. Normandy

Best region for art fiends and foodies

From prehistoric cave art at Lascaux to the Louvre’s Mona Lisa, France’s illustrious art portfolio spans all eras and genres. In northern France, Normandy’s extraordinary light inspired the artists who developed impressionism. French painter Claude Monet painted and repainted Rouen’s masterpiece cathedral obsessively in the late 19th century; ditto for the sunrise in the UNESCO-listed port town Le Havre and backyard water lilies at his flowery country estate in Giverny.

Admire impressionism’s many Norman subjects from all angles on an art lover’s pilgrimage. Set up your easel to capture Étretat’s iconic white chalk cliffs on canvas. Wade across sand at low tide to visit Gothic abbey Mont St-Michel. Hop between art galleries in fashionable Honfleur and among oyster beds in the picture-postcard fishing village of St-Vaast-la-Hougue. And don’t slice off Camembert from your itinerary: a visit to the village’s Ferme du Champ Secret – where rounds of buttery AOP Camembert cheese are still made with unpasteurized milk fresh from the farm’s herd of Normande cows – is unforgettable.

Two cyclists in athletic gear rest by a bike path on a river. An ornate château stands across the river.

8. The Loire Valley

Best for romantic château-hopping

No place does châteaux like France. For first-timers, the château-strewn Loire Valley – an hour’s hop by train from Paris, to Tours – assures instant immersion. Roman oenophiles first planted vines on the banks of the River Loire (look for locally produced Sancerre, Chinon, St-Nicolas de Bourgeuil and Montlouis-sur-Loire on wine lists). Later, French royalty had a ball by building megalomaniacal pleasure palaces and weekend hunting retreats during the Renaissance: 440-room Château de Chambord, garden-graced Château de Villandry and Chaumont-sur-Loire, and hopelessly romantic Château de Chenonceau must be seen to be believed.

Forget traipsing through endless fusty rooms filled with dated trappings. Château-hopping in this emblematic valley is about observing deer at dawn on Chambord’s colossal forested estate, watching foxhounds wolf down 100kg (220lbs) of meat in 10 seconds flat at Château de Cheverny, and feasting on five centuries of history at Gothic-to-Renaissance Château de Blois during a son et lumière show. To bond with grassroots river life, navigate the Loire in a traditional flat-bottomed toue and overnight in a bivouac camp on its banks.

Planning tip: Consider getting from château to château by bike; research cycling routes, bike rentals and cyclist-friendly accommodations with Loire à Vélo. Join the dots between castles around Blois with Les Châteaux à Vélo cycling trails.

An orange van drives on a narrow road through rocky mountain outcrops.

9. Corsica

Best for open-road escapes

Journeys are measured in hours and not miles on Corsica – which is nicknamed Île de Beauté (“Island of Beauty”) for good reason. Golden beaches, turquoise coves and fire-red rocks color road trips here, which are punctuated with unhurried stops at time-forgotten hilltop villages and ancient churches, prehistoric relics and wineries.

With the exception of jam-packed August (when French holidaymakers also hit Corsica for their traditional summer escape in the sun), there is no lovelier place to take your foot off the pedal and cruise through natural landscapes so beautiful you could weep. Narrow, serpentine coastal roads and torturously steep mountain roads infuse journeys with a heart-pounding edge; tons of outdoor action (hiking, biking, sea kayaking) help you let off steam. Sunseekers take note: Corsican beaches (looking at you Bonifacio, uninhabited Lavezzi islands and Porto Vecchio) are sublime.

Planning tip: Add a soundtrack of Corsican polyphony to enjoy on the road: I Muvrini, Cantu U Populu Corsu and Voce di Corsica are all classic artists.

Pink cherry blossoms frame a scene of people walking past green lawns in a city park. A museum building is visible in the distance.

10. Paris

Best for a city break in spring

With its Haussmann boulevards and masterpiece-stuffed art museums, eternally elegant Paris is a heartthrob at any time of year. The city panorama from basilica-crowned Montmartre glitters on a snowy winter day. Cycling or playing the flaneur along the Seine or Canal St-Martin delights in fall. Cimetière du Père Lachaise after the rain, Sainte-Chapelle’s soul-piercing stained glass on a glorious summer afternoon… You get the point.

Yet it is March and April’s iridescent, sun-dappled days that truly embody Paris’ singular allure and romance. Fresh goat cheese, creamy St-Marcellin and the tail-end of winter’s Mont d’Or appear in fromageries like Quatrehomme and Paroles de Fromagers (the latter has a cheese school and a “living cheese museum”). Cherry blossoms paint Jardin des Tuileries, Jardin des Plantes and regional secret Parc de Sceaux pink. Cafe terraces bloom, rooftop bars and restaurants (like vegetarian Créatures, atop central department store Galeries Lafayette) emerge from hibernation. Paris’ festival calendar explodes.

Planning tip: Ditch the metro for open-ended exploration along hundreds of miles of dedicated, two-way cycling lanes. Pick up a Vélib bike from a dock, or a free-floating e-bike operated by Dott, Lime and Tier. Just download the appropriate app to locate, pay, unlock – and go.

Nicola is one of the writers of Lonely Planet’s latest France guidebook.