Fonds Régional d’Art Contemporain
Marseille
The FRAC for Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur moved to this modern centre in La Joliette, with its striking plate-mail façade, in 2013. It hosts temporary…
Must-see attractions in France
Paris
This large (and expensive) waxworks inside the passage Jouffroy has some 300 wax figures. They largely look more like caricatures than characters but,…
Paris
Showcasing 1000 stunning pieces of crystal, many of them custom-made for princes and dictators of former colonies, this flashy museum is at home in its…
George Orwell's Boarding House
Latin Quarter
In 1928 George Orwell (1903–50) stayed in a cheap boarding house above 6 rue du Pot de Fer while working as a dishwasher. It's closed to the public, but…
Paris
The often overlooked Hôtel Heidelbach holds some of the Musée Guimet's Asian art collection and is comprised primarily of Chinese furniture and teaware,…
Paris
Located at the southeastern end of the Bois de Boulogne is the Jardin des Serres d’Auteuil, a garden with impressive conservatories (opened in 1898) that…
Metz
The formal flowerbeds of the Esplanade – and its statue of a gallant-looking Marshall Ney – are flanked by imposing buildings, including the Arsenal…
Besançon
Created in the 19th century, this leafy promenade is the ideal spot to stroll by the Doubs River and it's popular with local cyclists. It's a good place…
Lille
Lille's Louis XVI-style opera house was built between 1907 and 1913 by French architect Louis-Marie Cordonnier, who was responsible for many of northern…
Latin Quarter
The Sorbonne university’s distinctive domed church was built between 1635 and 1642. The remains of Cardinal Richelieu (1585–1642) lie in a tomb with an…
Musée Bordeaux – Sciences et Nature
Bordeaux
With more than one million different specimens on show, Bordeaux's former Natural History Museum is among France's most impressive. Closed at the time of…
Sète
Sète was the birthplace of symbolist poet Paul Valéry (1871–1945), and the town’s main museum houses a disappointingly small collection of his works,…
Auvergne
Ready to quake in fear at Saugues' most chilling legend? Or hoping to entertain your bloodthirsty kids and pick up a lupine-themed souvenir? This museum…
Parc Naturel Régional des Volcans d'Auvergne
La Bourboule's pale lava-stone church, completed in 1888, cuts an elegant silhouette against its mountainous backdrop.
The Dordogne
Brantôme’s most illustrious landmark is the former Benedictine Abbey, built and rebuilt from the 11th to 18th centuries and now occupied by the town hall…
The Dordogne
Honeycombing the stone underneath the village is a series of large caves decorated with ornate stalactites and stalagmites. Get tickets, which include…
Arles
Complicated restoration projects mean this 12th-century church, dominating Arles from the highest point in the city, can only be admired from outside…
Musée d’Art et d’Histoire de Cognac
Atlantic Coast
In the southern corner of the grotto- and pond-clad Jardin Public, Cognac’s Art and History Museum showcases the town’s history. Its interior –…
Touraine
Built into a cave above and 500m east of town, this half-ruined Romanesque chapel – constructed around the tomb of a 6th-century hermit – is noteworthy…
St-Germain & Les Invalides
At the northern end of the Jardin du Luxembourg, the Palais du Luxembourg was built in the 1620s for Marie de Médici, Henri IV’s consort, to assuage her…
Aix-en-Provence
South of Aix’s centre is the peaceful Parc Jourdan, home to the town’s Boulodrome Municipal, where locals gather beneath plane trees to play pétanque. An…
Bayeux
This landscaped promenade, a joint project of the City of Bayeux and Reporters Without Borders (www.en.rsf.org), lists the names of over 2000 journalists…
Strasbourg
Should the inner workings of the EU intrigue you, you can sit in on debates ranging from lively to yawn-a-minute at the Parlement Européen; dates are…
Biarritz
A flat arc of sand backed by golf courses and a kids' playground, Plage de la Milady is about 2.5km south of Port Vieux. Look out for the grand edifice of…
Le Marais, Ménilmontant & Belleville
The ancient arts of magic, optical illusion and sleight of hand are explored in this museum, in the 16th-century caves (cellars) of the Marquis de Sade’s…
Lille, Flanders & the Somme
A stark reminder of the extensive loss of life on all sides of WWI, this cemetery is the burial place of 17,027 fallen German soldiers. Only 5000 of the…
Paris
French baroque Église St-Louis en l’Île was built between 1664 and 1726 and renovated in 2022. It hosts…
Colmar
Quintessentially Protestant in its austerity, this Franciscan church has something of a split personality. From 1715 to 1987, a wall divided the soaring…
Musée de la Préhistoire des Gorges du Verdon
Gorges du Verdon
A small museum exploring the gorges’ natural history and archaeological treasures, detailing the prehistoric wildlife that once roamed here, the…
Yonne
Founded in 1862, this wonderful small museum displays a series of expressionist watercolours by Georges Rouault (1871–1958) and an excellent art-deco…
Nice
The hodgepodge of Roman artefacts in this archaeological museum is rather ho-hum – but if you've already bought a Nice museum pass, it's worth a visit…
Paris
This bronze sculpture, a replica of the one topping the Statue of Liberty, was placed here in 1987 as a symbol of friendship between France and the USA…
Arles
These partly preserved Roman baths were built for Emperor Constantin's private use in the 4th century. While much of the complex has been built over…
The Loire Valley
About 50 Le Mans Prototype (LMP) cars are the star attraction at this automobile museum, whose oldest vehicles include a De Dion-Bouton (1885) and a…
Lyon
This maze-like museum on tourist-busy rue St-Jean provides an unusual insight into the making of movie sets and special effects achieved with the use of…
Blois
Although Gothic in style, most of this cathedral (including the nave) was rebuilt after a terrible storm in 1678. The stained glass, bearing enigmatic…
Côte d'Azur
Built over an 11th-century predecessor in the 13th, and extended in the 15th, this chateau was destroyed during the Wars of Religion (1562–98). Rebuilt in…
Auvergne
This 4000-object collection is a thorough primer on local traditions, with a focus on rural customs in the 19th century (expect plenty of antique farming…
Lourdes
Bernadette was born in this millhouse on 7 January 1844, one year after the marriage of her parents Louise Castérot and François Soubirous. She lived here…
Latin Quarter
Dating back to 1248, this former Cistercian college originally served as living quarters and place of study for novice monks. It's now an art gallery and…
- placement: fullWidth
- path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
- possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [300, 250], [320, 50], [1, 1],
- targeting:
{ "position": "superzone" }
