Arles
Housed in a listed 15th-century manor, now twice repurposed (its other incarnation was as a bank), this Van Gogh–themed gallery is a must-see, as much for…
Must-see attractions in France
Le Marais, Ménilmontant & Belleville
Established in 1956, the Memorial to the Unknown Jewish Martyr has metamorphosed into the Memorial of the Shoah – 'Shoah' is a Hebrew word meaning …
Parc Naturel Régional des Volcans d'Auvergne
This midnight-blue crater lake, enclosed by a fuzz of pine trees, lies 6km southwest of Besse. Blasted out of the earth by a volcanic explosion nearly…
Musée Jean Cocteau Collection Séverin Wunderman
Menton
Art collector Séverin Wunderman donated some 1500 Cocteau works to Menton in 2005 on the condition that the town build a dedicated Cocteau museum. And…
Marseille
'The Basket' is Marseille's oldest quarter – site of the original Greek settlement and nicknamed for its steep streets and buildings. Its close, village…
Bordeaux
A fountain of sorts, the Miroir d'Eau is the world's largest reflecting pool. Covering an area of 3450 sq metres of black granite on the quayside opposite…
Montmartre & Northern Paris
Few visitors can resist a selfie in front of Montmartre's 'I Love You' wall, a public artwork created in a small park by artists Frédéric Baron and Claire…
Bordeaux
The Cathédrale St-André, a Unesco World Heritage Site prior to the city's classification, lords it over the city. The cathedral's oldest section dates…
Île de Ré
For an overview of the island, follow the crowds to Phare des Baleines, the island's scarlet-tipped, 59m-tall lighthouse on its northwestern tip. Scale…
Côte d'Azur
A dreamy spot for swimming, sunbathing and water sports of all kinds, this secluded crescent of sand 1km east of St-Jean has an iconic bar-restaurant,…
Languedoc-Roussillon
Within the cavern of Aven Armand is the world’s greatest concentration of stalagmites, including a gallery of stone columns known as the Forêt Vierge …
Uzès
This fortified château belonged to the House of Crussol, who were the dukes of Uzès for over 1000 years until the French Revolution. The building is a…
Côte d'Azur
The 5km-long, celebrity-studded Plage de Pampelonne sports a line-up of exclusive beach restaurants and clubs in summer. Find public entries (and parking…
Touraine
Loches’ vast hilltop citadel is the size of a small town – a few lucky people even live here! Inside you can visit the Logis Royal and the Donjon et…
Limoges
The city’s wonderful art museum is inside the beautifully restored 18th-century bishops’ palace. Get an overview of the town's history through Roman…
Bastia
Bastia’s Vieux Port is ringed by precariously tall, pastel-coloured tenements and buzzy brasseries, and overlooked by the twin-towered Église St-Jean…
Avignon
The archbishops' palace during the 14th and 15th centuries now houses outstanding collections of primitive, pre-Rennaissance, 13th- to 16th-century…
Rue du Jerzual & rue du Petit Fort
Brittany
Lined with half-timbered houses, this astonishing cobbled street has been here since at least the 12th century. It leads downhill at a steep angle all the…
Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain
Nice
European and American avant-garde works from the 1950s to the present are the focus of this sprawling multilevel museum. Highlights include many works by…
Amboise
Perched atop a rocky escarpment above town, Amboise's castle was a favoured retreat for all of France's Valois and Bourbon kings. Only a few of the…
Rouen
This largely empty 14th-century abbey is a gloriously sublime and quite stunning example of the Rayonnant Gothic style, with a colossal interior dappled…
The Pyrenees
Around 12km south of Lourdes, off the D821 near Argelès-Gazost, this fantastic animal park is home to many species that were once commonly sighted across…
Auvergne
Split across two buildings, this museum gives an entertaining account of cutlery-making history. In number 23, a kid-friendly sound-and-light show evokes…
Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée
Marseille
The icon of modern Marseille, this stunning museum explores the history, culture and civilisation of the Mediterranean region through anthropological…
Nice
Split between its beautiful flower market and rightly famous food market. On Mondays, flowers and food make way for a flea market.
Dijon
Nearing the end of a nine-year renovation, these sprawling galleries in Dijon's monumental Palais des Ducs are works of art in themselves and constitute…
Lille, Flanders & the Somme
This 1337-room palace, originally built for Louis XV, hosted Napoléon III's dazzling hunting parties, which drew aristocrats from all around Europe. A…
Montmartre & Northern Paris
This delightful 'village' museum showcases paintings, lithographs and documents illustrating Montmartre's bohemian, artistic and hedonistic past – one…
La Rochelle
Easily mistaken for an ornate church spire, the conical 15th-century Tour de la Lanterne is La Rochelle's beauty queen. It was so named because of its…
Paris
Just north of the gardens adjoining the city’s old marketplace, now the Forum des Halles, is one of the most beautiful churches in Paris. Majestic,…
Musée et Jardin du Canal du Midi
Toulouse, Gers & Vallée du Tarn
Understand France’s mightiest man-made waterway, the Unesco World Heritage Canal du Midi, through illuminating exhibitions and short films at this museum…
Montmartre & Northern Paris
The home of art collectors Nélie Jacquemart and Édouard André, this opulent late-19th-century residence combines elements from different eras – seen here…
Sanctuaires Notre Dame de Lourdes
Lourdes
The spiritual centre of Lourdes is the subterranean grotto where Bernadette Soubirous is believed to have experienced her visions in 1858. From the Porte…
Lille, Flanders & the Somme
For historical and cultural context, the best place to begin a visit to the Somme battlefields is the outstanding Historial de la Grande Guerre in Péronne…
Champagne
Bernard de Clairvaux (1090–1153), nemesis of Abelard and preacher of the Second Crusade, founded this hugely influential Cistercian monastery in 1115…
St-Germain & Les Invalides
Paris’ oldest standing church, the Romanesque St Germanus of the Fields, was built in the 11th century on the site of a 6th-century abbey and was the main…
Lille, Flanders & the Somme
A model for several of its more famous Gothic sisters – Chartres, Reims, Dijon and Paris' Notre-Dame among them – this medieval jewel was built between…
Latin Quarter
The Arab World Institute was jointly founded by France and 18 Middle Eastern and North African nations in 1980, with the aim of promoting cross-cultural…
Aix-en-Provence
The Caumont is a stellar art space housed inside the Mazarin quarter’s grandest 18th-century hôtel particulier (mansion). While there are three quality…
Côte d'Azur
An over-the-top, belle-époque confection, this villa was commissioned by Baroness Béatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild in 1912. She was an avid art collector…
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