France

France has many cities of cultural interest, some of them are classified as *Town of Art and History. Many dream of its joie de vivre shown by the countless cafés, picturesque villages, and world-famous gastronomy. Paris has the reputation of being the most beautiful and romantic of all cities, brimming with historic associations and remaining vastly influential in the realms of culture.

France tourism website
Government website

Basic tourist information

France has 45 sites inscribed in the UNESCO’s World Heritage List and features cities or sites of high cultural interest Paris being the foremost, but also Loire Valley (map), Toulouse (map), Strasbourg (map), Bordeaux (map), Lyon (map).

⇒ Customs & VisasPlaces to goThings to do

Small and picturesque French villages of quality heritage (such as Collonges-la-Rouge (map), Locronan (map), or *Montsoreau (map) are promoted through the association les-plus-beaux-villages-de-france.org (The Most Beautiful Villages of France).

With its international reputation for fine dining, few people would be surprised to hear that *French cuisine can certainly be very good. French cuisine as a whole has been inscribed on the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage.

Paris hosts some of the world’s most recognizable landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower (map), which is the most-visited paid monument in the world, the Arc de Triomphe (map), the cathedral of Notre-Dame (map), or the Sacré-Cœur (map) on *Montmartre (map).

Bordeaux is famous for its wine but is also a bustling city with lots of historic sights to discover. It is listed as a World Heritage Site for being “an outstanding urban and architectural ensemble”. Lyon, the country’s second largest city, is listed too, and boasts a beautiful old centre as well as a number of Roman ruins.

As the French have a real taste for art, the country has numerous art galleries and museums. Several of them are widely considered to be among the finest museums in the world of art, art-history, and culture. The grandeur and fame of the Musée du Louvre (map) in Paris can hardly be matched by any other museum in the world.

At a 15-minute walk from there is the Musée d’Orsay (map), another world class museum that picks up roughly where the Louvre’s collections ends. The Musée National d’Art Moderne in Centre Pompidou (map), still in France’s capital, is the largest museum for modern art in Europe. In Lille you’ll find the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille, one of the country’s largest museums. Its varied collection is the second largest after the Louvre and boasts everything from antiquities to modern art.

Also сheck оut мore info about France: WikipediaWikivoyageUNESCO

Must to See & Do

Eiffel Tower

City of Paris

Louvre

Louvre Museum

Toulouse

City of Toulouse

Festival of Giants (Gayant)

Festival of Giants (Gayant)

All our articles about France

Regions & Cities of France

france
::: Source: www.ezilon.com

The *French Riviera (Côte d’Azur, map), in southeastern France, is the second leading tourist destination in the country, after the Parisian region. Main cities on the French Riviera include Nice (map), Antibes (map) and Cannes (map); Cap Ferrat (map) is also a popular destination.

Provence – numerous famous natural sites can be found in the region, as the Gorges du Verdon (map), the Camargue (map), the Calanques National Park (map) and the typical landscape of *Luberon.

Loire Valley – This World Heritage Site is noteworthy for the quality of its architectural heritage, in its historic towns such as Amboise (map), Angers (map), Blois (map), *Chinon (map), *Orléans (map), and Saumur (map) >> +*Châteaux of the Loire Valley)

French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (map) and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur regions. Notable towns in the French Alps include Grenoble (map), Chamonix (map), Annecy (map) is called “the Venice of Savoie”, Chambéry (map), Évian-les-Bains (map) and Albertville (map).

Corsica – is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea after Sicily, Sardinia and Cyprus. It is a popular attraction for tourists with both cultural aspects (cities *Ajaccio and *Bastia) and geographical features (Parc naturel régional de Corse, map).

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes / adm. center Lyon
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté / adm. center DijonBesançon
Brittany / adm. center Rennes
Centre-Val de Loire / adm. center Orléans
Corsica / adm. center Ajaccio
Île-de-France / adm. center Paris
Normandy / adm. center CaenRouen
Nouvelle-Aquitaine / adm. center Bordeaux
Occitanie / adm. center Toulouse
Pays de la Loire / adm. center Nantes
Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur / adm. center Marseille
Alsace / adm. center Strasbourg
Champagne-Ardenne / Châlons-en-Champagne
Lorraine / adm. center Metz
Hauts-de-France
Nord-Pas-de-Calais / adm. center Lille
Picardy / adm. center Amiens

For the most up-to-date information, see the official tourist resources.

Transport around France

The coach companies compete with rail on price, which means they usually are somewhat cheaper than trains, sometimes much cheaper, especially if booked in advance. Trains will be more comfortable and sometimes much faster.

Public transport (parisinfo.com) • Getting to France (uk.france.fr)

sobus.travel — sells bus tickets for all the bus companies. OuibusIsilinesFlixBusEurolinesMegabus >> (*Intercity buses in France)

Trains are a great way to get around in France. For regional trains, schedules can be found at ter.sncf.com. You can get from pretty much anywhere to anywhere else by train.

For long distances, use the TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse, or High-speed train) on which reservations are obligatory. TGVThelloOuigo. + RailEurope • EurostarThalysizy (Paris-Brussels) • TGV Lyria (Switzerland) • DB (Germany) • RENFE (Barcelona) >> *Rail travel in France

Several weekends throughout the year in France are known as ‘Black Saturday’ (Samedi noir) because of the start or end of school holidays and the coinciding traffic jams on French roads caused by thousands of tourists travelling to and from their holiday destinations. When possible it is wise to avoid these days. For traffic reports, see the website of the French traffic service.

⇒ Driving in France (wikivoyage)

The main international airport, Roissy – Charles de Gaulle, is likely to be your port of entry if you fly into France from outside Europe.

parisaeroport.fr – Paris airport information.

Brittany FerriesP&O FerriesDFDS Seaways

England ⇔ France:

  • P&O Ferries – operate freight and passenger services from Dover to Calais.
  • DFDS Seaways – operate freight and passenger services from Dover to Dunkirk.
  • LD Lines – operate freight and passenger services from Portsmouth to Le Havre.
  • Brittany Ferries – operate freight and passenger services from Portsmouth to Caen, Cherbourg, andSt Malo, from Poole to Cherbourg and from Plymouth to Roscoff.
  • Condor Ferries – operate freight and passenger services from Portsmouth to Cherbourg, Poole to St Malo and Weymouth to St Malo.

Ireland ⇔ France:

  • Brittany Ferries – operate ferry services from Cork to Roscoff.
  • Celtic Link Ferries – operate ferry services from Rosslare to Cherbourg.
  • Irish Ferries – operate ferry services from Rosslare to Cherbourg and from Rosslare to Roscoff.

Video source: France.fr

Links to additional resources with useful information for planning your trip.