What are the most beautiful places to visit in France? What are the most beautiful cities to visit in France?

Where can you find a paradise-like spot in France? What are the most beautiful secret places in France?

France is the most touristy country in the world! And that’s not without reason: the country offers a wide variety of landscapes within a limited territory.

History has bequeathed magnificent cities and villages, with great diversity from one region to another.

In 2023, France has 11 national parks (including 8 in mainland France), 56 regional natural parks, and 172 villages labeled as the most beautiful villages in France!

I propose that you discover a varied selection of the most beautiful places to visit in France, a list that is necessarily non-exhaustive given the richness of French heritage and gastronomy.

And of course, discover the most charming cities for a weekend getaway in France with your loved one!

Follow the mouse’s guide to visit France! 😉

France’s Top 30 Most Beautiful Destinations

Here’s the top 30 of the must-see places to visit on a trip to France, exceptional for their site or architecture. Most of them are listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites in France.

Well, you won’t be able to see them all in one trip, unless you’re Speedy Gonzales! 😉

• Paris: it’s hard not to mention the capital first, with its exceptional richness!
• the Basilica of Saint-Denis, the necropolis of the kings of France, with its superb tombs
• the Palace of Versailles and its gardens, the largest castle in the world… and the most visited!
• the Château de Fontainebleau and its park, with its superb Renaissance decor
• the Château de Chantilly and its park, where the famous cream was created!
• the Château de Compiègne, one of the most unknown royal and imperial palaces in France
• Amiens, the Picardy capital, its hortillonnages, and its largest cathedral in France!
• Reims, the city of Champagne, coronations, and its beautiful cathedral
• Nancy, its Stanislas Square, and its Art Nouveau heritage
• Strasbourg, its cathedral, and its superb set of half-timbered houses
• Lyon, the capital of Gaul, 2nd largest city in France, with a rich heritage
• Annecy and its lake, a charming town in the heart of the French Alps
• Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, the roof of Europe!
• Chartres, the Acropolis of France
• The Loire castles, a unique and varied monumental ensemble
• Rouen, the capital of Normandy, and its exceptional set of 2000 half-timbered houses
• Étretat and its famous chalk cliffs!
• Mont Saint-Michel, an exceptional site dominated by one of the most beautiful medieval abbeys in Europe
• Saint-Malo, the pirate city, its walled city, its superb maritime sit
• the Crozon peninsula, one of the most beautiful Breton sites
• the Pointe du Raz (and not the Pointe du Rat!), one of the most beautiful capes in Europe
• Bordeaux, the capital of wine and its heritage
• Toulouse, the pink city, its Romanesque basilica Saint-Sernin, and its stunning Capitouls towers
• Carcassonne, the famous medieval walled city
• the Tarn gorges, a canyon in the heart of the great causses, an exceptional landscape
• Avignon and its famous Palais des Papes, a vast 13th-century ensemble
• Arles, the Roman city surprisingly preserved in the heart of the Camargue
• Marseille, its Bonne-Mère, its famous soap, and its superb calanques
• the Verdon Grand Canyon, an impressive Provençal site with 700-meter-high cliffs!
• Nice and the French Riviera, with its paradise-like sites!

Map of Places to Visit in France

Click on the map of places to visit in France to explore cities and villages in each region with the mouse! (and yeah, I’ve already written enough to show you that France has a lot to offer!) 😉

Here is the list of 13 metropolitan regions of France, preceded by Paris, with what I think are the must-see places to visit in France for each region.

The Best of France in Paris

Paris, the capital of France, is the most visited city in the world! It’s clearly one of the most beautiful places to visit in France, whether you’re with your loved one or with your family.

The city offers world-famous landmarks and incredibly rich collections in its dozens of museums. Among the absolute must-see places in Paris:

• the Eiffel Tower, of course!
• the Champs-Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe
• Notre-Dame Cathedral
• the Sainte-Chapelle
• the Louvre Museum
• the Orsay Museum
• the Pompidou Center
• the Invalides
• the Marais neighborhood
• the Montmartre hill
• the panoramic view from the Montparnasse Tower

I’ll explain all this in this comprehensive guide! Don’t forget that rodents are experts on Paris… 😉

What to visit, what to do in Paris with the mouse

Île-de-France’s Must-see Destinations

The Île-de-France region surrounds and includes Paris, but it’s not just about the Paris suburbs! In reality, 75% of the region is rural and covered in forests, some of the most beautiful in France.

The Île-de-France region is home to numerous castles, both royal and seigneurial, several ancient towns with rich heritage, and many other curiosities!

Here are the most beautiful places to visit in Île-de-France:

• the Palace of Versailles and its gardens, and the Trianon estate
• the Château de Fontainebleau and its gardens
• the Fontainebleau forest, one of the most beautiful in France
• the Courances estate and its magnificent park
• Barbizon, the village of landscape painters
• the charming medieval town of Moret-sur-Loing
• the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte and its park
• Provins, the medieval town
• the Basilica of Saint-Denis, necropolis of the kings of France
• the Château de Vincennes and its keep
• the Château de la Malmaison and its rose garden, evoking the memory of Napoleon and Joséphine
• the Château de Maisons, in Maisons-Laffitte
• Enghien-les-Bains and its lake, the only thermal station in Île-de-France
• the Château d’Écouen in the Val-d’Oise, home to the National Museum of the Renaissance
• the Royaumont Abbey, the largest Cistercian abbey in Île-de-France
• Auvers-sur-Oise, the village of Van Gogh and the Impressionists
• the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye and its terrace
• the Château de Rambouillet and its park

Île-de-France’s Most Beautiful Villages: La Roche-Guyon is the only one with the official label, but there are more hidden gems to discover! 🙂

Normandy’s Must-see Destinations

We love Normandy for its towns with half-timbered houses, its lush countryside, its cheeses (!), its cider, its climate, its elegant Belle Époque seaside resorts, and its stunning coastal scenery!

Among the most beautiful places to visit in Normandy:

• Rouen, the city of a hundred bell towers
• Giverny, Claude Monet’s village
• the cliffs of Étretat and the Alabaster Coast
• Honfleur, the most beautiful historic port in Normandy
• the Flowery Coast: Trouville, Deauville, Cabourg…
• the beaches of the Normandy Landings
• Bayeux and its famous tapestry
• Mont Saint-Michel and its bay

The most beautiful villages in France in Normandy: Lyons-la-Forêt, Le Bec-Hellouin, Beuvron-en-Auge, Veules-les-Roses, Saint-Céneri-le-Gérei, Barfleur

The most beautiful coastal spots in Normandy: the Alabaster Coast, the Flowery Coast with its Belle Époque villas, the Cape of La Hague and the Nez de Jobourg, Granville and the Chausey Islands, the Mont Saint-Michel Bay…

The most beautiful places in France in Brittany

Brittany offers a highly indented coastline, featuring some of the most beautiful maritime sites in France.

But the region also boasts charming medieval towns rich in half-timbered houses and heritage. And of course, we also love the crepes, Breton cider, and chouchen… 😉

Among the most beautiful places to visit in Brittany:

• Saint-Malo and the Emerald Coast
• Dinard and its Belle Époque seaside villas
• Dinan, the medieval town
• Rennes
• Fougères Castle
• Brocéliande Forest (Paimpont Forest)
• Josselin Castle
• The Pink Granite Coast
• The Abers Coast
• Brest, especially for Océanopolis
• The island of Ouessant
• The Crozon Peninsula
• The Pointe du Raz
• Quimper, its cathedral, and its half-timbered houses
• Concarneau and its walled city
• The Carnac megalith alignments
• Vannes and the Morbihan Gulf (with the Île-aux-Moines and Île d’Arz)
• Belle-Île-en-Mer and its Wild Coast

The most beautiful villages in France in Brittany: Saint-Suliac, Locronan, Moncontour, Rochefort-en-Terre

The most beautiful places in France in Pays de la Loire

The Pays de la Loire region brings together Maine, Anjou, Vendée… and southern Brittany.

The Loire Valley is home to a superb heritage: the Fontevraud Abbey, the castles of Saumur and Montsoreau, Angers and its medieval castle, Nantes…

 

Among the most beautiful places to visit in Pays de la Loire:

• Nantes and its Castle of the Dukes of Brittany
• Guérande and its salt marshes
• Angers, its castle, and the Apocalypse Tapestry
• Le Mans, its 24-hour racing, its rillettes, and its charming old town, which is often overlooked
• Fontevraud Abbey, the necropolis of the Plantagenets
• the beaches of Vendée

The most beautiful villages to visit in Pays de la Loire: Montsoreau, Sainte-Suzanne, and Vouvant

The most beautiful places in France in Hauts-de-France

The new Hauts-de-France region brings together the former Picardy and Nord-Pas-de-Calais regions. The Hauts-de-France region is located in the north of France.

Many people reduce this region to its slag heaps and mining towns, but that’s a bit simplistic! The coastal region offers vast sandy beaches, impressive dunes, and cliffs along the Côte d’Opale.

Lille or Arras offer beautiful Flemish architecture, Boulogne-sur-Mer a charming old town and its ramparts. And let’s not forget the charming town of Bergues, where the movie “Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis” was filmed! 🙂

Picardy offers the superb Bay of Somme and magnificent Gothic cathedrals: Amiens has the largest one in France, Beauvais has the tallest one in the world!

Senlis, Noyon, Soissons, or Laon also have beautiful cathedrals that are worth visiting.

The area north of Paris also offers magnificent forests along the Oise River: Chantilly, Ermenonville, Compiègne, Saint-Gobain…

Among the most beautiful places to visit in Hauts-de-France:

• Lille, its Grand Place, its rich museums, and the Old Lille
• Arras and its magnificent squares
• Saint-Omer, a charming and lesser-known town in Pas-de-Calais, its beautiful cathedral, and the Audomarois marshes
• Boulogne-sur-Mer, its fortified old town, and Nausicaa, the largest aquarium in Europe
• Montreuil-sur-Mer and its citadel, which inspired Victor Hugo for Les Misérables
• Amiens, the capital of Picardy, and its largest cathedral in France
• the superb Bay of Somme and the old town of Saint-Valery-sur-Somme
• Laon, its cathedral, and its old town, with the largest preserved area in France
• Beauvais, and the tallest Gothic cathedral in the world
• Compiègne, its imperial palace, and its magnificent forest with centuries-old trees
• the fairy-tale medieval castle of Pierrefonds
• Chantilly Castle and its park (and its cream!) 😉
• Senlis, a superb ancient and medieval town, its cathedral, and its ramparts

The most beautiful villages in France in Hauts-de-France: Gerberoy, Parfondeval

And take the opportunity to visit our Belgian friends! 😉

• Discover Tournai and its gigantic Romanesque cathedral, as well as Courtrai, in Belgium, less than 10 km from the border!
• A bit further away, don’t hesitate to discover Ghent and Bruges, the two “Venice of the North” in Belgium.

And of course, don’t miss a weekend in Brussels, a capital rich in varied museums.

The most beautiful places in France in Grand Est

The new and vast Grand Est region brings together Champagne and the Ardennes, Lorraine, and Alsace.

Among the most beautiful places to visit in Grand Est:

• Strasbourg, its cathedral, and Little France, and its famous Christmas market! 🙂
• Colmar, its superb half-timbered houses and canals
• the Alsace Wine Route and its sublime villages: Riquewihr, Eguisheim, Ribeauvillé…
• The Haut-Koenigsbourg Castle and Mount Sainte-Odile
• the charming small Alsatian towns: Obernai, Sélestat…
• Nancy, the Stanislas Square and its Art Nouveau heritage
• Metz and its cathedral
• Reims, its cathedral, the Tau Palace, and the Champagne cellars
• Troyes and its beautiful ensemble of half-timbered houses in the Champagne region

The most beautiful villages to visit in Grand Est (mostly along the Alsace Wine Route): Bergheim, Eguisheim, Hunawihr, Hunspach, Mittelbergheim, Riquewihr, Rodemack, Saint-Quirin

The Grand Est region is home to part of the most recent national park in France, created in 2019: the Forêts National Park.

Discover what to do in Alsace, whether on a road trip or by train

Just a stone’s throw from Alsace, take a trip to Freiburg im Breisgau, one of the most beautiful cities in Germany’s Black Forest!

The most beautiful places in France in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté

The large Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region brings together two regions, combining wine and cheese! 🙂

But it’s also a remarkable heritage in Burgundy with magnificent Romanesque churches and abbeys, and the superb green landscapes of the Jura with lakes, waterfalls, and resurgences.

Among the most beautiful places to visit in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté:

• Dijon and its Palace of the Dukes and States of Burgundy
• Beaune and its famous hospices (made even more famous by the film “La Grande Vadrouille”!)
• the Côte d’Or and its vineyards
• Nevers, its old town and the Burgundian Loire Valley
• Auxerre and its old town
• Vézelay and its magnificent Romanesque basilica Sainte-Madeleine
• Besançon and its Vauban fortifications
• the Saut du Doubs
• the lakes of the Jura
• the source of the Loue
• the Hérisson waterfall

The most beautiful villages to visit in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté: Baume-les-Messieurs, Château-Chalon, Châteauneuf, Flavigny-sur-Ozerain, Lods, Noyers, Pesmes, Semur-en-Brionnais, Vézelay

The Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region is also home to the other half of the Forêts National Park.

The most beautiful places in France in Centre-Val de Loire

The Centre-Val de Loire region is above all famous for its magnificent monumental ensemble, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site: the Loire Valley castles.

They are diverse and varied, from different eras, and each one deserves a visit. But the region also offers beautiful old towns, as well as Beauval, the most famous zoo in France!

Among the most beautiful places to visit in Centre-Val de Loire:

• Chartres, its cathedral, and its old town
• Chambord Castle
• Cheverny Castle
• Amboise Castle and the Clos-Lucé manor
• Chenonceau Castle
• Chaumont-sur-Loire Castle and its garden festival
• Blois Castle
• Beauval Zoo, the most visited in France (hello pandas!) 😉
• Tours and its Plumereau Square
• Azay-le-Rideau Castle
• The gardens of Villandry Castle
• Valençay Castle
• Bourges, its cathedral, and its old town

The most beautiful villages to visit in Centre-Val de Loire: Apremont-sur-Allier, Candes-Saint-Martin, Crissay-sur-Manse, Gargilesse-Dampierre, Lavardin, Montrésor, Saint-Benoît-du-Sault, Sancerre, Yèvre-le-Châtel

The region also offers the unique village in France classified among the remarkable gardens: Chédigny, in Touraine.

The most beautiful places in France in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region brings together Auvergne and the former Rhône-Alpes region (luckily I’m here to explain!) 😉

It’s a major tourist region in France, combining the charming Auvergnat villages at the foot of the Auvergne volcanoes, the majestic Rhône Valley, and the Alpine mountain ranges.

Among the most beautiful places to visit in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes:

• Lyon, the capital of Gaul and France’s second-largest city
• Bourg-en-Bresse and the Brou Monastery
• the Tronçais Forest, one of the most beautiful and lesser-known forests in France
• Vichy, the queen of spa towns
• Moulins, capital of the Bourbonnais region
• Clermont-Ferrand, for its mountain setting and churches
• the Auvergne Volcanoes Regional Nature Park
• Le Puy-en-Velay, its stunning cathedral and extraordinary site
• the Ardèche Gorges and the Orgnac Cave
• the Vercors, an incredible natural fortress
• the Écrins mountain range
• Annecy and its lake in Savoie
• Chamonix and Mont Blanc
• Lake Geneva with Geneva and its famous jet of water, a large Swiss city almost enclosed in France!

The most beautiful villages to visit in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes: Pérouges, Yvoire, Blesles, Bonneval-sur-Arc, Salers… (there are 25 in total!)

The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region is home to two national parks in the Alps: the Vanoise National Park and the Écrins National Park.

Finally, the region offers a route of Auvergne cheeses and a route of Savoie cheeses, which will not be missed by traveling mice and foodies! 🙂

The most beautiful places in France in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur

The Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (PACA) region is a major historical tourist destination in France.

It brings together the historic Provence, the County of Nice, and the southern French Alps. The Côte d’Azur is the second most visited tourist region in France after Paris.

It includes prestigious seaside resorts like Nice, Cannes, Monaco, and Menton, typical perched villages of the Nice Riviera, and the superb natural scenery of the Estérel and Maures massifs.

Provence offers cities with rich heritage, magnificent villages, sun-kissed landscapes, dreamy beaches, and also the powerful relief of the Verdon Grand Canyon.

The Alpine massif stretches from the Mercantour to the Écrins, offering through the Route des Grandes Alpes, mountain lakes, pretty villages, marmots, and impressive mountain passes (the Cime de la Bonnette is the highest paved road in France, at 2,800 meters altitude).

In short, with complete neutrality, it’s the most beautiful region in France! (and it just so happens that I’m from there, hum) 😉

Among the most beautiful places to visit in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, France:

• Marseille, with its stunning calanques, soap (but not “the cat”), pastaga, bouillabaisse (and its soccer team…)
• Cassis and its calanques
• Aix-en-Provence, charming with its fountains under the plane trees and elegant architecture
• Arles, one of the best-preserved ancient Roman cities in the world
• The village of Les Baux-de-Provence, in an incredible setting
• The Camargue, with its birds, horses, mosquitoes, and bulls
• Avignon, with its vast Palais des Papes, old town, and festival
• Mont Ventoux, a famous stage of the Tour de France
• The Luberon and its wonderful perched villages
• The amazing Fontaine de Vaucluse, a gigantic resurgence
• The lavender fields in June and July, especially in Valensole
• The Grand Canyon du Verdon and Lake Sainte-Croix
• Saint-Tropez, with its yachts and glamour (but also its beautiful museums) 🙂
• Grasse and its perfume factories
• The Estérel massif, one of the most beautiful maritime landscapes in France
• Cannes, with its beaches, luxury hotels, and festival
• Antibes, with its beautiful fortified Provençal town and the Cap d’Antibes landscape
• Nice, of course, the azure capital, Old Nice, and the Promenade des Anglais…
• Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, an exceptional site, and the village with the most expensive villas in France!
• Eze, the perched village on the Mediterranean, with its exotic garden and breathtaking view
• The Principality of Monaco and its famous rock (but it’s no longer in France!) 😉
• Roquebrune and Cap Martin, with its dream villas…
• Menton, the city of lemons

Most beautiful villages in France to visit in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur:  

• Bargème
• Coaraze
• Cotignac
• Entrevaux
• Gassin
• Gordes
• Gourdon
• La Grave
• Le Castellet
• Les Baux-de-Provence
• Lourmarin
• Moustiers-Sainte-Marie
• Roussillon
• Saint-Véran
• Sainte-Agnès
• Saorge
• Seillans
• Tourtour… (there are 22 in total)

The Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region is home to four national parks, two in the Alps and two marine parks in the Mediterranean: the Écrins National Park, the Mercantour National Park, the Port-Cros National Park, and the Calanques National Park.

The most beautiful places in France in Occitanie

Occitanie is a vast region, combining the former regions of Midi-Pyrénées and Languedoc-Roussillon.

It’s a region rich in beautifully preserved villages: it has 49 villages listed among the most beautiful villages in France, a national record!

But Occitanie is also home to the fascinating landscapes of the Cévennes and the Grands Causses, cut through by the impressive gorges of the Tarn and the Jonte. It’s a large part of the Pyrenees mountain range, from Mount Canigou (wow!) to the stunning Cirque de Gavarnie.

And there are beautiful cities, starting with its capital Toulouse, the pink city, but also Albi the red, Carcassonne with its famous ramparts, Nîmes and its ancient heritage…

Among the most beautiful places to visit in Occitanie, France:

• Toulouse, the pink city, its Capitol, the superb Saint-Sernin church, the Space City… and the surrounding areas of Toulouse
• Albi, the fortified cathedral of Sainte-Cécile, the magnificent old town
• The vertical village of Rocamadour, an extraordinary site, and the Padirac abyss
• Cahors and its bridge
• The prehistoric cave of Pech-Merle
• Lourdes, a major pilgrimage site with an atypical atmosphere
• The Bétharram caves
• The Pyrenean sites: Pic du Midi de Bigorre, Cirque de Gavarnie…
• Perpignan and its old Catalan town
• Carcassonne and its medieval fortifications
• Montpellier, the Place de la Comédie, the Fabre museum…
• Nîmes, its arenas and rich Roman heritage
• The Pont du Gard
• The Tarn gorges
• The unusual chaos of Montpellier-le-Vieux
• The Armand cave, in the depths of the Earth…
• The Mont Aigoual
• The Cévennes
• The Demoiselles cave
• The Navacelles cirque

Most beautiful villages in France to visit in Occitanie:

• Rocamadour
• Saint-Cirq-Lapopie
• Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert
• Conques
• Cordes-sur-Ciel… among the most famous (there are 49!)

The Occitanie region is home to two national parks: the Cévennes National Park and the Pyrenees National Park.

The most beautiful places in France in Nouvelle-Aquitaine

The Nouvelle-Aquitaine region has become the largest region in France! It combines the former Aquitaine region with the Poitou-Charentes and Limousin regions.

Nouvelle-Aquitaine brings together the Atlantic coast, the Périgord, and the Pyrenees, offering a wide variety of landscapes. The region is the second richest in beautiful villages after Occitanie.

The Silver Coast beaches, the Arcachon basin, the Landes forest, prehistoric caves, villages and castles of the Périgord, and the charming towns of Charente… make it a major tourist region in France.

Among the most beautiful places to visit in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France:

• Bordeaux, its majestic facade on the Garonne, its courtyards, and its grand theater…
• Arcachon and its basin, the Dune du Pyla
• Biarritz, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, and the Basque Country
• Pau and its castle
• La Rochelle and its old port
• Saintes and its remarkable heritage
• Poitiers and its Romanesque churches
• Sarlat-la-Caneda, a magnificent small town in the Périgord
• The Lascaux caves, the Sistine Chapel of Prehistory
• The bastide of Domme
• The castle of Beynac
• The castle of Bonaguil

Most beautiful villages in France to visit in Nouvelle-Aquitaine:

• Ainhoa
• Ars-en-Ré
• Beynac-et-Cazenac
• La Roque-Gageac
• Collonges-la-Rouge
• Domme
• Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port
• Saint-Amand-de-Coly… among the most well-known (the region has no less than 33!)

The most beautiful places in France in Corsica

Corsica is the smallest region in France, but not the one with the least character!

The Isle of Beauty is a mountain in the Mediterranean Sea. It offers magnificent landscapes, typical perched villages, and excellent gastronomy! 😉

Among the most beautiful places to visit in Corsica:

• Ajaccio, Napoleon’s birthplace…
• Sartène
• Bonifacio
• Cape Corsica
• The Agriates Desert
• The Piana calanques

The most beautiful villages to visit in Corsica: Piana and Sant’Antonino

For now, I’m only mentioning metropolitan France, which I’ve traveled through over the years, covering more than 90% of its departments, either by train or by car…

The most beautiful places in France by the sea

What are the most beautiful places in France by the sea? Answers from the clever mouse!

Most beautiful places in France on the English Channel coast:

• The site of the two caps: Cap Gris-Nez and Cap Blanc-Nez
• The Bay of Somme
• The cliffs of Étretat
• The beaches of the Côte Fleurie in Normandy
• The Cap de la Hague and the Nez de Jobourg
• The Bay of Mont Saint-Michel
• Saint-Malo and the Côte d’Émeraude
• The island of Bréhat
• The Pink Granite Coast in Brittany

Most beautiful places in France on the Atlantic coast:

•  The island of Ouessant
• The Crozon peninsula
• The Pointe du Raz
• The Gulf of Morbihan
• The Arcachon basin
• The Basque Coast

Most beautiful places in France on the Mediterranean coast:

• The Côte Vermeille (Collioure…)
• The Camargue
• The calanques of Marseille and Cassis
• Saint-Tropez and the Maures massif
• The Estérel, with its superb landscape
• The Nice Riviera, where the Alps plunge into the sea
• The calanques of Piana in Corsica
• The Bonifacio strait in Corsica

Where to find a paradise-like spot in France?

Objectively, as a Provençal mouse (with diverse origins), I recommend the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region for its breathtakingly beautiful landscapes! 😉

Joking aside, the Estérel, the Grand Canyon du Verdon, and the Mercantour are undoubtedly among the most beautiful landscapes in France!

In the summer, paradise is found on the magnificent beaches of the Côte d’Azur.

Admit it, the sandy beaches of the island of Porquerolles are a change of pace from the Parisian suburbs, aren’t they? 😉

The PACA category on the blog will give you plenty of ideas for places to visit in this beautiful region of France! 🙂

Some thoughts…

The country of gastronomy… with many mediocre restaurants

After traveling through a large part of Europe, France inspires me to share these thoughts as a mouse…

French gastronomy is world-renowned!

However, it’s challenging to find good restaurants at decent prices. They do exist, fortunately, but are drowned out by a sea of restaurants serving reheated industrial frozen meals (80% of restaurateurs!) that insult the country’s gastronomy.

Reviews from The Fork, Tripadvisor, or the Michelin guide are then very useful for spotting the good addresses among many others that are more mediocre. There are quite a few, fortunately, and I’m here to present them to you in my detailed articles! 😉

A beautiful country… but a bit too gray!

The very “gray” appearance of many French cities (with the notable exception of Alsace or Provence), which lack color to brighten them up, doesn’t exactly thrill me.

What a contrast with Central or Northern Europe, with their pastel-colored facades, or even the vibrant colors of Scandinavia!

Of course, the gray of granite is full of character and makes sense in Brittany or Limousin, for example!

But the facades of other regions could benefit from more colorful inspiration. Mouse gray is, indeed, a beautiful color (!), but it’s everywhere in the urban landscape…

And it’s not the weather, which is generally gray, especially in the northern half of the country, that compensates for this omnipresent grayness, perhaps a reflection of the contemporary French spirit, which is often described as “gay and festive”? (With its gray cars, gray buses, gray contemporary interiors… it’s a bit depressing!)

More generally, the limestone ensembles (Paris, Bordeaux, Nantes…) are elegant, but also very cold.

I prefer cities with medieval centers (Rouen, Dinan, Quimper, Troyes, Colmar…), which are much more pleasant in appearance.

Finally, France is experiencing increasing insecurity, which is not observed in most other countries (especially in Eastern Europe).

The tourist attractions of France in Europe

That being said, let’s focus on the positive! France in Europe is also, and above all, home to a great number of interesting museums (3000 labeled “Musée de France”), and an incredible number of beautiful castles.

Let’s also mention the fact that visiting almost all churches is free (as long as it lasts!), which is becoming less and less common in other countries!

I think of Italy, where the cash registers are multiplying slowly but surely at the entrance of the most interesting churches (like in Verona).

Or Spain, where almost all cathedrals (Seville, Cordoba, Malaga, Toledo…) have become paid attractions and even expensive to visit!

Despite a few drawbacks, given the country’s rich architectural heritage and great diversity of landscapes, I have explored most of the regions of France, searching, as I usually do, for good deals and nice addresses!