Lonely Planet Best of France

Best of France

Top Sights, Authentic Experiences

Contents

Plan Your Trip

Welcome to France

France’s Top 12

Need to Know

Hot Spots for…

Essential France

Month by Month

Get Inspired

Itineraries

Family Travel

Paris

Eiffel Tower

Musée du Louvre

Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris

Château de Versailles

Walking Tour: Arty Montmartre

Walking Tour: Medieval Marais

Sights

Activities

Shopping

Eating

Drinking & Nightlife

Entertainment

Information

Getting There & Away

Getting Around

Where to Stay

Loire Valley

Château de Chambord

Château de Chenonceau

Château d’Azay-le-Rideau

Château de Villandry

Blois

Amboise

Tours

Normandy

Mont St-Michel

D-Day Beaches

Bayeux

Rouen

Trouville & Deauville

Le Havre

Brittany

Carnac Megaliths

St-Malo

Breton Island Life

Carnac

Vannes

Champagne

Champagne Tasting in Épernay

Cathédrale Notre Dame de Reims

Driving Tours

Reims

Épernay

Lyon

Bouchon Dining

Traboules & Canuts

Vieux Lyon

Sights

Tours

Eating

Drinking & Nightlife

Entertainment

Information

Getting There & Away

Getting Around

Provence

Hilltop Villages

Provençal Markets

Pont du Gard

Avignon

Moustiers Ste-Marie

Nice

Vieux Nice

The Three Corniches

Sights

Activities

Tours

Shopping

Eating

Drinking & Nightlife

Entertainment

Information

Getting There & Away

Getting Around

St-Tropez

Tropezien Beach Life

Boat Tours

Sights

Activities

Shopping

Eating

Drinking & Nightlife

Information

Getting There & Around

Marseille

Les Calanques

Le Panier

Sights

Tours

Shopping

Eating

Drinking & Nightlife

Entertainment

Information

Getting There & Away

Getting Around

Bordeaux

Bordeaux Wine Trail

Dune du Pilat

Sights

Tours

Shopping

Eating

Drinking & Nightlife

Information

Getting There & Away

Getting Around

French Alps

Aiguille du Midi

Winter Skiing

Val d’Isère

Chamonix

Annecy

In Focus

France Today

History

Architecture

Arts & Literature

French Cuisine

Outdoor Activities

Survival Guide

Directory A–Z

Accommodation

Climate

Customs Regulations

Electricity

Health

Insurance

Internet Access

Legal Matters

LGBT+ Travellers

Money

Opening Hours

Public Holidays

Telephone

Time

Toilets

Tourist Information

Travellers with Disabilities

Visas

Transport

Getting There & Away

Getting Around

Language

Behind the Scenes

Our Writers

Welcome to France

Vineyards, lavender fi elds and romantic châteaux… France woos travellers with iconic landmarks and seduces with its unfalteringly familiar culture, woven around cafe terraces, village-square markets and lace-curtained bistros with the plat du jour chalked on the board.

Fields of lavender and sunflowers, Provence | LINHKING/500PX ©

France is a land of languid moments embued with soul. French art de vivre (art of living) transforms simple, everyday rituals into unforgettable moments, be it a coffee in the Parisian cafe where Sartre and de Beauvoir met to philosophise, a stroll through the lily-clad gardens Monet painted, or a walk on a beach in Brittany scented with the subtle infusion of language, music and mythology brought by 5th-century Celtic invaders.

Food is of enormous importance to the French: breakfasting on warm croissants from the boulangerie (bakery), stopping off at Parisian bistros, and market shopping are all second nature - and it would be rude to refuse.

The terroir (land) of France weaves a varied journey from Brittany and Normandy’s cliffs and sand dunes to the piercing blue sea of the French Riviera. Outdoor action is what France’s lyrical landscape demands - and there’s something for everybody. Whether you end up walking barefoot across wave-rippled sand to Mont St-Michel, riding a cable car to glacial panoramas above Chamonix or cartwheeling down Europe’s highest sand dune, France does not disappoint. Its great outdoors is thrilling, with endless opportunities and adventure. Allez!

Plan Your Trip

France’s Top 12

1 Paris

Romance and culture in the City of Light

The cloud-piercing Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, gargoyled Notre Dame cathedral, lamplit bridges spanning the Seine…Paris has countless famous landmarks and the French capital more than lives up to its hype. Think sweeping vistas across grand boulevards, world-class art museums, monuments evoking glorious histories, buzzing cafe pavement terraces and a bevy of city bistros. Take the time to absorb, embrace and enjoy.

View from Notre Dame’s Gargoyles Gallery | ANMBPH/SHUTTERSTOCKK ©

FRANCE’S TOP 12 PLAN YOUR TRIP

2 Loire Valley

Châteaux plucked straight from a fairy tale

If it’s pomp and architectural splendour you’re after, this regal valley is the place to linger. Flowing for more than 1000km, the Loire is one of France’s last fleuves sauvages (untamed rivers) and its banks provide a 1000-year snapshot of French high society. Climb the stairway to the rooftop of Château de Chambord, admire art at Château de Chenonceau, and wander the gardens of Château de Villandry.

Château de Villandry | RICHARD SEMIK/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

FRANCE’S TOP 12 PLAN YOUR TRIP

3 Normandy

Emotional histories in northern France

This coastal chunk of northern France has a rich and often brutal past, brought to life by the island monastery of Mont St-Michel; the Bayeux Tapestry, world-famous for its cartoon scenes of 11th-century life; and the transfixing cemeteries and memorials along the D-Day beaches. Normandy is also a pastoral land of butter and soft cheeses, a kingdom where creamy Camembert, cider, fiery apple brandy and super-fresh seafood entice.

Mont St-Michel | SARANYA33/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

FRANCE’S TOP 12 PLAN YOUR TRIP

4 Brittany

Cider, crêpes and the great outdoors

With its wild coastline, islands stitched together with craggy coastal paths, medieval towns and forests laced in Celtic lore and legend, this is a land for explorers. Pedalling past open fields dotted with megaliths gives a poignant reminder of the ancient inhabitants of Brittany, while St-Malo promises visitors pure drama – especially on a sunset stroll along its historic ramparts. Throw back a cider, bite into a sweet crêpe, and rev up your sense of Breton adventure.

St-Malo | BORIS STROUJKO/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

FRANCE’S TOP 12 PLAN YOUR TRIP

5 Champagne

The heart and soul of French bubbly

Nothing quite fulfils the French dream like easy day hikes through neat rows of vineyards, exquisite picture-postcard villages and a gold-stone riverside hamlet. This is Champagne, the land of French bubbly. Known-brand Champagne houses in the main towns of Reims and Épernay are famed the world over. But much of Champagne’s finest liquid gold is created by passionate, small-scale vignerons (winegrowers) in drop-dead-gorgeous villages – rendering the region’s scenic driving routes the loveliest way of tasting fine bubbly amid rolling vineyards.

Hot-air ballooning above Montagne de Reims | MIKI STUDIO/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

FRANCE’S TOP 12 PLAN YOUR TRIP

6 Lyon

Gastronomic capital of France

In France’s food capital, gastronauts will be in seventh heaven: from tripe and pike dumplings to frogs’ legs and grilled carp, there are plenty of culinary adventures to be had. Savouring dishes in bouchons (small bistros) creates unforgettable memories – as do the Roman amphitheatres of Fourvière, the Unesco-listed streets of Vieux Lyon, the traboules (secret passageways), and the audacious modern architecture of Confluence.

Frogs’ legs with garlic butter | CESARZ/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

FRANCE’S TOP 12 PLAN YOUR TRIP

7 Provence

Lavender fields and lazy lunches

Sip pastis (aniseed-flavoured aperitif) over pétanque (boules) on the village square, mingle over buckets of herbs and tangy olives at the weekly market, hunt for truffles, taste Côtes de Provence rosé and congratulate yourself on arriving in Provence. This region in France’s south calls for slow travel – be it motoring past lavender fields and chestnut forests, cycling through apple-green vineyards or hopping between hilltop villages.

Strawberries at a Provençal market | LETHOROIS PHOTOGRAPHIE PATRICK LETHOROIS/LETHOROIS/500PX ©

FRANCE’S TOP 12 PLAN YOUR TRIP

8 Nice

Vibrant street life meets year-round sunshine

Undisputed queen of the Riviera’s shimmering seas, idyllic beaches and lush hills, Nice is one of France’s smartest urban hang-outs. Its old town is gorgeous, its street markets buzz and its people know how to party. Take the dramatic trio of coastal roads, impossible to drive along without conjuring up the glitz of Riviera high life. Marvel at it all over true salade niçoise, socca (chickpea pancakes) or tourte de blettes (chard, raisin and pine nut pie).

Cours Saleya flower market, Vieux Nice | DANIEL NICHOLSON/DANIELNICHOLSON/500PX ©

FRANCE’S TOP 12 PLAN YOUR TRIP

9 St-Tropez

Glamorous Riviera fishing port with star power

In summer, sizzling St-Tropez is the French Riviera’s hang-out of choice for celebrities and party aficionados, but it’s strangely quiet the rest of the year. In August, arrive by car, and you’ll sit for hours in a bottleneck and curse the old fishing port; arrive by boat and love it forever. Indisputable assets: brilliant sandy beaches, couture boutiques, gourmet food shops, galleries and nightclubs on the sand.

CHRISTIAN MUELLER/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

FRANCE’S TOP 12 PLAN YOUR TRIP

10 Marseille

Cultural fusion by the Mediterranean

Grit and grandeur coexist in Marseille, a multicultural port city with a pedigree stretching back to classical Greece. Marseille’s heart is the vibrant Vieux Port, mast-to-mast with yachts and pleasure boats. Uphill is ancient Le Panier, the oldest section of the city, stylish République and the Joliette area, centred on totemic Cathédrale de Marseille Notre Dame de Major.

Vieux Port | S-F/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

FRANCE’S TOP 12 PLAN YOUR TRIP

11 Bordeaux

Wine capital hemmed by sun-drenched vineyards

Bordeaux is synonymous with some of France’s finest wine. Dégustation (tasting) is part of life, from aged premiers crus to the vin nouveau opened at festivals after the autumn harvest. Paired with the city’s exceptional dining scene – traditional kitchens, neobistros, fusion restaurants – there is no tastier marriage. Beyond this, Bordeaux is a blend of 18th-century savoir-faire, millennial high-tech and urban street life.

Vineyards around St-Émilion | STONE73/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

FRANCE’S TOP 12 PLAN YOUR TRIP

12 French Alps

Pure adrenaline on the roof of Europe

These mighty mountains, mirror lakes and crevasse-scarred glaciers form one of Europe’s true epics. Crowned by Mont Blanc (4810m), the Alps show no mercy in their outdoor-action overload. Europe’s biggest and most prestigious ski resorts are here. In summer they melt into meadow-draped hiking country.

Aiguille du Midi | GORILLAIMAGES/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Plan Your Trip

Need to Know

Currency

Euro (€)

Language

French

Visas

Generally not required for stays of up to 90 days (or at all for EU nationals); some nationalities need a Schengen visa.

Money

ATMs at every airport, most train stations and on every second street corner in towns and cities. Visa, MasterCard and Amex widely accepted.

Mobile Phones

European and Australian phones work, but only American cells with 900 and 1800 MHz networks are compatible; check with your provider before leaving home. Use a French SIM card to make cheaper calls with a French number.

Time

Central European Time (GMT/UTC plus one hour)

When to Go

High Season (Jul & Aug)

o Queues at big sights and on roads, especially August.

o Christmas, New Year and Easter all busy.

o Late December to March is high season in ski resorts.

o Book accommodation and tables in the best restaurants well in advance.

Shoulder (Apr–Jun & Sep)

o Hotel rates drop in the south and other hot spots.

o Spring brings warm weather, flowers, local produce.

o Autumn’s vendange (grape harvest) is reason to visit.

Low Season (Oct–Mar)

o Prices up to 50% less than high season.

o Sights, attractions and restaurants open fewer days.

o Hotels and restaurants in quiet rural regions are closed.

Daily Costs

Budget: less than €130

o Dorm bed: €18–30

o Double room in a budget hotel: €90

o Admission to many attractions first Sunday of month: free

o Lunch menus (set meals): less than €20

Midrange: €130–220

o Double room in a midrange hotel: €90–190

o Lunch menus in gourmet restaurants: €20–40

Top End: over €220

o Double room in a top-end hotel: €190–350

o Top restaurant dinner: menu €65, à la carte €100–150

Useful Websites

France.fr (www.france.fr) Official country website.

France 24 (www.france24.com/en/france) French news in English.

Paris by Mouth (www.parisbymouth.com) Dining and drinking; one-stop site for where and how to eat in the capital with plenty of the latest openings.

David Lebovitz (www.davidlebovitz.com) American pastry chef in Paris and author of several French cook books; insightful postings and great France-related articles shared on his Facebook page.

French Word-a-Day (http://french-word-a-day.typepad.com) Fun language learning.

Lonely Planet (www.lonelyplanet.com/france) Destination information, hotel bookings, traveller forum and more.

Opening Hours

Opening hours vary throughout the year. We list high-season opening hours, but remember that they often decrease in shoulder and low seasons.

Banks 9am to noon and 2pm to 5pm Monday to Friday or Tuesday to Saturday

Bars 7pm to 1am

Cafes 7am to 11pm

Clubs 10pm to 3am, 4am or 5am Thursday to Saturday

Restaurants Noon to 2.30pm and 7pm to 11pm six days a week

Shops 10am to noon and 2pm to 7pm Monday to Saturday

Arriving in France

Aéroport de Charles de Gaulle (Paris) Trains, buses and RER suburban trains run to Paris’ city centre every 15 to 30 minutes from 5am to 11pm, after which night buses kick in (12.30am to 5.30am). It’s a €55/50 flat fare for a 30-minute taxi ride to right-/left-bank central Paris.

Aéroport d’Orly (Paris) Linked to central Paris by Orlyval rail then RER or bus every 15 minutes between 5am and 11pm. Or T7 tram to Villejuif–Louis Aragon then metro to the centre. The 25-minute journey by taxi costs €35/30 to right-/left-bank central Paris.

Getting Around

Transport in France is comfortable, quick, usually reliable and reasonably priced.

Train State-owned SNCF, France’s rail network, is first class, with extensive coverage and frequent departures.

Car Away from cities and large towns (where it’s hard to park) a car comes into its own. Cars can be hired at airports and train stations. Drive on the right. Be aware of France’s potentially hazardous ‘priority to the right’ rule.

Bus Cheaper and slower than trains. Useful for remote villages not serviced by trains.

Bicycle Certain regions – Loire Valley, Brittany, Provence’s Luberon – beg to be explored on two wheels, with dedicated cycling paths, some along canal towpaths or between fruit orchards and vineyards.

For more, see

Plan Your Trip

Hot Spots for…

French Cuisine

Gourmet appetites know no bounds in France, a paradise for food lovers with its varied regional cuisines, open-air markets and local gusto for dining well. Bon appétit!

PREMIER PHOTO/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Art & Architecture

Literature, music, painting, cinema: France’s vast artistic heritage is the essence of French art de vivre (art of living).

BELLENA/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Outdoor Activities

From extreme sports beneath snowy Mont Blanc to kayaking tours along the sunny south coast, France’s dramatically varied landscapes offer adventures of all shapes and sizes.

EO NAYA/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Wine Tasting

Viticulture in France is an ancient art and tradition. From tastings at cellars to watching the grape harvest, French wine culture demands to be sipped and savoured.

FREEPROD33/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Plan Your Trip

Essential France

Activities

From strolling Parisian parks to scaling Alpine peaks, fresh-air activities are part of the French lifestyle. There are 3427km of coastline along which to kayak, swim and stroll, the French have been die-hard hikers for centuries, and anyone who can flits off for the weekend to ski or snowboard.

Spring and autumn are best for walking and cycling in Provence and the French Riviera, which swelter in summer. In the French Alps, summer is short and sweet (mid-June to September) while ski season runs from mid-December into April.

Promenade des Anglais, Nice | ROSTISLAV GLINSKY/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Shopping

Paris is the obvious place to shop, with its fashion houses, historic department stores and international chains. Lovely as they are, designer goods probably aren’t any cheaper than at home. Shop for a snip of the usual price at France’s soldes (sales), by law held twice a year for three weeks in January and again in July.

Non-EU residents can claim a value-added tax (VAT) refund on same-day purchases over €175, providing the goods are for personal consumption and are being personally transported home; retailers have details.

Take your own bag to local markets and supermarkets. With the exception of the odd haggle at the market, little bargaining goes on.

Eating

The freshness of ingredients, regional variety and range of cooking methods in France is phenomenal. Adopt the local culinary pace: breakfast is a tartine (slice of baguette with butter and jam) and un café (espresso), long milky café au lait or – especially for kids – hot chocolate. In French homes, coffee and hot chocolate are drunk from a cereal bowl – perfect bread-dunking terrain. Croissants are a weekend treat.

Déjeuner (lunch) translates as an entrée (starter) and plat (main course) with wine. Goûter, an afternoon snack, is devoured with particular relish by French children (a slab of milk chocolate inside a wedge of baguette is a traditional favourite). Dinner, generally with wine and often ending with cheese and/or dessert, is a more languid affair.

A menu in French is a two- or three-course meal at a fixed price – by far the best-value dining, with most bistros chalking the day’s menu on a board.

Les Deux Magots, Paris | PETR KOVALENKOV/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Drinking & Nightlife

From traditional neighbourhood cafes to cutting-edge cocktail bars, drinking options abound. The line between a cafe, salon de thé (tearoom), bistro, brasserie, bar and bar à vins (wine bar) is blurred. A cafe that’s quiet mid-afternoon might have DJ sets in the evening and dancing later on.

The apéro (aperitif) is sacred. Urban cafes and bars get packed out from around 5pm as locals relax over kir (white wine with blackcurrant syrup), beer or red wine. At weekends, leisurely noon-time apéro is equally acceptable.

Best Cafe Culture

Beans on Fire, Paris

L’Instant, Lyon

Les Deux Magots, Paris

Bar des 13 Coins, Marseille

La Movida, Nice

Entertainment

Catching a performance in Paris, Lyon or Marseille is a treat. French and international opera, ballet and theatre companies and cabaret dancers take to the stage in fabled venues, and a flurry of artists form fascinating fringe art scenes. Cinemas show films in French and sometimes in their original language (including English) with French subtitles (‘VO’; version originale).

Plan Your Trip

Month by Month

January

With New Year festivities done and dusted, head to the Alps. Crowds on the slopes thin out once school’s back, but January remains busy. On the Mediterranean, mild winters are wonderfully serene in a part of France that’s madly busy the rest of the year.

Truffle Season

No culinary product is more aromatic or decadent than black truffles. Hunt them in Provence – the season runs late December to March, but January is the prime month.

Truffles | KARL ALLGAEUER/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Vive le Ski!

Grab your skis, hit the slopes. Most resorts in the Alps open mid- to late December, and some stay open into late April.

February

Crisp cold weather in the mountains – lots of blue skies now – translates as ski season in top gear. Alpine resorts get mobbed by families during the February school holidays and accommodation is at its priciest.

Nice Carnival

Nice makes the most of its mild climate with this crazy Lenten carnival (www.nicecarnival.com). As well as parade and costume shenanigans, merrymakers pelt each other with blooms during the legendary flower battles.

Nice Carnival | A.CHAILAN/OTCN ©

April

Dedicated ski fiends can carve glaciers in the highest French ski resorts until mid-April or later at highest altitudes. Then it’s off with the ski boots and on with the hiking gear as peach and almond trees flower pink against a backdrop of snowcapped peaks.

Fête de la Transhumance

During the ancient Fête de la Transhumance in April or May, shepherds walk their flocks of sheep up to green summer pastures; St-Rémy de Provence’s fest is the best known.

May

There is no lovelier month to travel in France, as the first melons ripen in Provence and outdoor markets burst with new-found colour.

May Day

No one works on 1 May, a national holiday that incites summer buzz, with muguets (lilies of the valley) sold at roadside stalls and given to friends for good luck.

Monaco Grand Prix

Formula One’s glamorous rip around the streets of one of the world’s most glam countries (www.grand-prix-monaco.com).

June

As midsummer approaches, the festival pace quickens alongside a rising temperature gauge, which tempts the first bathers into the sea.

Fête de la Musique

Orchestras, crooners, buskers and bands fill streets with free music during France’s vibrant nationwide celebration of music on 21 June (www.fetedelamusique.culture.fr).

Paris Jazz Festival

No festival better evokes the brilliance of Paris’ interwar jazz age than this annual fest (http://parisjazzfestival.paris.fr) in the Parc Floral de Paris.

Best Festivals

Nice Carnival, February

Monaco Grand Prix, May

Festival d’Avignon, July

Route du Champagne en Fête, August

Fête des Lumières, December

July

If fields of lavender are your heart’s desire, now is the time to catch them flowering in Provence. But you won’t be the only one. School’s out for the summer, showering the country with tourists, traffic and too many complet (full) signs strung in hotel windows.

Tour de France

The world’s most prestigious cycling race ends on Paris’ av des Champs-Élysées on the third or fourth Sunday of July, but you can catch it across France in the two weeks before then – the route changes each year but the French Alps are a hot spot.

Bastille Day

Join the French in celebrating the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789 – countrywide there are firework displays, balls, processions, parades and lots of hoo-ha all round.

Festival d’Avignon

Rouse your inner thespian with Avignon’s legendary performing-arts festival. Street acts in its fringe fest are as inspired as those on official stages.

August

It’s that crazy summer month when the French join everyone else on holiday. Paris, Lyon and other big cities empty; traffic jams at motorway toll booths test the patience of a saint; and temperatures soar. Avoid. Or don your party hat and join the crowd!

Festival Interceltique de Lorient

Celtic culture is the focus of this festival when hundreds of thousands of Celts from Brittany and abroad flock to Lorient to celebrate just that.

Route du Champagne en Fête

There’s no better excuse for a flute or three of bubbly than during the first weekend in August when Champagne toasts its vines and vintages with the Route du Champagne en Fête. Free tastings, cellar visits, music and dancing.

Festival Jazz en Ville

Concerts and jam sessions featuring big names from the international jazz scene in the Breton town of Vannes; late July or early August.

September

As sun-plump grapes hang heavy on darkened vines and that August madness drops off as abruptly as it began, a welcome tranquillity falls across autumnal France. This is the start of the vendange (grape harvest).

Mating Season

Nothing beats getting up at dawn to watch mating stags, boar and red deer at play. Observatory towers are hidden in woods around Château de Chambord.

October

The days become shorter, the last grapes are harvested and the first sweet chestnuts fall from trees. With the changing of the clocks on the last Sunday of the month, there’s no denying it’s winter.

Nuit Blanche

In one last-ditch attempt to stretch out what’s left of summer, Paris museums, monuments, cultural spaces, bars and clubs rock around the clock during Paris’ so-called White Night, aka one fabulous all-nighter!

December

Days are short and it’s cold everywhere bar the south of France. But there are Christmas school holidays and festive celebrations to bolster sun-deprived souls, not to mention some season-opening winter skiing in the highest-altitude Alpine resorts from mid-December.

Fête des Lumières

France’s biggest and best light show, on and around 8 December, transforms the streets and squares of Lyon into an open stage.

Plan Your Trip

Get Inspired

Read

A Moveable Feast (Ernest Hemingway; 1964) Beautiful evocation of 1920s Paris.

Life: A User’s Manual (Georges Perec; 1978) Intricately structured novel about an apartment block’s inhabitants.

Everybody Was So Young (Amanda Vaill; 1995) The French Riviera in the roaring twenties.

The Horseman on the Roof (Jean Giono; 1951) An Italian exile in 1830s Provence, ravaged by a cholera epidemic.

Paris (Edward Rutherford; 2013) Eight centuries of Parisian history.

The Hundred-Foot Journey (Richard C Morais; 2010) Culinary warfare in a remote French village.

Watch

Cyrano de Bergerac (1990) Glossy version of the classic, with Gérard Depardieu.

La Haine (Hate; 1995) Mathieu Kassovitz’ prescient take on social tensions in modern Paris.

Bienvenue Chez Les Ch’tis (2008) Satirical comedy