Basilique Notre Dame de la Garde
Marseille
Occupying Marseille’s highest point, La Garde (154m), this opulent 19th-century Romano-Byzantine basilica is Marseille's most-visited icon. Built on the…
Must-see attractions in France
Calvi
Crowning a rocky headland, Calvi’s massive citadel was fortified by Corsica’s Genoese rulers from the 12th century onwards, and has fended off everyone…
St-Tropez
In a gracefully converted 16th-century chapel, this small but famous museum showcases an impressive collection of modern art infused with that legendary…
Grenoble
For lovers of European art, this museum is an uplifting place to get lost for a day. There's an even spread of artistic eras on display: an antiquities…
Burgundy
Originally Romanesque, this cathedral was built in the 12th century to house the sacred relics of St Lazarus. Over the main doorway, the famous Romanesque…
Bastia
Looming above the harbour, Bastia’s stern-walled citadel was built between the 15th and 17th centuries for the city’s Genoese masters. Known as the Terra…
Reims
A Unesco World Heritage Site, this lavish former archbishop’s residence, redesigned in neoclassical style between 1671 and 1710, was where French princes…
Cloître de la Cathédrale de Fréjus
Côte d'Azur
Fréjus’ star sight is its 11th- and 12th-century cathedral, one of the region's first Gothic buildings. Its cloister features rare 14th- and 15th-century…
Nancy
Nancy’s crowning glory is this grand neoclassical square and Unesco World Heritage Site. Designed by Emmanuel Héré in the 1750s, it was named after the…
La Rochelle
In a series of boldly coloured, red, blue and yellow canopied hangars at the Bassin à Flot, the Maritime Museum evokes the history of La Rochelle port,…
Metz
Designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, with a curved roof resembling a space-age Chinese hat, the architecturally innovative Centre Pompidou-Metz is…
Troyes
Half-timbered houses – some with lurching walls and floors that aren’t quite level – line many streets in the old city, rebuilt after a devastating fire…
The Luberon
In the scrubby hills about 6km south of Bonnieux, a twisty back road slopes up to this wonderful cedar forest, whose spreading boughs provide welcome…
Nice
This museum, 2km north of the city centre in the leafy Cimiez quarter, houses a fascinating assortment of works by Matisse, including oil paintings,…
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…
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 …
Aix-en-Provence
Aix established one of France's first public museums here, on the site of a former Hospitallers' priory, in 1838. Nearly 200 years of acquisitions …
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…
St-Tropez
Shrug off the hustle of the port in St-Tropez’ historic fishing quarter, La Ponche, northeast of the Vieux Port. From the southern end of quai Frédéric…
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…
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 …
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…
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…
Auvergne
Le Puy's oldest chapel, first established in the 10th century, and rebuilt several times since, teeters atop an 85m-high volcanic plug, reached by…
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…
Église Abbatiale de St-Robert
Auvergne
For Pope Clement VI, a humble tomb simply wouldn't do. The pope commissioned a palatial church to shelter his final resting place and the resulting Église…
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…
Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris
Paris
While its interior is closed off to visitors following the devastating fire of April 2019, this masterpiece of French Gothic architecture remains the city…
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…
