Villages: the finest sites in France

Villages · Pyrénées-Orientales

A fortified medieval town, with the history of the crusade against the Albigensians, the still-inhabited Cité de Carcassonne lies on the right bank of the Aude.

Collioure

A little Catalan port of colourful houses nestled in a cove of the Vermilion Coast, immortalised by Matisse and the Fauvist painters in the early twentieth century.

Villages · Aveyron

Conques

Villages · Bouches-du-Rhône

The great period of Conques, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, coincides with the building of the Romanesque abbey church and the creation of the finest pieces of goldwork in its treasure, including the golden Majesty of Saint Foy.

Les Baux-de-Provence

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'AzurMust-see

Between a dizzying precipice and the impressive ruins of its long-impregnable fortress, the most visited village in France sits on a rocky spur of the Alpilles, between the Vallon de la Fontaine and the Val d'Enfer.

Villages · Bas-Rhin

Mittelbergheim

Grand EstMust-see

Mittelbergheim stretches over the vine-covered hills of the Rippellsholz. The village, whose name is mentioned as early as 741, was successively the property of several abbeys.

Villages · Paris

Montmartre

Île-de-FranceMust-see

An artists' village perched on the highest hill in Paris, where the Sacré-Cœur basilica overlooks cobbled lanes that have stayed away from the Parisian bustle.

Villages · Alpes-de-Haute-Provence

Moustiers-Sainte-Marie

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'AzurMust-see

Clinging to the foot of cliffs, in the hollow of a fault where a torrent flows and olive trees have grown, with fields of lavender, lavandin, thyme and cork oaks on the horizon, this village at the edge of the Verdon gorges and near the artificial Lake Sainte-Croix is one of the wonders of Provence.

Villages · Lozère

Sainte-Enimie

Auvergne-Rhône-AlpesMust-see

Of the monastery raised to an abbey in the fourteenth century, the Romanesque chapter house and the Sainte-Madeleine chapel survive.

Villages · Cantal

Salers

It was around the castle of the barons of Salers that the town grew up, and it was in the fifteenth century that the ramparts were built to protect against the English.

Villages · Vaucluse

Séguret

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'AzurMust-see

Foremost among Séguret's charms shine the Clock Tower topped by a caged bell, the fine Reynier gate, the fifteenth-century belfry, the twelfth- and thirteenth-century Romanesque church of Saint-Denis, the chapel of Notre-Dame-des-Grâces and the seventeenth-century Mascarons fountain, in Baroque style.

Villages · Tarn

Albi

Centre-Val de LoireOutstanding

Omnipresent, Albi's red brick sets the tone. Delicate pink in the morning, powerful orange under the blazing summer sun or madder red in the evening.

Villages · Indre

Argenton-sur-Creuse

A small town nicknamed the "Venice of the Berry", whose colourful houses with wooden balconies directly overlook the calm waters of the Creuse.

Villages · Ardèche

Balazuc

Villages · Indre-et-Loire

You have to get to the opposite bank of the Ardèche to have enough distance to see this superb village as a whole.

Chinon

Centre-Val de LoireOutstanding

A medieval town on the banks of the Vienne, dominated by the imposing royal fortress where Joan of Arc recognised Charles VII, surrounded by a renowned vineyard.

Villages · Haut-Rhin

Colmar

Grand EstOutstanding

Located in the centre of Alsace, between the two other major industrial centres of Strasbourg and Mulhouse, Colmar is an essential stop.

Villages · Finistère

Concarneau

BrittanyOutstanding

A Breton fishing port known for its Ville Close, a fortified town built on a rocky islet linked to the land by two bridges in the heart of the port.

Villages · Tarn

Cordes-sur-ciel

Villages · Alpes-Maritimes

25 km from Albi, in the Tarn, let yourself be charmed by the enchanting face of Cordes-sur-Ciel.

Eze

Located just after Nice, going towards Menton, Èze stretches along the sea from Cap Roux to the Pointe de Cabuel. Perched like an eagle's nest at the top of an imposing and superb cliff, you will see the village and its pale ochre church from afar.

Villages · Lozère

Florac

Bourgogne-Franche-ComtéOutstanding

A small town, seat of the Cévennes National Park, nestled at the confluence of three rivers at the foot of the rocky bar of the Rocher de Rochefort.

Villages · Nièvre

La Charité-sur-Loire

A former monastic town listed by UNESCO as part of the Compostela routes, whose Cluniac priory still overlooks the Loire.

Villages · Drôme

La Garde-Adhémar

Perched on a hill overlooking the Donzère-Mondragon canal and the Pierrelatte plain, this former medieval stronghold lies on the left bank of the Rhône.

Villages · Gers

La Romieu

Nouvelle-AquitaineOutstanding

Discover the village of La Romieu, at the crossroads of the Ways of Saint James of Compostela, its collegiate church of Saint-Pierre listed as UNESCO World Heritage, its gardens.

Villages · Dordogne

Les Eyzies

A village nestled at the foot of high troglodyte limestone cliffs, nicknamed the "world capital of prehistory" for the exceptional density of its Palaeolithic deposits.

Villages · Doubs

Lods

Bourgogne-Franche-ComtéOutstanding

Crossed from one end to the other by the pretty river Loue that gushes out a few kilometres away, the town is a former village of winegrowers and blacksmiths.

Villages · Drôme

Mirmande

As you approach the town, your gaze stops on the imposing ramparts built in the fifth century.

Villages · Drôme

Montbrun-les-Bains

Packed against each other, the old stone houses have gained in height the space they did not have on the ground.

Villages · Bas-Rhin

Obernai

Grand EstOutstanding

A medieval town on the Alsace wine route, whose Gothic Chapel tower overlooks a market square surrounded by half-timbered houses in flower.

Villages · Corse-du-Sud

Piana

CorsicaOutstanding

The village of Piana overlooks the Gulf of Porto, close to an exceptional place: the calanques of sumptuous beauty marrying the blue of the sea with all the pink and red tones of the granite cliffs.

Villages · Isère

Pont-en-Royans

Villages · Seine-et-Marne

This town, at the foot of the Vercors massif, at the mouth of very beautiful gorges, is recognised as one of the most curious in Isère with its hanging houses with colourful façades overlooking the river Bourne.

Provins

Île-de-FranceOutstanding

In Seine-et-Marne, about 80 km south-east of Paris, the fortified medieval town of Provins offers an exceptional architectural heritage.

Villages · Ain

Pérouges

To cross Pérouges is to go from the Porte d'En Haut to the Porte d'En Bas. The village has indeed kept its medieval ramparts.

Villages · Ardèche

Saint-Montan

Villages · Alpes-Maritimes

Medieval site from the 5th to the 15th centuries, comprising a very large fortified town, three Romanesque churches, two chapels, a priory and an immense fortress reputed impregnable.

Saint-Paul-de-Vence

Centre-Val de LoireOutstanding

A fortified village become a high place of modern art, Saint-Paul-de-Vence has drawn artists and galleries for a century into its cobbled lanes perched above the Baie des Anges.

Villages · Cher

Sancerre

Village perched on top of a hill overlooking the Loire, capital of a vineyard renowned for its dry white wines made from sauvignon.

Villages · Alpes-Maritimes

Saorge

Bourgogne-Franche-ComtéOutstanding

Saorge, at 550 m altitude, impressively overlooks the Roya valley, with a concentration of houses huddled against each other, several storeys high, and tiered on several levels.

Villages · Côte-d'Or

Semur-en-Auxois

Fortified town built on a pink granite promontory overlooking the meanders of the Armançon, with its four medieval towers and Gothic collegiate church.

Villages · Oise

Senlis

Hauts-de-FranceOutstanding

Former royal city at the gates of Paris, whose Gothic cathedral and remains of the Capetian castle overlook a remarkably preserved medieval centre.

Villages · Alpes-de-Haute-Provence

Sisteron

Called the pearl of Haute Provence, Sisteron, a town of history where glories and miseries once alternated, is today one of the flagship towns of the Alpes de Haute Provence.

Villages · Haute-Savoie

Sixt Fer à Cheval

The village surrounds an old abbey whose buildings visible today date from the seventeenth century, but which was founded in 1144 by the Augustinian monks of Abondance, one of the most important religious communities of the northern Alps in the Middle Ages.

Villages · Vaucluse

Vaison la Romaine

Between the Rhône valley and Mont Ventoux, Vaison is very close to the Dentelles de Montmirail, in hill country scented with vines and olive trees.

Villages · Ardèche

Vogüé