Towns & cities: the finest sites in France
148 sites listed in this category. Regional capitals steeped in history, lively ports and World Heritage art cities: discover the French towns and cities that are worth the detour, between monuments, food and neighbourhood life.
Annecy
Nicknamed the "Venice of the Alps" for its canals lined with colourful houses, this Savoyard prefecture overlooks the clear waters of its lake.
Biarritz
A chic seaside resort of the Basque Country, cradle of European surfing, whose Grande Plage and Rocher de la Vierge overlook the Atlantic Ocean.
Chartres
Prefecture of Eure-et-Loir, whose sloping medieval centre runs down to the river Eure, dominated by the uneven spires of its Gothic cathedral.
Honfleur
A historic port on the Seine estuary, with its Vieux Bassin lined with tall half-timbered houses, a source of inspiration for the Impressionist painters.
La Rochelle
Prefecture of Charente-Maritime and a great historic Atlantic port, famous for its medieval towers guarding the entrance to the Old Port.
Lille
Capital of Hauts-de-France with a strongly asserted Flemish identity, whose Grand Place enlivens the heart of a historic centre with colourful Baroque façades.
Nantes
Former capital of the Dukes of Brittany on the Loire, reinvented around its industrial island and its neoclassical Passage Pommeraye.
Strasbourg
European and Alsatian capital, whose Petite France district, crossed by canals and lined with half-timbered houses, embodies Franco-German charm.
Toulouse
France's fourth-largest city, nicknamed the "Pink City" for the brick that clads its façades, organised around the monumental Place du Capitole.
Troyes
Historic capital of Champagne, famous for its colourful half-timbered houses and its old centre shaped like a champagne cork.
Aix-les-Bains
A spa town renowned since Roman times, nestled on the shores of Lake Bourget, the largest natural lake in France.
Ajaccio
Prefecture of Corse-du-Sud and chief town of the island, birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte, nestled at the head of a vast gulf facing the setting sun.
Angers
Former capital of Anjou dominated by its fortified castle with seventeen towers, whose old town preserves superb half-timbered houses.
Arbois
Historic capital of the Jura vineyards where Louis Pasteur carried out his research on fermentation, crossed by the Cuisance and its picturesque Capucins bridge.
Arcachon
A seaside resort created in the nineteenth century on the shores of the bay, famous for its Ville d'Hiver with extravagant villas nestled in the pine forest.
Arras
Prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais whose two Flemish Baroque squares, lined with arcades on pillars, are among the finest urban ensembles of the North.
Autun
A former Roman city nicknamed the "sister and rival of Rome", whose tall Gothic spire of the Saint-Lazare cathedral still dominates the rooftops.
Bagnoles-de-l'Orne
A spa town nestled in the heart of the Andaines forest, organised around a romantic lake lined with Belle Époque villas and its casino.
Bayonne
Historic capital of the Basque Labourd at the confluence of the Adour and the Nive, whose Gothic cathedral overlooks a district of colourful half-timbered houses.
Beaune
Historic capital of Burgundy wines, a fortified town whose ramparts and bastions still ring an old centre renowned for its wine-merchant houses.
Besançon
Former capital of French watchmaking, enclosed in an almost complete meander of the Doubs and dominated by the Vauban citadel listed by UNESCO.
Blois
Prefecture of Loir-et-Cher tiered on the hillsides overlooking the Loire, whose royal castle sums up several centuries of French architecture on its own.
Bourges
Prefecture of the Cher with a rich medieval and Renaissance heritage, dominated by its UNESCO-listed Gothic cathedral and its marshes district.
Béziers
The oldest town in France, dominated by its fortified cathedral of Saint-Nazaire that overlooks the Orb and its nine-arched medieval Old Bridge.
Calvi
Main town of the Balagne, dominated by its Genoese citadel perched on a rocky pinnacle facing a vast gulf lined with fine-sand beaches.
Clermont-Ferrand
Historic capital of Auvergne, whose Gothic cathedral in black Volvic stone dominates the city born from the merger of two rival towns.
Dijon
Former capital of the Dukes of Burgundy, a town of art with half-timbered houses and mansions, renowned for its mustard and gingerbread.
Dinard
A chic seaside resort facing Saint-Malo, favoured from the nineteenth century by an Anglo-American clientele who had sumptuous Belle Époque villas built there.
Granville
A fortified corsair town perched on a rocky cape overlooking the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel, birthplace of the couturier Christian Dior.
Grenoble
Former capital of the Dauphiné nestled at the confluence of the Isère and the Drac, encircled by three Alpine massifs visible from the city centre.
Le Mans
Prefecture of the Sarthe, known worldwide for its motor race, whose Cité Plantagenêt preserves one of the largest Gallo-Roman enclosures in France.
Metz
Prefecture of the Moselle built in golden Jaumont stone, at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille, dominated by the cathedral of Saint-Étienne.
Nancy
Former capital of the Dukes of Lorraine, between the UNESCO-listed Place Stanislas and the Porte de la Craffe, the monumental fortified entrance of the old town.
Nîmes
Prefecture of the Gard with exceptional ancient heritage, whose arena and Maison Carrée stand next to the elegant eighteenth-century Jardins de la Fontaine.
Orléans
Prefecture of the Loiret liberated by Joan of Arc in 1429, whose street named after her leads straight to the cathedral of Sainte-Croix.
Quimper
Prefecture of the Finistère and traditional capital of Cornouaille, where the twin spires of Saint-Corentin cathedral overlook a half-timbered centre.
Reims
City of the coronation of the kings of France beyond its famous cathedral, enlivened by Place Drouet-d'Erlon and its monumental gilded Subé fountain.
Rennes
Capital of Brittany at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine, whose historic centre has kept hundreds of colourful half-timbered houses.
Rouen
Historic capital of Normandy where Joan of Arc was burned, whose Renaissance Gros-Horloge still overlooks a half-timbered shopping street.
Saint-Flour
Episcopal town built on an impressive basalt plateau, overlooking the Ander valley from its rocky promontory and its Gothic cathedral.
Saumur
Town of the French cavalry and sparkling wines, whose white-turreted castle elegantly overlooks the banks of the Loire.
Sète
Mediterranean port built on the slopes of Mont Saint-Clair, criss-crossed by canals that earn it the nickname "Venice of Languedoc", birthplace of Georges Brassens.
Tours
Capital of Touraine at the confluence of the Loire and the Cher, whose medieval quarter enlivens Place Plumereau, ringed with half-timbered houses.
Uzès
First duchy of France, an elegant town of art with arcaded squares and blond-stone mansions, dominated by the towers of the Duchy and the cathedral.
Vannes
Prefecture of the Morbihan with intact medieval ramparts, where old wash-houses line the gardens below the half-timbered houses.
Vichy
Queen of spa towns, Vichy unfolds along the Allier an exceptional Belle Époque heritage — Parc des Sources, thermal baths and villas — which earned it UNESCO World Heritage inscription in 2021.
Vienne
Former Roman city on the banks of the Rhône, whose Temple of Augustus and Livia and ancient theatre bear witness to a rich imperial past.
Épernay
World capital of champagne, whose Avenue de Champagne lines up the prestigious headquarters of the great houses above kilometres of cellars carved in chalk.
All sites (100)
- Dax · Landes
- Mont-Louis · Pyrénées-Orientales
- Neuf-Brisach · Haut-Rhin
- Saint-Martin-de-Ré · Charente-Maritime
- Agen · Lot-et-Garonne
- Aix-en-Provence · Bouches-du-Rhône
- Alençon · Orne
- Amiens · Somme
- Angoulême · Charente
- Aubusson · Creuse
- Auch · Gers
- Aurillac · Cantal
- Auxerre · Yonne
- Avignon · Vaucluse
- Bastia · Haute-Corse
- Belfort · Territoire de Belfort
- Boulogne-sur-Mer · Pas-de-Calais
- Brest · Finistère
- Brive-la-Gaillarde · Corrèze
- Cahors · Lot
- Cannes · Alpes-Maritimes
- Carpentras · Vaucluse
- Castres · Tarn
- Chalon-sur-Saône · Saône-et-Loire
- Chambéry · Savoie
- Charleville-Mézières · Ardennes
- Chaudes-Aigues · Cantal
- Chaumont · Haute-Marne
- Chauvigny · Vienne
- Cherbourg · Manche
- Châteauroux · Indre
- Cognac · Charente
- Compiègne · Oise
- Condom · Gers
- Corte · Haute-Corse
- Deauville · Calvados
- Digne-les-Bains · Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
- Figeac · Lot
- Fontainebleau · Seine-et-Marne
- Fontenay-le-Comte · Vendée
- Gaillac · Tarn
- Gap · Hautes-Alpes
- Guéret · Creuse
- Hyères · Var
- Laval · Mayenne
- Le Crotoy · Somme
- Le Havre · Seine-Maritime
- Les Sables-d'Olonne · Vendée
- Limoges · Haute-Vienne
- Lons-le-Saunier · Jura
- Lorient · Morbihan
- Luxeuil-les-Bains · Haute-Saône
- Meaux · Seine-et-Marne
- Mende · Lozère
- Menton · Alpes-Maritimes
- Moissac · Tarn-et-Garonne
- Mont-de-Marsan · Landes
- Montauban · Tarn-et-Garonne
- Montbrison · Loire
- Montbéliard · Doubs
- Montélimar · Drôme
- Mulhouse · Haut-Rhin
- Mâcon · Saône-et-Loire
- Nevers · Nièvre
- Niort · Deux-Sèvres
- Noirmoutier-en-l'Île · Vendée
- Nyons · Drôme
- Orange · Vaucluse
- Paimpol · Côtes-d'Armor
- Parthenay · Deux-Sèvres
- Pau · Pyrénées-Atlantiques
- Perpignan · Pyrénées-Orientales
- Poitiers · Vienne
- Porto-Vecchio · Corse-du-Sud
- Rambouillet · Yvelines
- Remiremont · Vosges
- Riom · Puy-de-Dôme
- Rochefort · Charente-Maritime
- Royan · Charente-Maritime
- Saint-Brieuc · Côtes-d'Armor
- Saint-Germain-en-Laye · Yvelines
- Saint-Junien · Haute-Vienne
- Saint-Tropez · Var
- Saint-Valery-sur-Somme · Somme
- Saint-Étienne · Loire
- Sens · Yonne
- Tarbes · Hautes-Pyrénées
- Thonon-les-Bains · Haute-Savoie
- Toulon · Var
- Tulle · Corrèze
- Valence · Drôme
- Vendôme · Loir-et-Cher
- Verdun · Meuse
- Vernon · Eure
- Versailles · Yvelines
- Vesoul · Haute-Saône
- Villefranche-sur-Saône · Rhône
- Villeneuve-sur-Lot · Lot-et-Garonne
- Épinal · Vosges
- Évreux · Eure