Curated selections

Nature & landscapes

Discovering the most beautiful waterfalls of the Sancy

The Sancy massif, in the heart of the Puy-de-Dôme, is full of spectacular waterfalls tucked into exceptional volcanic landscapes. Among them, the famous Grande Cascade…

Spectacular waterfalls, from Auvergne to the Pyrenees

There is the roar you hear before you see the water, the coolness rising from the pool, the rainbow settling in the spray. From the limestone columns of the Jura to the…

Dizzying panoramas and viewpoints

Some landscapes have to be earned: a few steps, a cliffside path or a road of hairpin bends, and the panorama suddenly opens up: the highest dune in Europe, the crater…

Coves and wild beaches

Far from the big crowded beaches, France hides coves reachable only on foot or by boat, spectacular cliffs and peninsulas where nature has kept the upper hand: the water…

The 15 most beautiful caves in France

Beneath the limestone massifs of the Lot, the Cévennes, the Vercors and the Pyrenees, millions of years of erosion have sculpted a parallel world: underground rivers…

The most beautiful valleys in France

Carved by glacial torrents, karst rivers or ancient rivers, French valleys offer some of the most varied natural landscapes in the country: wild pastures of the Queyras…

The 10 most beautiful natural cirques in France

A natural cirque is a rocky amphitheatre shaped by glacial or karst erosion, often closed off by steep cliffs and waterfalls. From the Pyrenees, where the cirque of…

The most beautiful cliffs in France

Normandy's white chalk, Brittany's pink granite or Corsican limestone: French cliffs offer impressive geological diversity along thousands of kilometres of coast

The most beautiful coastal paths in France

The customs officers' path (GR34) and its regional equivalents let you follow the French coastline very closely, between wind-battered moors and breathtaking views over…

The most unusual places in France

Fairy chimneys, rocks sculpted by erosion, a giant arch, a forest of stones, catacombs: France has natural and curious sites that lie outside the usual circuits

The secret waterfalls of France

Far from the major sites, France hides hundreds of waterfalls that guidebooks forget: falls of a few metres at the bottom of a Vosges dell, tall Pyrenean waterfalls…

The most beautiful beaches in France

From Corsica's white sand to the dunes of the Camargue, from the coves of the Côte d'Azur to the big Breton beaches battered by the Atlantic, France has beaches of great…

Regions & local flavours

The Lot valley in Aveyron: a journey between nature and heritage

In northern Aveyron, the Lot valley unrolls its green landscapes between plateaux, forests and cliffs, through a succession of characterful villages: Estaing and its…

The most beautiful natural sites of the Luberon

Between the ochre cliffs of Rustrel and the spectacular spring of the Fontaine de Vaucluse, the Luberon and its immediate surroundings offer some of the most photogenic…

The most beautiful natural sites of the Cévennes

Between dizzying limestone gorges, rocky chaos and arid causses, the Cévennes National Park concentrates some of the wildest landscapes of the Massif Central, straddling…

The most beautiful tourist sites of the Luberon

Ochre villages, a Cistercian abbey and former quarries turned geological curiosity: the Luberon concentrates a great diversity of tourist sites in a small territory

The most beautiful villages of the Luberon

Perched on their ochre hills or nestled in the hollow of the valley, the villages of the Luberon are among the most photographed in Provence, with pale stone, coloured…

The most beautiful castles of the Luberon

From the Romanesque keep of Gordes to the ruined castle of Lacoste, former home of the Marquis de Sade, the castles of the Luberon tell an eventful history, between the…

The most beautiful hikes in the Luberon

The Colorado Provençal and its coloured paths, the gorges cut into the ochre of Rustrel or the climb to the spring of the Fontaine de Vaucluse: the Luberon offers short…

The most beautiful panoramas of the Luberon

From the heights of its hilltop villages or the top of its castles, the Luberon offers viewpoints that take in the whole massif, from the lavender fields to the ridges…

The most beautiful places in the Luberon

A general overview of the Luberon essentials, between ochre villages, castles and natural curiosities, for a first discovery of the Vaucluse massif

Unusual places in the Luberon

A former ochre extraction site turned lunar landscape, a round twelfth-century castle or a quarry in improbable colours: the Luberon hides a few curiosities out of the…

The most beautiful villages of the Périgord

Pale stone, lauze roofs and preserved medieval lanes: the Périgord (Dordogne) is among the regions of France most densely endowed with characterful villages, often…

The most beautiful castles of the Dordogne valley

A historic face-off between French and English castles during the Hundred Years' War, the Dordogne valley lines up one of the highest concentrations of medieval castles…

The most beautiful villages of Cathar Country

At the foot of the great Cathar castles, several villages and towns of the Aude and the Pyrénées-Orientales keep the imprint of this eventful history, between medieval…

The most beautiful natural sites of the Vercors

The Vercors massif, straddling Drôme and Isère, offers some of the most spectacular karst landscapes of the French Prealps, between dizzying gorges, glacial cirques and…

The most beautiful natural sites of the Verdon

Nicknamed the "European Grand Canyon", the Verdon carves its dizzying turquoise gorges between Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Var, over nearly 25 kilometres

The most beautiful sites of the Drôme Provençale

Between golden-stone villages, lavender fields and discreet waterfalls, the Drôme Provençale already announces the atmosphere of neighbouring Vaucluse, with much quieter…

The most beautiful natural sites of the Ardèche

Gorges carved into limestone, the Pont d'Arc natural arch and cooled lava flows: the Ardèche concentrates spectacular geology in a relatively small territory

The most beautiful sites of the Auvergne volcanoes

With more than 80 volcanoes lined up over 45 kilometres, the UNESCO-listed Chaîne des Puys offers one of the best-preserved volcanic landscapes in Europe, with scoria…

The most beautiful sites of the Basque Country

Red-and-white half-timbered villages, a steep corniche on the Atlantic and Pyrenean canyons: the French Basque Country offers a landscape and cultural identity unique in…

The most beautiful natural sites of the Jura

Stepped waterfalls, limestone reculées and deep gorges: the Jura massif is full of human-scale natural curiosities, often reached by short marked hikes

The most beautiful sites of the Morvan

A wooded granite massif in the heart of Burgundy, the Morvan cultivates unspoilt nature made of forests, lakes and discreet waterfalls, far from the tourist crowds of…

The most beautiful sites of the Pink Granite Coast

Sculpted by millions of years of erosion, the pink granite rocks lining the north coast of Brittany, around Perros-Guirec and Trégastel, form rocky chaos with evocative…

The most beautiful sites of the Gulf of Morbihan

A small inland sea dotted with a multitude of islands and islets, the Gulf of Morbihan offers a sheltered stretch of water ideal for sailing, surrounded by unspoilt…

The most beautiful sites of Corsica

The Island of Beauty concentrates in a small territory landscapes usually found separately: turquoise coves, limestone cliffs, red granite mountains, torrents and forests

The most beautiful sites of Brittany

Between pink granite coasts, wind-battered capes, megaliths and characterful villages, Brittany is discovered at the rhythm of the tides. Each département has its own…

The most beautiful sites of Normandy

From the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel to the cliffs of Étretat, Normandy offers a succession of landscapes and places of history: Romanesque abbeys, Gothic cathedrals…

Families & activities

Caves and chasms to visit as a family

Going underground means changing worlds in a few steps: the light goes out, the temperature settles at twelve degrees, and a setting of stalactites, curtains and…

Zoos and wildlife parks for a family outing

A whole day outdoors, children running from one enclosure to the next, and the chance to observe up close species you usually only see on screen: wolves, tigers, red…

Aquariums: diving without getting wet

Walking through a glass tunnel while a shark passes over your head, pressing your nose against the glass of a jellyfish tank, watching the penguins' feeding time…

Aboard tourist trains and rail bikes

The plume of smoke from a steam locomotive, the clatter of rails along a valley, or the pleasure of pedalling at your own pace on a disused railway between viaducts and…

Remarkable gardens

A Japanese garden in the middle of Anjou, a rose garden with several thousand varieties, a vegetable garden that plays with giant vegetables: behind the rather sedate…

Water parks for the summer

Thrilling slides, a lazy river to float effortlessly, artificial waves to learn to surf: the most effective defence against a heatwave is still a good water park…

The most beautiful easily accessible waterfalls in France

You do not need to be a seasoned hiker to admire a fine waterfall: several of the most beautiful waterfalls in France can be reached in less than half an hour's walk…

Villages & heritage

Characterful villages and medieval towns

Cobbled lanes climbing up to a castle, pale-stone houses clinging to the cliff, a shady square where time seems to have stopped: these villages tell the story of France…

Legendary bridges and viaducts

A bridge is for crossing, but some are worth the detour in themselves: two thousand years of Roman aqueduct still standing, a deck suspended more than 300 metres above a…

The most beautiful troglodyte villages in France

Dug straight into limestone or tuffeau rock, troglodyte villages bear witness to an ingenious way of living, long kept up to protect against cold, heat or invasions

The most beautiful hilltop villages in France

Built on a hillside or at the top of a rocky pinnacle, hilltop villages have overlooked their valley for centuries, often for defensive reasons before becoming prized…

The most beautiful ports in France

Colourful fishing ports, fashionable marinas or fortified corsair towns: the French coast lines up some of the most photogenic ports in Europe

The most beautiful lighthouses in France

Stone sentinels planted on capes, islands and reefs, lighthouses tell the story of navigation, storms and the work of the keepers. Many can be visited and offer, at the…

The Most Beautiful Villages of France

France has around 180 villages that are members of the association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, a label created in 1982 that distinguishes small rural communes…

The UNESCO sites of France

France has more than forty properties on the UNESCO World Heritage list in mainland France: Gothic cathedrals, abbeys, castles, fortified towns, decorated caves, wine…

The great prehistoric sites of France

France is one of the richest countries in Europe for prehistory: caves decorated by Palaeolithic artists, rock shelters, excavation sites, museums, standing-stone…

Mountains & outdoors

Mountain lakes with turquoise water

After a climb through the forest, the path opens onto a basin of clear water ringed by peaks, so calm that it reflects the sky upside down. High-altitude glacial lakes…

Legendary ski resorts

There are the big resorts facing Mont Blanc, those nestled in a Pyrenean cirque, and the small ones of the Jura or the Vosges where you can still ski as a family without…

The 10 most beautiful mountain lakes

From the Alps to the Pyrenees via Corsica and the Massif Central, France has hundreds of high-altitude lakes, born of glacial erosion or volcanic activity. Turquoise…

The 10 most beautiful mountain passes in France

Dizzying ridge roads, 360° panoramas and Tour de France legends: the great Alpine and Pyrenean passes are among the most beautiful viewpoints reachable by car in the…

The 10 most beautiful ski resorts in France

From the summits of the Trois Vallées to the glaciers of Val Thorens, France is home to some of the largest ski resorts in the world, with vast ski areas, authentic…

The most beautiful hikes in France

From the Pyrenean peaks to the Cassis calanques, from the cirques of Gavarnie and Troumouse to the Tarn gorges, France offers hikes for all levels: walks of a few hours…

Must-sees & favourites

The must-sees: 15 sites to see once in a lifetime

There are places whose image is in everyone's mind before they even go, and which still surprise when you finally stand there: the scale of the Pont du Gard, the silence…

The 10 most beautiful natural sites in France

Dizzying canyons, glacial cirques, bottomless chasms and rocks sculpted by millions of years of erosion: France has a geology of rare richness, light years from the…

The 10 most beautiful landscapes in France

Lavender fields as far as the eye can see, sleeping volcanoes, pink granite cliffs or the wild expanses of the Camargue: some French panoramas are so photogenic that…

The 10 most beautiful places to visit in France

Between abbeys set on the sea, villages perched above gorges and ancient aqueducts, some places sum up centuries of French history and know-how on their own

10 most beautiful French destinations

For a long weekend or a full week, some French destinations offer a concentration of atmospheres and landscapes that has nothing to envy faraway destinations

10 paradise spots in France

Turquoise water, white sand and Mediterranean or Atlantic light: there is no need to travel to the other side of the world to find landscapes worthy of the most…

Film and TV filming locations in France

Cinema and series have made many places in France famous: a fairy-tale castle, a northern village made famous by a comedy, a small port in the South, a Norman cliff or a…

Castles

The most beautiful Cathar castles

Perched on dizzying rocky pinnacles in Languedoc, the so-called "Cathar" castles were above all the setting for the last episodes of the thirteenth-century crusade…

The most beautiful castles by the water

Water mirrors, moats full of water or piers planted directly in the river: some French castles seem to float on their reflection, in a staging planned from the outset by…

The most beautiful medieval fortresses in France

Massive keeps, crenellated curtain walls and double enclosures: before being pleasure residences, fortified castles were first of all war machines, designed to withstand…

The most beautiful hilltop castles in France

Strategic bolts set on dizzying rocky pinnacles, hilltop castles once watched over roads, valleys and borders from almost impregnable positions

By season

Christmas markets: the most beautiful towns and villages

Illuminated half-timbered lanes, wooden chalets, mulled wine and bredele: eastern France, from Alsace to Lorraine and Franche-Comté, is the land of choice for Christmas…

What to do in autumn? The most beautiful sites in autumn colours

Forests turning red, lakes with coppery reflections, golden vineyards and morning mist over the volcanoes: autumn gives France a light and colours not found in any other…

The most beautiful sites to visit in winter, without skiing

Winter is not reserved for the slopes: France's emblematic sites often gain a unique atmosphere then, with low light, clear air and far fewer visitors than in summer

The most beautiful lakes for swimming

Turquoise waters of the Verdon, unspoilt lakes of the Alps or big reservoir lakes of the South: France has superb lakes where you can swim from the first warm days…

What to do in spring? Gardens in bloom and waterfalls in full flow

Spring is the season of gardens: bulbs, roses, camellias and flowering trees transform parks and botanical estates. It is also when waterfalls flow at full strength, fed…