It’s a difficult task, but we’ve tried to curate the best beaches in France. Included below are coves so hidden that many people don’t know they’re there, as well as beaches so vast you can’t see the sea when the tide goes out. Many shine for their architecture, and have grand promenades where Victorian aristocrats …
Even if you’ve never been to Paris you may feel like you already know the City of Light. And in most cities in the world you’d be scraping the barrel trying to find 75 genuinely worthwhile things to do. But that will never be the case in Paris. Such is the amount of world-beating museums …
Here’s a list of the most sublime castles in France. Most of these are famous and will appear in every guide, but some are a bit more recherché and out of the way. All of our picks are rich in history, but everyone has their own idea of beauty: Some of the most handsome buildings …
It won’t shock you to hear that Champagne-Ardenne is the home of the world’s favourite sparkling wine. Many people will spend entire holidays touring the prestigious Champagne houses and descending into the cool Crayères, chalk caves where vintners have stored champagne for hundreds of years. The city of Reims is steeped in Champagne history, and …
Life in Cannes is turned on its head during those two weeks in May, when scores of paparazzi, industry bigwigs and the world’s biggest stars are in town for the famous film festival. The remainder of the year it’s a sleek pleasure garden for the world’s wealthiest people, and a honeypot for people seduced by …
It isn’t easy to sum up hundreds of kilometres of coastline in one blog, but we’ve put together a selection of what we believe are the best beaches in the South of France, both on the Atlantic and Mediterranean. There should be something for everyone in the list, whether you want epic natural spectacles and …
The astounding walls of Carcassonne’s citadel protected the city for centuries and were left to decay, before getting a full restoration by the 19th-century architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. Never mind that his work might not be the most historically accurate, they’re an architectural wonder all the same and draw visitors to the city from far and …
One of France’s prettiest medieval towns is right on the shore of Europe’s cleanest lake. It just doesn’t get much better than this. Annecy is laced with canals and the historic streets have fun passageways darting off to the sides. The lake is glorious, bordered on all sides by mountains and with crystalline waters that …
A Mediterranean resort that also includes Juan-les-Pins, Antibes has 25 kilometres of coastline and is a getaway for the very rich but also one of the French Riviera’s preferred destinations for French families. You can mix afternoons at the beach with day-trips to Nice and Cannes, which are both minutes from the resort on the …
Biarritz had been a humble whaling town on the Atlantic Ocean before it was discovered in the 1850s by Empress Eugénie de Montijo, the wife of Napoleon III. The couple commissioned an extravagant summer home on what was then just sand dunes, and so the Hôtel du Palais and Biarritz’s reputation as a getaway for …