On the northwest coast of Reunion, Le Port is the island’s main harbour. As ports go it’s unique in France as the only one to include an industrial port, naval base (the third largest in France), passenger port, fishing port and marina. For tourists the marina is the source of most of the excitement as …
On the leeward side of Reunion, Saint-Leu is a somewhere to get in touch with the island’s abundant nature. There’s a sanctuary for sea turtles, a botanical conservatory and rocky promontories on the coast. You can go underwater to see tropical fish, or watch whales and dolphins breaching above the waves and. And along the …
The small town of Armentières is right on the Belgian border, 15 minutes from Lille and just 20 minutes from the Belgian city of Ypres. If you’d like to keep your holiday local there’s a lake with an activity centre and beach, as well as an assortment of open farms and quaint, rural museums to …
The Auvergne region’s second largest town is an endearing medieval settlement on the banks of the Cher. Looking out over Montluçon from a hilltop is the regal Château des Ducs de Bourbon, a seat for the Dukes of Bourbon for hundreds of years. This sets the tone for a medieval centre of timber-framed houses, Romanesque …
At the confluence of the Oise and Seine Rivers, Conflans-Sainte-Honorine is only half an hour from Paris by train, but things move much slower in this town. At a sedate river’s speed in fact, because Conflans has long been the capital of France’s inland waterways. There’s a fabulous museum and venerable boats on the riverside …
This French town on the border with Switzerland is practically a Geneva suburb, and most of its residents work in the city. So while Annemasse isn’t really a place for sightseeing, its value lies in all of the things you can do within a brief drive. The centre of Geneva, and its culture, parks and …
On the banks of the Charente as it meanders towards the Atlantic, the city of Saintes was once the Roman capital of Aquitaine. Ancient Mediolanum Santonum’s ruins, like the amphitheatre, arches, baths and countless fragments of sculpture and stonework, are all weathered but soul-stirring. Move forward in time and Saintes held sway over the historic …
This City of Art and History in Picardy’s Aisne department has deep, obscure roots that descend to ancient Gaul. Soissons peaked in the Frankish period as the place where Clovis defeated the Romans, becoming the capital of the Kingdom of Francia, and later where Charlemagne’s sister became an abbess. If your dream holiday is discovering …
In the South of France’s Hérault Department, Lunel is an understated town by the fabled Camargue marshes. The location is superb but Lunel isn’t quite on the tourist map. That could change soon as a selection of great museums and attractions have just been opened or updated. There’s a thrilling Roman site, a museum with …
On a loop in the River Doubs known as the Boucle (Oxbow), Besançon is a wonderful city that was once a strategic prize for Europe’s great empires. With the Doubs giving the city a natural moat Besançon could hardly have been easier to defend, especially because the only way in by land was over a …