France Guide
Things not to miss
1 Les Gorges du Verdon
• The mighty gorges are Europe's answer to the Grand Canyon, and offer stunning views, a range of hikes, and colours and scents that are uniquely, gorgeously Provençal.
2 Bars and nightlife
• Stylish and lively Bordeaux became the principal English stronghold in France for three hundred years, and is still known for the refined red wines – claret – which the English popularized.
3 Amiens cathedral
• The largest Gothic building in all France, this lofty cathedral has a clever evening light show that gives a vivid idea of how the west front would have looked when it rejoiced in coloured paint.
4 Annecy
• One of the prettiest towns in the Alps, Annecy has a picture-postcard quality which even the crowds can't mar.
5 The Issenheim altarpiece
• The village of Colmar might be excessively twee, but it's still worth a visit for Grünewald's amazing altarpiece, one of the most extraordinary works of art in the country.
6 Mont St-Michel
• Second only to the Eiffel Tower as France's best-loved landmark, the merveille of Mont St-Michel is a splendid union of nature and architecture.
7 Medieval Provençal villages
• Provence's hilltop villages attract visitors by the score. Though Gordes is one of the most famous, there are others less well known but equally beautiful.
8 Carnac
• Archeologically, Brittany is one of the richest regions in the world and the alignments at Carnac rival Stonehenge.
9 Canal du Midi
• A calm, watery avenue, stretching from beyond Toulouse to the Mediterranean. Cycling, walking or drifting along its tree-shaded course is the most atmospheric way of savouring France's southwest.
10 Gorges de l'Ardèche
Page 854 • The fantastic gorges begin at the Pont d'Arc and cut their way through limestone cliffs before emptying into the Rhône valley.
11 Cathar castles
• Languedoc's mountains are dotted with these gaunt fortresses, grim but fascinating relics of the brutal crusade launched by the Catholic church and northern French nobility against the heretic Cathars.
12 Bayeux Tapestry
• This 70-metre-long tapestry is an astonishingly detailed depiction of the 1066 Norman invasion of England, and one of the finest artistic works of the early medieval era.
13 Dining out in a Lyon bouchon
• Famed for its gastronomy and home to super chefs such as Paul Bocuse, Lyon offers no end of wonderful eating places, not least the old-fashioned bouchons, traditional colourful bistros, where you can sample quenelles (pike sausages), andouillettes (chunky sausages made from chitterlings) and other local specialities.
14 Fontenay Abbey
• One of the most complete monastic complexes anywhere, this Burgundian monastery has a serene setting in a stream-filled valley.
15 Les Calanques
• The limestone cliffs on the stretch of coast between Marseille and Cassis offer excellent hiking, and you can scramble down to isolated coves that are perfect for swimming.
16 Champagne tasting at Épernay
• Dom Pérignon might be the most famous, but there are plenty of other bubblies to try in the atmospheric cellars of Épernay's maisons.
17 War memorials
• World Wars I and II left permanent scars on the French countryside – and on its psyche. The dead are remembered in solemn, sometimes overwhelming cemeteries, such as the one at Ryes in Normandy.
18 Châteaux of the Loire
• The River Loire is lined with gracious châteaux, of which Chambord is surely the most staggeringly impressive, both for its size and the double-spiral staircase designed by Leonardo da Vinci.
19 The GR20
• Arguably France's most dramatic – and most demanding – long-distance footpath climbs through and over Corsica's precipitous mountains for some 170km.
20 Carcassonne
• So atmospheric is this medieval fortress town that it manages to resist even relentless commercialization and summer's throng of visitors.
21 Corsican beaches
• Some of the best of France's many beautiful beaches are found on Corsica, including the plage de Saleccia, with its soft white shell sand, turquoise water and not a building or road in sight.
22 Prehistoric cave art
• Prehistoric art can be seen in several places around France, but perhaps the most impressive paintings are those at Lascaux in the Dordogne.
23 Winter sports in the Alps
• The French Alps are home to some of the world's most prestigious ski resorts, offering a wide range of winter sports.
24 Aix-en-Provence
• Marseille may be the biggest city in Provence, but aristocratic Aix is the region's capital, and it's a wonderful place to shop, eat and linger under the plane trees with a pastis.
25 Bastide towns
• Monpazier is one of the best preserved of the fortified towns – bastides – built in the Dordogne region during the turbulent medieval period when there was almost constant conflict between the French and English.