Find places in France

Must-Haves

• Musée du Louvre (1st arrondissement)
  The world's most visited museum, from the Mona Lisa to Egyptian antiquities.
• Musée d'Orsay (7th arrondissement)
  Impressionist masterpieces by Monet, Renoir and Van Gogh in a grand old railway station.
• Sainte-Chapelle (Île de la Cité)
  A royal chapel wrapped in walls of thirteenth century stained glass.
• Notre-Dame de Paris (Île de la Cité)
  The great Gothic cathedral, reopened after its restoration and luminous inside.

Fun for Everyone

• Musée de l'Orangerie (Tuileries Garden)
  Monet's vast Water Lilies panels in two calm oval rooms.

Must-Haves

• Eiffel Tower (Champ de Mars)
  The iron icon of Paris, best seen from the top at dusk as the city lights come on.

Great for Date Night

• Seine river cruise at night (Pont Neuf)
  Seeing the bridges and monuments lit up from the water is pure Paris romance.

Fun for Everyone

• Montmartre and Sacré-Cœur (18th arrondissement)
  Village lanes, artists' squares and a sweeping view from the basilica steps.
• Père Lachaise Cemetery (20th arrondissement)
  A leafy city of tombs where Chopin, Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison rest.

Off the Beaten Path

• Canal Saint-Martin (10th arrondissement)
  Iron footbridges, locks and a young crowd picnicking along the quays.

Fun for Everyone

• Jardin du Luxembourg (6th arrondissement)
  The city's favourite park, with toy sailboats, puppet shows and green chairs.

Off the Beaten Path

• Parc des Buttes-Chaumont (19th arrondissement)
  A hilly park with cliffs, a lake and a temple, loved by locals for picnics.
• Coulée verte René-Dumont (12th arrondissement)
  An elevated garden walk along an old railway line, long before New York's High Line.

Must-Haves

• Bouillon Chartier (Grands Boulevards)
  A belle époque dining hall serving classic French dishes fast and cheaply since 1896.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Bouillon Pigalle (Pigalle)
  Budget friendly French classics in a buzzing modern canteen.
• L'As du Fallafel (Le Marais)
  The famous falafel pitta of the Rue des Rosiers, worth the queue.

Great for Date Night

• Le Comptoir du Relais (Saint-Germain)
  A tiny, lively bistro for proper French cooking on the Left Bank.
• Le Train Bleu (Gare de Lyon)
  Dine under gilded ceilings and painted murals inside a railway station.

Must-Haves

• Café de Flore (Saint-Germain)
  The classic literary café of Sartre and de Beauvoir, perfect for people watching.

Great for Date Night

• Angelina (Rue de Rivoli)
  Famously thick hot chocolate and the Mont Blanc pastry beside the Tuileries.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Du Pain et des Idées (Canal Saint-Martin)
  An old bakery famous for its pistachio escargot pastry and rustic bread.

Off the Beaten Path

• La Grande Mosquée de Paris tea room (5th arrondissement)
  Mint tea and pastries in a tiled courtyard under fig trees.

Great for Date Night

• Le Syndicat (Strasbourg-Saint-Denis)
  Inventive cocktails made only with French spirits in a gritty, fun bar.
• Le Caveau de la Huchette (Latin Quarter)
  A medieval cellar swing and jazz club that has kept dancing since the 1940s.

Fun for Everyone

• Rosa Bonheur (Buttes-Chaumont)
  A guinguette in the park with rosé, tapas and dancing on summer evenings.

Off the Beaten Path

• Le Baron Rouge (Aligre)
  A neighbourhood wine bar where locals fill bottles from barrels and eat oysters.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Marché d'Aligre (12th arrondissement)
  A noisy, cheap food market with a covered hall and a small flea market.

Off the Beaten Path

• Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen (Saint-Ouen)
  The world's biggest antiques and flea market, a whole weekend world.
• Shakespeare and Company (Latin Quarter)
  A legendary English bookshop facing Notre-Dame.

Must-Haves

• Galeries Lafayette Haussmann (9th arrondissement)
  A department store with a stained glass dome and a free rooftop view.

Must-Haves

• Fête de la Musique (Citywide)
  Free music on every street corner on the longest day of the year, 21 June.

Fun for Everyone

• Bastille Day fireworks (Champ de Mars)
  Military parade on the Champs-Élysées and fireworks at the Eiffel Tower on 14 July.

Great for Date Night

• Nuit Blanche (Citywide)
  An all night arts festival in early October with installations across the city.

Must-Haves

• Hôtel des Grands Boulevards (2nd arrondissement)
  A stylish boutique hotel with a rooftop bar in a central, lively area.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Generator Paris (10th arrondissement)
  A modern hostel with private rooms and a rooftop terrace near Canal Saint-Martin.

Must-Haves

• Promenade des Anglais (Seafront)
  The seven kilometre seafront promenade lined with blue chairs and palm trees.

Fun for Everyone

• Colline du Château (Old Town)
  A hilltop park with a waterfall and the best view over the Baie des Anges.

Off the Beaten Path

• Saint-Paul de Vence (Saint-Paul de Vence)
  A walled hill village of galleries, with the Fondation Maeght nearby.

Must-Haves

• Cours Saleya market (Vieux Nice)
  Flowers, fruit and socca stalls every morning except Monday's antiques day.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Chez Pipo (Port)
  Crisp, peppery socca chickpea pancake straight from a wood oven.
• Lou Pilha Leva (Vieux Nice)
  Cheap Niçoise street food like pissaladière and stuffed vegetables eaten outdoors.

Great for Date Night

• La Merenda (Vieux Nice)
  A tiny, much loved restaurant for authentic Niçoise cooking.

Must-Haves

• Musée Matisse (Cimiez)
  Matisse's works in a red Genoese villa among olive trees.

Fun for Everyone

• Musée Marc Chagall (Cimiez)
  Chagall's luminous biblical paintings in a museum he helped design.

Fun for Everyone

• Fenocchio (Place Rossetti)
  Gelato in dozens of flavours, including lavender, olive and tomato basil.

Must-Haves

• Nice Carnival (Place Masséna)
  Two weeks of parades and flower battles every February.

Must-Haves

• Hôtel Le Negresco (Promenade des Anglais)
  A belle époque landmark with a pink dome and art filled corridors.

Off the Beaten Path

• Coco Beach (Mont Boron)
  Rocky swimming coves east of the port, loved by locals.

Fun for Everyone

• Villefranche-sur-Mer (Villefranche)
  A pastel harbour town with a sandy beach a short train ride from Nice.

Must-Haves

• Palais des Papes (Old Avignon)
  The vast Gothic palace where the popes lived in the fourteenth century.

Off the Beaten Path

• Collection Lambert (Old Avignon)
  Contemporary art in two elegant town houses.

Fun for Everyone

• Pont d'Avignon (Old Avignon)
  The famous half bridge of the song, best seen from the Rocher des Doms.
• Arles Roman arena (Arles)
  A Roman amphitheatre still used for events, in the town Van Gogh painted.

Must-Haves

• Pont du Gard (Vers-Pont-du-Gard)
  A Roman aqueduct over a river where you can swim beneath the arches in summer.

Off the Beaten Path

• Roussillon ochre trail (Roussillon)
  A short walk through orange and red ochre cliffs beside a pink village.

Must-Haves

• Les Halles d'Avignon (Place Pie)
  A covered market with a green living wall and stalls of local produce.

Off the Beaten Path

• L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue Sunday market (L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue)
  A riverside town of antiques dealers and a big Sunday market.

Must-Haves

• Festival d'Avignon (Citywide)
  The world's great theatre festival takes over the town every July.

Fun for Everyone

• Rocher des Doms (Old Avignon)
  A clifftop garden with ducks, views over the Rhône and the bridge.
• Gordes village (Gordes)
  A golden stone village spilling down a hill in the Luberon.

Must-Haves

• Sénanque Abbey lavender (Gordes)
  A Cistercian abbey framed by lavender rows in late June and July.

Great for Date Night

• La Mirande (Old Avignon)
  An eighteenth century mansion hotel beside the papal palace.

Must-Haves

• Vieux Lyon traboules (Vieux Lyon)
  Secret Renaissance passages between streets in the old town.

Off the Beaten Path

• Croix-Rousse murals and slopes (Croix-Rousse)
  The old silk workers' hill of stairways, murals and village cafés.

Fun for Everyone

• Ancient Theatres of Fourvière (Fourvière)
  Roman theatres that host the Nuits de Fourvière festival each summer.

Must-Haves

• Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière (Fourvière)
  A glittering basilica on the hill with a panorama of the city.
• Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon (Terreaux)
  A great art museum in a former abbey with a quiet cloister garden.

Fun for Everyone

• Musée des Confluences (Confluence)
  A science and anthropology museum in a futuristic cloud shaped building.

Must-Haves

• Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse (Part-Dieu)
  The city's temple of food, from oysters to Saint-Marcellin cheese.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Marché Saint-Antoine (Quai Saint-Antoine)
  A riverside food market every morning except Monday.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Daniel et Denise (Saint-Jean)
  A classic bouchon for pâté en croûte and quenelles.
• Le Bouchon des Filles (Croix-Rousse slopes)
  A warm bouchon with a set menu of Lyonnais classics.

Great for Date Night

• Café Comptoir Abel (Ainay)
  One of Lyon's oldest bouchons, wood panelled and full of character.

Fun for Everyone

• Parc de la Tête d'Or (6th arrondissement)
  A huge park with a lake, rose gardens and a free zoo.

Must-Haves

• Fête des Lumières (Citywide)
  Four nights of light shows across the city around 8 December.

Fun for Everyone

• Péniches on the Rhône (Quai Augagneur)
  Moored barges turned into bars and clubs along the river.

Great for Date Night

• Cour des Loges (Vieux Lyon)
  A hotel in Renaissance buildings around a glass roofed courtyard.

Must-Haves

• Château de Chenonceau (Chenonceaux)
  The château that spans the river Cher on graceful arches.
• Château de Chambord (Chambord)
  The largest Loire château, with a double helix staircase.

Fun for Everyone

• Château de Villandry (Villandry)
  Famous for its geometric Renaissance vegetable and flower gardens.

Off the Beaten Path

• Château du Clos Lucé (Amboise)
  Leonardo da Vinci's last home, with models of his inventions in the park.
• Troglodyte caves of Vouvray (Vouvray)
  Wine cellars carved into the limestone cliffs.

Fun for Everyone

• Château Royal d'Amboise (Amboise)
  A royal castle above the Loire where Leonardo is buried.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Place Plumereau (Old Tours)
  A square of half timbered houses filled with café terraces.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Les Halles de Tours (Tours)
  A covered market for rillettes, goat cheese and local wine.

Fun for Everyone

• Loire à Vélo (Loire Valley)
  A flat, signposted cycle route between châteaux and vineyards.

Off the Beaten Path

• Guinguette de Tours sur Loire (Riverside)
  A summer open air bar with music and dancing by the river.

Must-Haves

• La Cité du Vin (Bacalan)
  A museum of wine cultures in a curving building on the river.

Fun for Everyone

• Bassins des Lumières (Bacalan)
  Immersive digital art shows in a former submarine base.

Must-Haves

• Miroir d'Eau (Place de la Bourse)
  The world's largest reflecting pool, magical at dusk.

Fun for Everyone

• Saint-Émilion (Saint-Émilion)
  A medieval wine village with an underground church.

Off the Beaten Path

• Darwin Ecosystème (Bastide)
  A converted military barracks of skateparks, organic food and street art.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Marché des Capucins (Capucins)
  A market for oysters and white wine on a Sunday morning.

Off the Beaten Path

• Rue Sainte-Catherine (Centre)
  One of Europe's longest pedestrian shopping streets.

Fun for Everyone

• Dune du Pilat (Arcachon Bay)
  Europe's tallest sand dune, overlooking the ocean and pine forest.

Low Cost and Authentic

• La Tupina (Saint-Michel)
  A rustic restaurant cooking southwestern food over an open fire.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Canelés at Baillardran (Bordeaux)
  Little caramelised rum cakes, the city's signature sweet.

Great for Date Night

• Le Bar à Vin (Bordeaux)
  The wine council's bar for tasting Bordeaux by the glass.