{"id":695,"count":6,"description":"","link":"https:\/\/www.winalist.com\/blog\/travel-france","name":"Things to Do in France","slug":"travel-france","taxonomy":"category","parent":0,"meta":{"winalist_lat":"","winalist_lng":""},"acf":{"short_region_name":"France","region_id":1,"h1":"Things to Do in France: 14 Best Places to Visit for Your Bucket List","subtitle":"","term_author":17,"term_co_authors":"","term_published":"2025-07-23 00:00:00","term_last_updated":"2026-07-25 10:48:11","tldr_title":"The essentials for planning your France trip","tldr_content":"<ul>\r\n \t<li>Paris earns 3-4 days alone \u2014 but the Louvre, Montmartre and Notre-Dame are only chapter one of this story.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Mont Saint-Michel looks landlocked at low tide and surrounded by sea a few hours later \u2014 time your visit around the tide tables.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Paris to Nice by train takes under 6 hours direct \u2014 swap the Eiffel Tower view for the French Riviera coastline the same day.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Chamonix's Aiguille du Midi cable car climbs to 3,842 meters \u2014 one of the fastest ways to stand above the Alps without hiking boots.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Wine country isn't a detour: Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne and Alsace each reward a full day trip or more.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","link_to_wl_landing_page":"https:\/\/www.winalist.com\/countries\/france","override_cta_in_quick_access":"Best France Wine Tours to Discover","intro":"<p>Compare a week in Italy to a week in France and the difference jumps out fast: Italy rewards staying put in one region, France rewards moving. The best things to do in France mix icons and regions \u2014 Paris landmarks, Mont Saint-Michel, the French Riviera, the French Alps, plus wine country like Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne and the Loire Valley. Spread across at least 10 to 14 days, France rewards travelers who leave Paris and explore its regions.<\/p>","best_hosts_title":"France's Vineyards: A Different Way to See the Country","best_hosts_content":"France counts several major wine regions, each with its own grape, landscape and rhythm \u2014 Bordeaux's Left and Right Bank ch\u00e2teaux built on Cabernet and Merlot, Burgundy's patchwork of small parcels producing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, Champagne's chalk cellars under Reims and \u00c9pernay, the Loire Valley's white-wine estates clustered around fairy-tale castles, Alsace's villages along the wine route at the German border, and Provence's ros\u00e9 estates near the lavender fields. A guided estate visit with tasting typically runs from around \u20ac15 to \u20ac40 per person depending on the region and the number of wines poured, and most cellars ask for a booking a few days ahead, especially in high season. Visiting two or three of these regions on a longer France itinerary adds a completely different texture to the trip \u2014 vineyard rows and cellar tours instead of another museum queue.","things_to_do_content":"<h2>14 Best Things to Do in France: Icons, Regions and Wine Country<\/h2>\r\nThis list mixes the postcard stops everyone recognizes with the regions that make a French trip stand apart from a typical big-city European break. It's built to be picked from, not followed step by step \u2014 pair two or three of these across a 10-14 day trip and you'll cover a real cross-section of the country.\r\n<h3>1. Paris: Eiffel Tower, Louvre and Montmartre<\/h3>\r\nParis rewards at least three to four days on its own. The Eiffel Tower, the Louvre's collections, the Arc de Triomphe and Notre-Dame de Paris sit within a walkable core, while Montmartre's steep streets and the Mus\u00e9e d'Orsay's Impressionist galleries fill out a second day. Budget a half-day for the Palace of Versailles, a short train ride from central Paris, to see the gardens and the Hall of Mirrors.\r\n<h3>2. Mont Saint-Michel: the tidal abbey of Normandy<\/h3>\r\nMont Saint-Michel sits just off the Normandy coast, connected to the mainland by a causeway, and its setting changes completely with the tide \u2014 at low tide the bay floor is exposed for a stretch around the mount, and at high tide the water can rise quickly, so the tide tables published locally are worth checking before walking out onto the sand. The abbey itself crowns the rock, reachable by a single climbing street lined with shops and small restaurants.\r\n<h3>3. Normandy's D-Day beaches and Giverny<\/h3>\r\nBeyond the Mont, Normandy holds the D-Day landing beaches and their memorials, a sobering half-day for history-focused travelers, and Giverny, Claude Monet's house and water-lily gardens that inspired some of his best-known canvases. Both sit within a manageable drive of each other in northern France, making Normandy an easy multi-day add-on from Paris.\r\n<h3>4. The French Riviera: Nice, Cannes and the coastline<\/h3>\r\nParis to Nice runs in under six hours by direct train, dropping you straight onto the French Riviera's pebble beaches and palm-lined promenade. Nice makes a good base for day trips to Cannes, Antibes and the perched villages behind the coastline, and the whole stretch of southern France here trades museum-hopping for beach time and long lunches by the water.\r\n<h3>5. Provence: lavender fields and Roman towns<\/h3>\r\nInland from the Riviera, Provence pairs Roman-era towns like Avignon with the lavender fields that bloom in a short window each summer, roughly mid-June to early August depending on the altitude of the fields. Hilltop villages and weekly markets round out the picture, and vineyards in Provence add a ros\u00e9-focused wine stop to the same loop.\r\n<h3>6. Bordeaux and its wine estates<\/h3>\r\nBordeaux the city has its own riverside architecture and a lively restaurant scene, but the wine is the reason most travelers extend their stay. Right Bank and Left Bank ch\u00e2teau visits \u2014 organized through bordeaux wineries \u2014 pair easily with a day in Saint-\u00c9milion's medieval streets, all within a short drive of the city center.\r\n<h3>7. Burgundy: Beaune and the Route des Grands Crus<\/h3>\r\nBurgundy's wine road runs south from Dijon through Beaune, a compact town built almost entirely around its wine trade, with the Hospices de Beaune's glazed-tile roof as the postcard shot. Small n\u00e9gociants and family domains line the Route des Grands Crus, and burgundy wine tours here typically combine a cellar visit with a walk through the vines.\r\n<h3>8. Champagne: Reims and \u00c9pernay's chalk cellars<\/h3>\r\nAn hour or so from Paris by train, the Champagne region centers on Reims and \u00c9pernay, where major houses age their wine in chalk cellars dug deep under the towns. Several of the Best Champagne Houses open their cellars for guided tours and tastings, and the champagne houses in Reims in particular pair a cathedral visit with an afternoon underground.\r\n<h3>9. Alsace: the wine route and half-timbered villages<\/h3>\r\nAlong the German border, Alsace strings its vineyards through a string of half-timbered villages between Strasbourg and Colmar. The alsace wineries here focus on aromatic whites \u2014 Riesling, Gew\u00fcrztraminer, Pinot Gris \u2014 and the region's storybook villages make the wine route as much a visual trip as a tasting one.\r\n<h3>10. The Loire Valley: castles and vineyards<\/h3>\r\nWest of Paris, the Loire Valley strings its ch\u00e2teaux along the river \u2014 Chambord's rooftop terraces and Chenonceau's arches over the water are the two most photographed. The same valley produces some of France's best-known white wines, so a ch\u00e2teau day pairs naturally with a vineyard stop nearby.\r\n<h3>11. Lyon and central France<\/h3>\r\nLyon, France's food capital, sits at the edge of central France and makes a strong base for its own bouchon restaurants and Renaissance old town, independent of any single wine region. It's also a practical rail hub for reaching Burgundy to the north or the Alps to the east.\r\n<h3>12. Annecy and the French Alps<\/h3>\r\nAnnecy's old town, built along canals with a turquoise lake behind it, is often called one of the prettiest stops in the French Alps \u2014 and it works equally well as a summer lake town or a winter base near the ski resorts.\r\n<h3>13. Chamonix and the Aiguille du Midi<\/h3>\r\nChamonix sits at the foot of Mont Blanc, and the Aiguille du Midi cable car climbs to 3,842 meters, among the highest cable car ascents in Europe, putting you on a viewing platform above the glaciers without a technical climb. Clear-day views reach toward Switzerland and Italy.\r\n<h3>14. The Dordogne and southwest France<\/h3>\r\nThe Dordogne region layers medieval villages, cave paintings and canoe-friendly rivers into a slower, greener corner of southwest France. It's less traveled than the Riviera or the Loire, which is exactly its appeal for travelers who've already covered the icons.\r\n<blockquote>Pace this list rather than rushing it \u2014 three or four regions done properly beat all fourteen done at a sprint.<\/blockquote>","title_for_cities_in_the_wine_region":"","text_for_cities_in_the_wine_region":"","villages_content":"","title_itineraries":"","text_itineraries":"","when_visit":"","how_visit":"","hotels_visit":"","display_map":true,"map_title":"","map_widget_link":"https:\/\/www.winalist.com\/affiliate\/widget?partner=14&type=map&lat=46.227638&lng=2.213749&location=France&locale=en_US&zoom=6","other_images_for_term":"","title_faq":"Good to know before visiting France","text_before_faq":"","acf-repeater-faq":[{"faq_question":"How many days do you need for a trip to France?","faq_answer":"A first trip benefits from at least 10 to 14 days to combine Paris with one or two regions, such as Normandy, the Loire Valley or Provence, without feeling rushed between train connections."},{"faq_question":"Is Mont Saint-Michel in the north or west of France?","faq_answer":"Mont Saint-Michel sits on the Normandy coast in northwestern France, near the border with Brittany, and is typically visited as a day trip or overnight stop between Paris and the western coastline."},{"faq_question":"What's the best way to get from Paris to the south of France?","faq_answer":"High-speed trains connect Paris to Nice and other southern France hubs in under six hours direct, making the French Riviera a realistic add-on to a Paris-based itinerary without renting a car."},{"faq_question":"Do you need a car to visit the French Alps?","faq_answer":"A car helps for reaching smaller villages, but Annecy and Chamonix are both reachable by train from Geneva or Lyon, with local buses covering the last stretch into the mountains."},{"faq_question":"What's the difference between visiting northern France and southern France?","faq_answer":"Northern France covers Normandy's coastline, Champagne's cellars and Paris itself, generally cooler and greener; southern France centers on Provence and the Riviera, with a warmer, Mediterranean climate and a beach-and-market rhythm."},{"faq_question":"When is the best time to see the lavender fields in Provence?","faq_answer":"Provence's lavender fields typically bloom from mid-June through early August, depending on the altitude and specific area, with the Valensole plateau among the best-known spots."},{"faq_question":"Can you fit wine country into a first trip to France?","faq_answer":"Yes \u2014 Champagne and the Loire Valley both sit within day-trip range of Paris, while Bordeaux, Burgundy and Alsace work well as 2-3 day extensions for travelers with a bit more time."}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winalist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories\/695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winalist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winalist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/taxonomies\/category"}],"acf:user":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winalist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"wp:post_type":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winalist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts?categories=695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}