Taking trips to France (but not Paris)

[Kufe]

I've been to Paris so a few times but never ventured elsewhere.

Where else do you recommend going?

What's Lyon, Nice, Marseille, Toulouse like? How different are they?

France is very varied depending on the region. Do you like cities especially? I wouldn't say the other major cities are especially exciting. If you like sea you've got tons of coast. Just pop over to Normandy and there's tons to see. The Alps and Pyrenees are stunning. Drive anywhere through French countryside and you'll see pretty villages and towns and lots and lots of farmer's fields.

Colmar is beautiful.

Bordeaux is a nice city. Feels a bit like a French Bath or Winchester.
Toulouse is a bit meh. Lots of individual nice features but doesn't excite.
Nice is a warm, built up town against a very long strip of pebble beach. Towns either side like Antibes, or Villefrache are prettier .
Lyon feels serious with a European vibe.

What strikes me about French cities and towns is the massive bits of countryside between them. They don't seem to sprawl into each other like built up English towns and villages do.

What are you into? What sort of trip do you want? Is it just you or a family? Like the UK France has something for everyone but you do need to identify what you want and aim for that. Things we have done and loved include:

• Wine tasting in champagne and burgundy
• beaches around Le Touquet
• Reims
• Carcasonne
• Macon
• Nice and around (nuts priced in Cannes but other options not far.)
• lyon
• normandy beaches

The food in Lyon. Oh my good god it’s so good! There are some dauphinoise potatoes I ate there about 10 years ago that I still think about probably weekly.

This, basically. France is huge.

I love Bordeaux and Arles, in the south.

Loire Valley is gorgeous.

Normandy/Brittany (Mont St Michel, the landing beaches, and Etretat a highlight)

Strasbourg is absolutely stunning.

I have grown to love France in recent years, having only been to Paris before. I did a trip to the South of France; Nice, Cannes, Eze (stunning mountain village), Monaco (I know not France) and packed a lot into a weekend, lots of places to visit easily along the coastal Trainline.

We also went to Bordeaux last Easter for a week and stayed in Archenchon area which was beautiful, Cap Ferret was stunning (but has since had a terrible wild fire) and it has the highest sand dune in Europe which you can climb and it has stunning views.

Nice is great.I live in antibes. Lots to do ,easy travelling around to places nearby.

Thank you all. Yesterday I had it in my head to see Lyon because in my head it's France's second city

I really liked Lyon.

Not as pretty as some other French cities but the museums are fabulous.

I love museums!

Musée des Confluences in Lyon is great!

I'd avoid Marseilles (dirty, lots of drugs, nice architecture though).

I live near Avignon which is a really nice city for a weekend trip, and you can get around on foot. There are also plenty of places to go within an hour's drive if you rent a car, the Pont du Gard and Uzès being the best.

Nîmes is a bit hit and miss, there is some amazing Roman architecture and 2 great museums.

Montpellier is nice too and not too far from the sea. Public transport is pretty good.

Ooh saw Arles mentioned, I second that, also worth going to the Carrière des lumières in Les Baux de Provence if you do visit.

Bordeaux is wonderful and so easy to access from the airport. Jump on the tram and straight into the city centre.

The Loire valley is full of wonderful chateaux.

touring the Champagne region and visiting the old champagne houses is interesting.

carcassonne is really special.

There are so many interesting and varied parts of France.

I absolutely love Marseille, it's not the most beautiful or refined but it's got a definite vibe! Food was great.

You can get the ferry out to ile de frioul for a day of rock pooling and swimming and sun.

If you fancy going a long the coast there's the Calanques which are like stunning Mediterranean fjords! And there's Cassis a bit further along that's a lovely visit too.

It's also near Aix en Provence which is BEAUTIFUL.

I like the south of France 😄

In a different area, we love Beaune!

You lucky thing.

We have friends near Cluny ...stunning . Off to Lyon next year

I think Toulose is great. We went there for the first time this summer and really enjoyed it. It has a lot of the features of a traditional southern French city but also very young and buzzy due to the universites and aerospace industry.

Another vote for Strasbourg.

Alsace is lovely and very underrated. At this time of year it is brilliant for walking and wine tasting!
Both Strasbourg and Colmar are delightful and you can do a quick trip over the Rhine into the Black Forest, too.
Lyon, Dijon and Beaune are all interesting places to visit, as are Montpellier, Nimes and Carcassonne.
The Loire valley, obviously, for the chateau, although more touristy, also provides some delicious wine and food options as does the Perigord.
I once did a diagonal trip down through France from the north east to south west, the scenery in the Massiv Central was spectacular.

The Dordogne is gorgeous with castles and a winding river. Fly to Bergerac and stay in Sarlat.

Been to France soooo many times love our holidays there. It’s a great place to take your car and spend a couple of days travelling.

We’ve done so many locations I’ve lost count but I do love Antibes, Eze, Nice (South) La Rochelle and Ile de re on the West.

we also love Brittany and Normandy. Everywhere is so different. We’ve driven down the centre up the west side, we’ve done the Alps how could I forget Annecy!! Or Le Touquet great for a stop when you’re heading back home.

So so so so so much to see and do. Rarely go into a city, oh we did love Versailles for a day trip too.

Yes one of the best things about France is it is a really.diverse country landscape and culturewise. So it would be good to think about what you like doing we can make recommendations. I love the Occitanie region as I find the laid back, almost Spanish culture really attractive and most places are near the sea, it is also quite under rated and more affordable as a result