Best small city in France for a solo trip

[squashyhat]

I'm planning a short solo break in France for next spring and would like to go to a small historic city. I went to Marseille last year and loved it and have also been to Lille, Carcasonne, St Malo, Nice and Avignon. Any other ideas? I can fly from Gatwick or take the train.

If you’re thinking about Bordeaux then check out the Base Sous-Marine:

https://www.bassins-lumieres.com/en

How many days and what time of year? To add more:
Tours
Reims
Strasbourg

I don't know why no one has said Lyon! We had a lovely couple of days there last October. It's an easy train journey from Paris.

Probably 4 nights and May next year (avoiding half term)

Bordeaux. Visited this summer.
Saw the Bassins des Lumières in the old submarine base as Sabrina mentioned* *.

I have another one- Lille. Very very easy to get to and beautiful architecture. Very much a mixture of French and Dutch. A very much overlooked city which isn't just about shopping and Eurostar. Very easy to get round on foot too and lovely locals.

It's starting to overflow into more central parts at the moment. I do hope it'll be sorted by May next year though.

OP you might want to avoid France from the 8th to the 12th of May as it's going to be a long week-end (8th & 9th are both bank holidays, 10th schools will be shut), so rentals will be more expensive.

Perpignan. Nice old town, easy public transport to Canet Plage and Collioure on the coast. Airport near to town

Beaune! We did a tour of France recently and this was a firm favourite- beautiful, lots of vineyards and amazing food

And Beaune is near Dijon which is also a great place to visit

Dijon, Reims, Lyon, Fréjus, Perpignan, Montpellier are all brilliant, interesting and walkabout-able.

Strasbourg

I second Annecy, absolutely love it. However, there's not really enough to do for 4 days if you don't have transport. But I think the same about most towns, it's only the big cities that can really sustain that long as a city break (unless you're ok just mooching).

I used to live in Blois. That's lovely and has good train links to other places in the Loire Valley. Places like Amboise are great for a day trip (Leonardo da Vinci's house is fab). And there's a lot of bike hire places to ride along the Loire. In that area Tours is also pretty. I don't like Orléans much.

The southwest is also beautiful, along the Canal du Midi, but there's not a city there that has 4 days' worth of stuff, except Toulouse.

I would advise Lyon, it's big enough to have plenty going on. I don't know it really well, I've only ever spent a day at a time there, but my friends who live there really like it.

I love Lyon

We saw that too - really enjoyed it. Also went to the Cite du Vin. Now that is serious wine education! Was a bit TOO thorough really.

If you go to Bordeaux, the Place de la Bourse is wonderful.

Bordeaux, La Rochelle, or if they're not too small Bayeux or Honfleur

Yes @CurlyhairedAssassin I went to the Cité du Vin too. It was very thorough and I zoned out a bit after a while. The glass of wine at the top was lovely and very reviving.

Arles
La Rochelle/Île de Ré
Bordeaux
Saumur
Lyon
Nice

From Lyon you can do a day in Vienne at the roman city, as well as the city itself.

I love Vannes on the TGV line from Paris. Lots of good restaurants and you can get to Carnac, Auray and Belle Île by bus or ferry.

Chartres - easy to get to from Paris
Bayeaux

Bruges. Not French but highly recommend

1 May is also a holiday. It's taken pretty seriously so not much will be open (ditto 8th/9th).

I live in France and my nearest medium city is Annecy. It's lovely but I agree, not enough for 4 days. Could possibly be combined with Lyon?

I think my favourite weekends away have been Reims and Dijon.

Rouen, Annecy and Nice are probably my favourite towns/cities and all perfect if you're traveling alone.

I don't think anyone has said Aix.