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Planning a trip to France? Whether you're a gourmand or a history buff, a sun seeker or a shopper, everything in this country seems to derive from or end up in Paris. It's the starting point for most trips, and with its world-class museums, ever-renewing neighborhoods, and cavalcade of classic and new restaurants, it'd be easy to spend your whole trip there. However, the rest of France provides an equally staggering embarrassment of riches. Hop a train south to Provence where Roman ruins sit among medieval villages and pine-covered mountains, and the Côte d'Azur, where celebs and socialites pack sunny beaches and swanky nightclubs.
Art lovers will want to reserve significant time for classics like the Louvre, Musée Rodin, and Musée d'Orsay in Paris, and then head to the many small Impressionist museums in Provence and along the coast. For architectural grandeur, explore the Gothic cathedrals in Reims, the Champagne region, and Normandy, as well as Paris's Notre-Dame, Sainte-Chapelle, and Saint-Eustache. Or head to the Loire Valley to tour (or spend the night in) the region's grand châteaux. And if you'd rather a feast for your stomach than your eyes, head to Lyon, the center of France's butter-and-cream culinary culture, or to Bordeaux, a revitalized city at the center of one of the world's most prestigious wine-growing regions. Any short visit will tend to excess, mais c'est la vie.
Rent a car and head north of the city into the Médoc, home of Château Latour Martillac (Chemin de La Tour; 33-5-57-97-71-11;...more
see the Bordeaux guideMenton is at the end of the French Riviera in the last dazzling cove before the Italian border. Long known as a winter spot for English aristocrats, Menton's...more
see the Côte d'Azur guideThe massive, desolate glacier known as Mer de Glace is 4.3 miles long and moves 295 feet per year. In summer, a number of gorgeous walks start here; in winter,...more
see the Chamonix guide
The bulbous white-stone domes of Sacré-Coeur (built from 1875 to 1919) are Montmartre's dreamy visual emblem, but its real appeal is far earthier. Lacking...more
see the Paris guidePicasso met his maker in this gorgeous hillside village-perché about 15 minutes from Cannes. Amazingly, the town contains precious little Picasso-related...more
see the Côte d'Azur guideThe former home of the heir of Parisian couturier and collector Jacques Doucet (1853-1929) exhibits half a dozen Picassos as well as paintings by Degas, Derain,...more
see the Avignon guideThe Musée Calvet is worth visiting for the structure alone, an elegant 18th-century mansion built around two courtyards. It also has a fine collection of...more
see the Avignon guideIgnore the Mona Lisa's prima donna claim on the world's imagination. The first museum you should go to in Paris is this superb 140-room collection dedicated to...more
see the Paris guideSince opening in 1986, the Musée d'Orsay has become one of the most successful and beloved museums in the world. The grandiose limestone edifice was...more
see the Paris guideA superb collection of paintings by artists who brought St. Tropez its initial renown, particularly pointillist Paul Signac, whose boldly pixilated paintings...more
see the St. Tropez guide
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