Top tourist attractions in France

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Top sites	Natural areas	Wildlife parks	Tourist sites by region
Historic monuments	Best museums and galleries	Paris tourist attractions	Best cities
The French coast	France for free	Best walled cities	Theme parks

 Top sites: the most visited tourist attractions in France 

(Paris museums are included in the Paris City Pass)

The top twenty-four most visited paid-entry tourist attractions in France (source French national statistical office, year 2012 ) ;Click here for top historic monuments

1. Disneyland ,  Paris 16 million visitors.  (Dated e-tickets)
2. The Louvre, Paris 9.5 million visitors (photo right)
3. Château de Versailles, near Paris 7.3 million visitors   (Tickets)
4. The Eiffel Tower Paris 6.3 million visitors
5. The Georges Pompidou centre and museum of art, Paris 3.8 million visitors
6. Orsay museum of the 19th century Paris 3.6 million visitors  (Tickets)
7. La Villette science museum, Paris 2.6 million visitors
8. Natural History Museum Paris  2 million
9. Arc de Triomphe, Paris 1.7 million visitors
10. Futuroscope theme park, Poitiers 1.7 million visitors  (Tickets)
11. Parc Astérix - Parc Astérix theme park Plailly north of Paris 1.7 million visitors   (Tickets)
12. Puy du Fou theme park Vendée 1.6 million visitors  (Tickets)
13. Grand Palais, Paris : 1.5 million
14. Musée de l'Armée, Paris 1.4 million visitors
15. Musée du Quai Branly, Paris. 1.3 million
16. Chateau and museum of the Dukes of Brittany - Nantes 1.3 million
17. Mont Saint-Michel, Brittany 1.2 million visitors  (Tickets)
18. Lille zoo, Lille 
19. Musée Carnavalet, Paris 
    
20. Sainte Chapelle, Paris 
21. Aquarium, La Rochelle, Charente Maritime (western France) 
22. Mer de Glace rack-and-pinion railway, Chamonix, Alps 
23. La Palmyre zoo, Charente Maritime (western France) 
24. Musée Grévin waxworks, Paris
25. Château de Chambord, Loire Valley (Centre region)  (Tickets)
26. Boat trip round old Strasbourg (Alsace) 

France's natural environment :

France boasts the most varied natural environment of any country in Europe; it varies from the lush agricultural countryside of Normandy and Brittany, or the rolling prairies of Champagne or Beauce, to Alpine peaks, northern spruce forests, the dry hinterland of Provence, the steppe-like plateaux of the Causses, not to mention a very varied coastline including the North Sea, the Channel, the Atlantic ocean and the Mediterranean.
It would take an encyclopaedia to make an exhaustive list of all the natural tourist sites, and the thousands of natural attractions in France. The country has six National Parks, 43 regional parks which are more or less the same as national parks in all but in official status (parcs naturels régionaux), hundreds of areas listed and protected under the official European Natura 2000 programme, and even - off the beaten track - hundreds more sites that would be classified as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) in England, but do not even get a mention in guidebooks in France.

The six national parks in continental France are:

Among the principal regional parks are:

More information:

Winter sports in French mountain areas:

Wildlife parks in France :

Among the most interesting of France's many wildlife parks, are

• The Parc de Thoiry,   (Tickets)   west of Paris, over 150 species in a safari park covering over 300 acres.
• Zoo Parc de Beauval,   (Tickets) in the Loir et Cher department, in the Loire valley area. Over 4000 animals, including koalas aned orang-utangs. the largest wildlife collection in France. Now with giant pandas - loaned by China.
• Planete Sauvage, south west of Nantes. A large safari park (over 250 acres) , with safari tours. Over 2,000 animals in semi liberty.
• Réserve Africaine de Sigean, near Narbonne in the Languedoc. 3,800 animals in a huge area of natural mediterranean environment, one of Europe's oldest safari parks and the biggest tourist attractions in the area.
• African Safari park, at Plaisance du touch, just outside Toulouse, in the Midi Pyrenees region.

Theme parks in France :

France has getting on for 100 different theme parks, if you include all categories from the amusement parks such as Eurodisney, through wildlife parks and aquariums, to living history open-air museums such the Alsace Ecomusée. Among the most popular of these sites are:

Other attractions:

The Tour de France cycle race (July)

Wine, dine , culture :

France is world famous for its "gastronomy", its fine restaurants and wines. It sometimes surprises visitors from outside France, that they can find top quality restaurants even in small provincial towns, and that many of these offer first-class menus at a fraction of the price one would pay for something similar in Britain or the USA. There are several directories that approve and list the top restaurants, and the most famous of these are the Michelin guide and the Gault et Millau guide. However, there is no directory that lists all the good restaurants in France, since some of these are found in the most unexpected out-of-the-way places, and while the food they offer is not "haute cuisine", it is tasty, well prepared and nourishing.

• Restaurants and eating out in France
• Some good restaurants in the Auvergne
• Some good restaurants in Brittany

France abounds in cultural opportunities, with a wealth of concerts and other music events throughout the year. visit the France for music-lovers page for more details.

Attractions by region :

Follow these links for a more detailed list of major tourist attractions, the main things to see and do in the French regions::

• Top Paris tourist attractions
• Alsace tourist attractions
• Aquitaine tourist attractions - includes Bordeaux & Dordogne
• Auvergne tourist attractions
• Brittany tourist attractions
• Burgundy tourist attractions
• Tourist attractions in the Centre region, including Loire châteaux
• Tourist attractions in Champagne
• Franche-Comté tourist attractions
• Tourist attractions in Languedoc-Roussillon
• Tourist attractions in the Limousin region
• Tourist attractions in Lorraine
• Tourist attractions in Midi Pyrénées region
• Tourist attractions in the North of France, Nord–Pas-de-Calais
• Tourist attractions in Normandy
• Tourist attractions in the Pays de la Loire region
• Tourist attractions in Picardy
• Tourist attractions in Poitou Charentes
• Provence tourist attractions
• Tourist attractions in the Rhone-Alpes region

A brief introduction to the regions of France

► Going further :

• Best museums & art galleries in Spain
• Best Art galleries in Britain
• French art and culture
• The finest medieval cathedrals in France
• Medieval French art
• French Renaissance art
• From Neoclassicism to Romanticism in French Art
• Monet and the Impressionists in Paris