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Top tourist
attractions in France
This
guide covers continental France and Corsica, but does not include
tourist attractions in French overseas departments and territories . In
no way is it a complete guide - that would require an encyclopaedia ;
its aim is to provide an informed general overview for tourists and
visitors, to help you plan your stay or your coming holiday in France.
Top
sites: the most visited tourist attractions in France
The top twenty-four most visited paid-entry
tourist sites in France, 2007 (source
French national statistical office) Click here for top historic monuments
 Euro Disneyland , Paris 14.5 million
visitors.- The
Louvre, Paris
8.3 million visitors (photo right)
- The Eiffel Tower
Paris
6.8 million visitors
- The Georges
Pompidou centre and museum of art, Paris 5.5 million
visitors
- Château
de Versailles, near
Paris 5.3 million visitors
- Orsay
museum of the 19th century Paris 3.2 million
visitors
- La Villette science museum, Paris 3 million
visitors
- Pompidou Centre (Modern art museum) 2.6
million visitors
- Parc Astérix
 - Parc Astérix theme park
Plailly north of Paris
1.6 million visitors
- Futuroscope
 theme park, Poitiers 1.6 million
visitors
- Arc de Triomphe, Paris 1.5 million
visitors
- Natural history museum, Paris 1.4 million
visitors
- Mont Saint-Michel, Brittany 1.2 million
visitors
- Puy du Fou
 theme park Vendée 1.2 million
visitors
- Musée de l'Armée, Paris 1.2 million
visitors
- Lille zoo, Lille 1.0 million
visitors
- Musée Carnavalet, Paris 900,000 visitors
- Sainte Chapelle, Paris 900,000
visitors
- Aquarium, La Rochelle 800,000
visitors
- Mer de Glace rack-and-pinion railway, Chamonix, Alps
800,000 visitors
- La Palmyre zoo, Charente Maritime
700,000 visitors
- Musée Grévin waxworks, Paris 700,000
visitors
- Château de Chambord, Loire Valley 700,000
visitors
- Boat trip round old Strasbourg 700,000
visitors
Click here for the best art galleries and museums
in France
Click here for the best towns and cities to visit in
France
Click here for a guide to historic monuments in France
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 opportunities for nature tourism, 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 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:
The
Cévennes national park (Languedoc)
Les Ecrins (Provence - Alps)
Le Mercantour (Provence)
Les Pyrénées (Hautes Pyrénées)
La Vanoise (Provence)
Port-Cros (Coastal park, Var, Provence)
Among
the principal regional parks are:
The Auvergne
volcanoes
The Grandes Causses (Aveyron - Lozère)
The Morvan hills ( Burgundy)
The Ballon des Vosges (Lorraine - Alsace)
More
information:
National Parks website
(official site)
National parks in
Provence
Wild France -
France's rich natural heritage areas
Long
distance footpaths and
hiking routes in France
Winter
sports in French mountain areas:
A
guide to Ski resorts and ski areas in the Alps
A guide to Ski resorts and ski
areas in the Pyrenees
Wildlife
parks in France :
Among the most interesting of France's many wildlife parks, are
- The Parc de Thoiry,
west of Paris, over 150 species in a safari park covering over 300
acres.
- Zoo Parc de Beauval,
in the Loir & Cher department, in the Loire valley area. Over
4000
animals, including koalas aned orang-utangs. the largest wildlife
collection in France.
- 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
- 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 thes are:
Euro Disneyland,
Marne la Vallée, Paris
Parc Astérix - Parc Astérix Plailly north of Paris
Puy du Fou historical reenactments theme
park ,
Vendée
Mer de Sable Theme Park - Ermenonville, just north of Paris
The Futuroscope park, near Poitiers
Vulcania, the volcano theme park, Auvergne
France Miniature - at Elancourt, west of Paris
(replicas of France's major monuments)
The Bioscope environmental theme park, Alsace
Ecomusée d'Alsace, near Colmar, France's largest open-air museum
Sigean African safari park and nature reserve Languedoc.
Nigloland theme park, near Troyes, southern Champagne.
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 &
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
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::
A brief introduction to the regions
of France
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