Best city breaks in France

The ten big tourist cities in France , ranked in "must see" order    This page is a starter page, a very compact guide to the best that France has to offer in ten different categories. From each of the categories below, you can follow links to more detailed thematic listings, and dedicated pages full of useful information about the most interesting and often fascinating places to visit in France.

1 Paris  ★★★★★

• For the title of "Best tourist city in France", there is clearly only one contender,  Paris .  Paris is special. One of the world's most visited tourist cities, Paris is in a class of its own, with its fabulous museums, its ancient streets, its broad tree-lined boulevards, its river and its many other sites. Paris has it all - an amazing cultural heritage, vibrant life, a huge choice of restaurants, places to visit, sights to see... plus the best connections to the rest of France and the world.  For more see Paris

2 Nice  ★★★★

• Located on the French Riviera between rugged hills and the azure waters of the Mediterranean, the city of Nice has a great deal to offer the visitor, from its beaches and its renowned flower market,  to its old town, its several art galleries and its old port. The long sweep of the Baie des Anges is a magnificent beach, bordered by the Promenade des Anglais - named after the first tourists who, in the late 18th century, began to transform a sleepy fishing port into the Mediterranean's premier resort. The area round Nice is breathtaking, and Nice airport is well served by international carriers. For more see Nice

3 Strasbourg ★★★

• Today seat of the European parliament, Strasbourg is one of the great historic cities of Europe. The old city, with its magnificent gothic cathedral, narrow streets, half-timbered houses and canals, is one of the finest old city centres in France, and a UNESCO world heritage site. Strasbourg can be reached  by high speed train from Paris, and is easily accessible from Germany and Benelux.   For more see Strasbourg

4 Lyon ★★★

• Lyon has an historic centre, between the rivers Saône and Rhône. The Place Bellecour is a fine urban piazza. To the west of the Rhone the old quarter of Fourvière rises steeply up from the quais of the Saône. The urban ensemble, which is a UNESCO world heritage site, is attractive and historic but not breathtaking. Lyon is great for a weekend break, and the city has a good selection of museums, lots of shops, and is particularly famous for its many good restaurants, making it the gourmet capital of France.  For more see Lyon

5 Toulouse ★★★

• The "pink city" has an attractive and quite distinctive old centre with a distinct Mediterranean flavour. Worth visiting are the magnificent St Sernin basilica, the Jacobins church and cloisters, and the Place du Capitole, a very fine city piazza. The Bemberg foundation is one of the better provincial French art galleries. Beside the city centre is the Canal du Midi, the oldest canal in Europe and a UNESCO world heritage site. Toulouse - home to Airbus - also has a popular aerospace museum and aircraft museums. For more see Toulouse

6 Marseille ★★★

• This ancient Mediterranean port has a vibrant city centre, with its main thoroughfare La Canebière. Worth seeing are the city's cathedrals and the medieval St. Laurent church. The old port area is very attractive, and boat trips can be taken to the historic fortress on the Ile d'If, lying in the middle of the bay. For more see Marseille.

7 Bordeaux ★★★

• This great old port city, on the banks of Gironde estuary in southwest France, has a large old centre, much of it dating from the 17th to 19th centuries with some fine monuments. and a good art gallery. The 18th century theatre is the finest theatre of its period in France. The area round Bordeaux is famous for its vineyards. Cruise liners tie up on the embankment right in the heart of the old city. For more see Bordeaux.
  
  

8 Lille ★★

• The old city centre of Lille is famous for its Flemish squares and belfries. See also the 17th century Citadel, and the Lille art gallery, reputed to be the second best in France after the Louvre. Lille also boasts a good modern art gallery, and there is another must-see gallery, La Piscine, in the suburb of Roubaix. The Lille zoo is a popular place with locals and tourists alike.  For more see Lille .

9 Nantes ★★

• The old city centre has narrow pedestrian streets, with an almost Parisian feel. The city's two main monuments are the St. Pierre cathedral and the Chateau of the Dukes of Brittany. Boat trips can be taken up the Erdre river, flanked by a succession of old mansion houses.  For more see Nantes .

10 Toulon ★

• A naval port city with an industrial heritage, Toulon has an attractive old quarter near the old port; but it is the city's beautiful Provençal hinterland and the fine coast to the east and the west that are generally more visited than the city itself.  For more see Toulon .

More cities to visit in France

  While France's ten biggest cities have plenty to offer, for many visitors the best and most interesting places to see in France are the smaller cities, places that are not necessarily on the main tourist routes.  More French, less cosmopolitan, easier to take in, all of these smaller regional centres arevery much worth the visit.
  There is no technical definition in France of what constitutes a "city"; indeed the term generally used for cities in French is grande ville, which means, litterally, a large town. The word "cité" has several different meanintgs, but city is not one of them. Some of the cities in this second table - like Grenoble, Rennes or Montpellier, are large cities, with up to half a million inhabitants;  others like Annecy, Albi or Vichy are much smaller – upwards of 25,000 inhabitants.

  For more interesting smaller cities or towns with less than 25,000 inhabitants, see attractive small towns in France.
  For a list and map of interesting French cities both large and small, see heritage cities

Key for smaller cities:

In red bold type: cities that are or contain UNESCO world heritage sites
Underlined cities : click for city guide.
🛧  Cities with airports that have direct flights to/from the UK (mostly seasonal). For details see French airport guide

Smaller cities in France that are well worth the visit: 

Star rating	Towns and cities
***	Aix-en-Provence, Albi,   Annecy,  Arles,  Avignon 🛧, Besançon,  Carcassonne 🛧,  Dijon, La Rochelle🛧, Nancy, Nimes🛧, St. Malo,
**	Angers,  Bourges, Cannes, Chambéry 🛧, Clermont-Ferrand 🛧, Colmar, Fréjus/Saint-Raphaël,  Grenoble 🛧, Le Puy en Velay, Metz, Montpellier 🛧, Poitiers🛧, Orleans, Pau🛧, Rennes🛧, Reims, Rodez🛧, Rouen, Tours 🛧, Troyes,
*	Angoulême, Arras, Beauvais, Biarritz 🛧, Blois, Chartres, Laon, Le Mans,  les Sables d'Olonne, Limoges 🛧, Narbonne, Périgueux, Quimper 🛧, Vannes, Vichy

Even smaller : Small towns and villages in France

And for those whose idea of a holiday is to escape the metropolis or the urban environment, France has thousands of small towns and villages – not to mention its châteaux, remarkable landscapes, coasts, forests and other sites worth visiting. For further details, explore About-France.com, and in particular:

• Attractive small towns in France.
• Beautiful villages in France
• Heritage cities

Click here for an interactive map of France, which you can scroll and zoom in on any area.