France works best one region at a time. The best-places guide splits the country into fifteen regions and says who each one suits, when to go and how to get there. Trying to see it all in one trip, it warns, means spending a lot of it on trains. Two other pieces slow down. One follows a bike-and-train route through Burgundy. The other walks through Nancy in Lorraine and talks with a local.
The overview is the planning guide. For each region it says who it suits, and it sorts regions by personality for readers who like that angle: curious travelers, planners, people who recharge alone and sociable travelers each get different picks. The other two pieces read more like travel stories than checklists. Both are written by Alexandra, and both show what a single region looks like when you slow down.
Start with the best places in France, then choose a region. The Burgundy guide is a bike-and-train route from Dijon to Vezelay, with prehistoric caves and an artists’ studio. The Lorraine piece follows a walk through Art Nouveau Nancy and a conversation with a local architect. Read the overview first, so you can pick one region before you plan any days.
Guides and stories from France
The 15 Best Places In France, Region By Region (An Honest Field Guide)
Fifteen French regions, with who each one suits, when to go and how to get there.
Following the Owl’s Trail Through Medieval Burgundy to a Nest of Artists
A slow bike-and-train route through Burgundy, from Dijon to Vezelay, with prehistoric caves and an artists’ studio.
Local Living in Lorraine: At the Crossroads of Faraway Stories
A walk through Art Nouveau Nancy and a conversation with a local architect, as an example of slower, local travel.
Find your fit
We use personality to help travelers choose where to go in France and how to travel there. You can take the free travel personality quiz (about 3 minutes) to see which guides fit you, read about tailor-made itinerary design and itinerary review on the services page, or book a discovery call to talk it through.