France
Everyone plans Paris. The trips people talk about afterwards are the ones that left the city for a few days.
Why go
Best for
- Romantic and anniversary trips
- Food and wine travelers
- First-time Europe travelers
- Art, history, and architecture
- Multi-generational family travel
Paris is one of the few cities that genuinely lives up to how much has been written about it; and it's also the reason most France trips end up unbalanced. Five days in Paris and nothing else is a fine trip. Five days in Paris plus three regions is not.
France is at its best when the city is one movement and the countryside is another. The TGV makes that easy: Provence in three hours, Bordeaux in two, Champagne in under one. You can change the entire texture of a trip in a single morning without ever seeing an airport.
It's also a country where the food is the itinerary. Markets, a long lunch, a cellar visit; those are the days people remember, and they need to be planned in rather than squeezed around monuments.
Where to go
The places worth your nights in France.
Minimums, not maximums: the point at which a stop stops being worth the hotel change.
Paris
4–5 nightsWorth more time than most itineraries give it. Choosing the right arrondissement matters more than the hotel's star rating.
Provence
4–5 nightsMarkets, hill villages, and light that explains a century of painting. Best with a car and a slow schedule.
Loire Valley
2–3 nightsChâteaux at a civilised distance from Paris. Two or three nights is plenty, and it pairs neatly with the capital.
Normandy
2–3 nightsThe D-Day beaches and Mont-Saint-Michel. Emotionally heavy days; build in recovery time.
Bordeaux & the wine country
3–4 nightsA handsome city with world-class estates within an hour. Two hours from Paris by train.
French Riviera
3–4 nightsNice, Antibes, and the corniche villages. Good as an ending, and an easy rail link onward into Italy.
How long to stay
Ten days lets you do Paris properly and add one region. Two weeks lets you add two without rushing.
France tempts travelers into a fourth region. Resist it. The trips that feel luxurious are the ones with two bases and a free afternoon in each; not the ones that covered more ground.
- 4–6 days
- Paris alone, done well; with time for a day trip to Versailles or Giverny rather than a second base.
- 7–10 days
- Paris plus one region. Provence, Normandy, the Loire, or Bordeaux all work as a single second base.
- 11–14 days
- Paris plus two regions, or a slower loop through the south. Enough room for a rest day, which most France trips need and few have.
- 15+ days
- Time to combine north and south, or to pair France with northern Italy or Switzerland by rail.
When to go
Every season in France is a different trip.
Spring
April – June
Gardens at their best, comfortable temperatures, long evenings. May holidays close some businesses; worth planning around.
Summer
July – August
Lavender in Provence, warm coast, and peak crowds. Paris empties of Parisians in August, which changes the city's character.
Autumn
September – October
Harvest in the wine regions, warm days, and far fewer visitors. One of the best windows of the year.
Winter
November – March
Paris at its most atmospheric, with Christmas markets and no queues. Rural regions go quiet, so pair with cities.
Itinerary shapes
Combinations that actually work.
Routes where the travel days sit between real ones, rather than eating them.
Paris & Provence
10 nightsCity and countryside, connected by a three-hour train. The most-requested France trip, and deservedly so.
Paris & Normandy
8 nightsFor travelers with a reason to see the beaches. Sobering, memorable, and best with a private guide.
Paris, Loire & Bordeaux
12 nightsChâteaux and vineyards, all by rail, with no internal flights or long drives.
France & Italy by rail
14 nightsParis to Provence to the Riviera and on into Italy. Two countries, one continuous rail line, no repacking chaos.
From the road
France, as I found it.
Photographs from my own trips to France. No stock, no borrowed shots.
Questions
Planning France, answered.
How many days do you need in Paris?
Four to five nights is the honest answer for a first visit. Three is enough for the headline sights but leaves no room for the slower parts of the city that people actually fall in love with, and jet lag will take one of those days.
Should you rent a car in France?
Not for Paris or for travel between major cities; the TGV is faster and far less stressful. A car is worth it in Provence, the Loire, Normandy, and Burgundy, where the places you want to reach are villages rather than stations.
Is France good for a first trip to Europe?
Yes, particularly for travelers who want one country rather than a multi-country tour. The rail network makes it easy to move without flying, English is widely spoken in tourist-facing businesses, and Paris is a forgiving first city.
Ready to plan France?
Tell me your rough dates and who's coming. I'll tell you honestly whether the shape of it works.
30-minute consultation, no charge, no obligation.