Beyond Paris, France

France, is so much more than Paris, I often say: you haven’t been to France, if you have only seen Paris! France, the number one tourist destination in the world, hosts 90 million visitors a year*!

So, I like to start my first blog post about deciding where to go in France.
France is divided into 13 regions (states), with rich varying landscape, architecture, art, history, people, and an unmatched gastronomy.

So, how do you decide :

where to visit
how to get there and get around
where to stay
how to manage the daily essentials

Let’s begin!!!

Your decision as to what the type of trip you want: Budget/ Luxury/ Middle of the road when/where to go will effect your planning, budgeting and savings. This is one decision you will need to make on your own. However, if you need help with the when and where Contact US!

When to go?

This is tricky, because off season offers amazing opportunities that the busy summer months won’t. Less tourist, less expensive accommodations, less expensive hotels, less crowded museums, the list goes on and on!

Summer – most of France is lovely and warm, even Normandy and Brittany coasts are nicer in the summer. Early July is shoppers’ heaven with the annual sales!
Fall – who doesn’t want to see the changing leafs and breath taking landscapes? Most of France will be milder and some regions will still be warm, like Provence, Southwest, Bordeaux, and parts of Massif Central.
Spring– Paris in April is as dreamy as Audrey Hepburn made it to be. So are Provence, Southwest, and even the cold rainy parts of the North.
Winter- It can be freezing cold, raining in some regions and powder snow in others, while the whistling Mistral winds blow through Provence. Nevertheless beautiful and incredibly less inexpensive compared to other times of the year. Museums and Chateaux are empty and the Louvre welcomes you with open arms.

Where to go?

So once you decide when to go keep these few tips in mind:

If you stay in Paris & Surrounding’s, it is almost always going to be more expensive and always beautiful. You are in PARIS!
Lyon & the Apls will beautiful all season, but specially summer and winter, a bit expensive in the Winter because the skiers will crowd every street and every accommodation.
Strasbourg and the Grand East offer so much to Summer and Spring hikers, while offering great deals and weather, of course colder in the winter, the rest of the year.
Brittany & Normandy will be beautiful and full of tourists between July- Sept. Cold and raining most of the year, but less crowded and much less expensive that other regions.
Provence will be milder in the Winter, 40-48 degree temperatures, and hottest in the summer 90-100+!
Champagne, Burgundy, and Bordeaux regions are heavenly in September and October as the Fall harvest adds a flare you will not find any other time of the year.
The Massif Central is less traveled by tourists and offers so much beauty, it is lovely in the Spring and Fall with its 70’s temperature.
The Chateaux country region spans over Pays de la Loire and Centre Valle de Loire, history at its best! It is said that if you want to really hear proper French you go to the land of royals, and if you want to hear literature you go to home of Balzac in Tours. If history and literature is your thing, you will LOVE this region at any time of the year.