FRANCE
France, in Western Europe, encompasses medieval cities, alpine villages and Mediterranean beaches. Paris, its capital, is famed for its fashion houses, classical art museums including the Louvre and monuments like the Eiffel Tower. The country is also renowned for its wines and sophisticated cuisine. Lascaux’s ancient cave drawings, Lyon’s Roman theater and the vast Palace of Versailles attest to its rich history.
Top attractions in France
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is a wrought iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.
The Louvre
The Louvre or the Louvre Museum is the world's largest museum and a historic monument in Paris, France. A central landmark of the city, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement.
Arc de Triomphe
The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, Triumphal Arch of the Star) is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the center of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Place de l'Étoile — the étoile or "star" of the juncture formed by its twelve radiating avenues.
Disneyland Paris
Disneyland Paris, originally Euro Disney Resort, is an entertainment resort in Marne-la-Vallée, a new town located 32 km east of the centre of Paris, and is the most visited theme park in all of Europe.
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles, Château de Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France.
Notre-Dame de Paris
Notre-Dame de Paris, also known as Notre-Dame Cathedral or simply Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France
French Riviera
The French Riviera (or Côte d'Azur) is the Mediterranean coast of southeastern France. It includes famously glamorous beach resorts such as Saint-Tropez and Cannes, and the independent microstate of Monaco. A health retreat in the 18th century, the area later attracted aristocrats, artists and the 1960s "jet set." Today it’s an established holiday destination, with paths connecting many coastal villages and towns.
Champs-Élysées
The Avenue des Champs-Élysées is an avenue in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, 1.9 kilometres long and 70 metres wide, running between the Place de la Concorde and the Place Charles de Gaulle, where the Arc de Triomphe is located.
Mont Saint-Michel
Le Mont-Saint-Michel is an island commune in Normandy, France. It is located about one kilometre off the country's northwestern coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches and is 100 hectares in size.
Place de la Concorde
The Place de la Concorde is one of the major public squares in Paris, France. Measuring 8.64 hectares in area, it is the largest square in the French capital.
Sacré-Cœur, Paris
The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris, commonly known as Sacré-Cœur Basilica and often simply Sacré-Cœur, is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in Paris, France.
Musée d'Orsay
The Musée d'Orsay is a museum in Paris, France, on the left bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900.
Tuileries Garden
The Tuileries Garden is a public garden located between the Louvre Museum and the Place de la Concorde in the 1st arrondissement of Paris.
Jardin du Luxembourg
"Le Jardin du Luxembourg", or the Luxembourg Garden, located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, was created beginning in 1612 by Marie de' Medici, the widow of King Henry IV of France, for a new residence she constructed, the Luxembourg Palace.
Château de Chenonceau
The Château de Chenonceau is a French château spanning the River Cher, near the small village of Chenonceaux in the Indre-et-Loire département of the Loire Valley in France. It is one of the best-known châteaux of the Loire valley
Centre Georges Pompidou
Centre Georges Pompidou, commonly shortened to Centre Pompidou and also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of the 4th arrondissement of Paris, near Les Halles, rue Montorgueil, and the Marais
Château de Chambord
The royal Château de Chambord at Chambord, Loir-et-Cher, France, is one of the most recognizable châteaux in the world because of its very distinctive French Renaissance architecture which blends traditional French medieval forms with classical Renaissance structures. The building, which was never completed, was constructed by King Francis I of France.
Pont des Arts
The Pont des Arts or Passerelle des Arts is a pedestrian bridge in Paris which crosses the River Seine. It links the Institut de France and the central square of the Palais du Louvre.
Montmartre
Montmartre is a large hill in Paris's 18th arrondissement. It is 130 m high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank in the northern section of the city.
Louvre Pyramid
The Louvre Pyramid is a large glass and metal pyramid designed by Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei, surrounded by three smaller pyramids, in the main courtyard of the Louvre Palace in Paris.
Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc or Monte Bianco, both meaning "White Mountain", is the highest mountain in the Alps and the highest in Europe west of Russia's Caucasus peaks. It rises 4,808 m above sea level and is ranked 11th in the world in topographic prominence.
Moulin Rouge
Moulin Rouge is a cabaret in Paris, France. The original house, which burned down in 1915, was co-founded in 1889 by Charles Zidler and Joseph Oller, who also owned the Paris Olympia.
Val Thorens
Val Thorens, located in the Tarentaise Valley, Savoie, French Alps, is the highest ski resort in Europe, at 2300 m altitude. It is located in the commune of Saint-Martin-de-Belleville in the Savoie département
Rhine
The Rhine is a European river that begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps, forms part of the Swiss-Austrian, Swiss-Liechtenstein, Swiss-German and then the Franco-German border, then flows through the Rhineland and eventually empties into the North Sea in the Netherlands. The largest city on the river Rhine is Cologne, Germany, with a population of more than 1,050,000 people. It is the second-longest river in Central and Western Europe (after the Danube), at about 1,230 km (760 mi),[note 2][note 1] with an average discharge of about 2,900 m3/s (100,000 cu ft/s).
Champ de Mars
The Champ de Mars is a large public greenspace in Paris, France, located in the seventh arrondissement, between the Eiffel Tower to the northwest and the École Militaire to the southeast.
Le Marais
Le Marais is a historic district in Paris, France. Long the aristocratic district of Paris, it hosts many outstanding buildings of historic and architectural importance. It spreads across parts of the 3rd and 4th arrondissements in Paris.
Catacombs of Paris
The Catacombs of Paris are underground ossuaries in Paris, France, which hold the remains of more than six million people in a small part of the ancient Mines of Paris tunnel network.
Sainte-Chapelle
The Sainte-Chapelle is a royal chapel in the Gothic style, within the medieval Palais de la Cité, the residence of the Kings of France until the 14th century, on the Île de la Cité in the heart of Paris, France.
Lake Geneva
Lake Geneva is a crescent-shaped lake shared between France and Switzerland, and overlooked by the Alps. Geneva, the Swiss city at its southern tip, is a diplomatic hub with luxury shops and a cobbled old town. On the southern, French side, is the spa town and resort of Évian-les-Bains. The chic, palm-studded Swiss Riviera stretches along the north shore from Lausanne to Montreux.
Panthéon
The Panthéon is a building in the Latin Quarter in Paris. It was originally built as a church dedicated to St. Genevieve and to house the reliquary châsse containing her relics but, after many changes, now functions as a secular mausoleum containing the remains of distinguished French citizens. It is an early example of neo-classicism, with a façade modelled on the Pantheon in Rome, surmounted by a dome that owes some of its character to Bramante's Tempietto. Located in the 5th arrondissement on the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève, the Panthéon looks out over all of Paris. Designer Jacques-Germain Soufflot had the intention of combining the lightness and brightness of the Gothic cathedral with classical principles, but its role as a mausoleum required the great Gothic windows to be blocked.
Les Arcs
Les Arcs is a ski resort located in Savoie, France, in the Tarentaise Valley town of Bourg-Saint-Maurice.
Méribel
Méribel is a ski resort in the Tarentaise Valley in the French Alps, situated near the town of Moutiers.
Pont du Gard
The Pont du Gard is an ancient Roman aqueduct that crosses the Gardon River near the town of Vers-Pont-du-Gard in southern France.
Tour Montparnasse
Tour Maine-Montparnasse, also commonly named Tour Montparnasse, is a 210-metre office skyscraper located in the Montparnasse area of Paris, France.
La Plagne
La Plagne is a French ski area in the alpine valley of the Tarentaise. Since 2003, La Plagne and the neighbouring resort of Les Arcs form Paradiski's ski area. It is currently owned by Compagnie des Alpes.
Pont Alexandre III
The Pont Alexandre III is a deck arch bridge that spans the Seine in Paris. It connects the Champs-Élysées quarter with those of the Invalides and Eiffel Tower. The bridge is widely regarded as the most ornate, extravagant bridge in the city.
La Défense
La Défense (French: [la de.fɑ̃s]) is a major business district just west of the city limits of Paris. It is part of the Paris Metropolitan Area in the Île-de-France region, located in the department Hauts-de-Seine spread across the commune of Courbevoie, as well as parts of Puteaux and Nanterre.
Les Invalides
Les Invalides, commonly known as Hôtel national des Invalides, or also as Hôtel des Invalides, is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building's original purpose. The buildings house the Musée de l'Armée, the military museum of the Army of France, the Musée des Plans-Reliefs, and the Musée d'Histoire Contemporaine, as well as the Dôme des Invalides, a large church with the tombs of some of France's war heroes, most notably Napoleon Bonaparte.
Les Deux Alpes
Les Deux Alpes is a ski resort in the French Isère département. The village sits at 1,650 m and lifts run to 3,600 m.
Camargue
The Camargue is a natural region located south of Arles, France, between the Mediterranean Sea and the two arms of the Rhône River delta. The eastern arm is called the Grand Rhône; the western one is the Petit Rhône.
Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris, though there are larger cemeteries in the city's suburbs
Vanoise National Park
Vanoise National Park, in southeast France’s Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, is sandwiched between the Tarentaise and Maurienne valleys in the French Alps and bordered by Italy’s Gran Paradiso National Park. Hundreds of kilometers of hiking paths weave through preserved areas, where Alpine ibex and other animals may be seen. Surrounding and within the park are villages and ski resorts such as Val d’lsère and Tignes.
Parc des Buttes Chaumont
The Parc des Buttes-Chaumont is a public park situated in northeastern Paris, in the 19th arrondissement.
Écrins National Park
Écrins National Park is one of the ten French national parks. It is located in the south-eastern part of France and consists in a mountainous region of the Dauphiné Alps, south of Grenoble and north of Gap, shared between the départements of Isère and Hautes-Alpes.
Avoriaz
Avoriaz is a French mountain resort in the heart of the Portes du Soleil. It is located in the territory of the commune of Morzine.
Latin Quarter, Paris
The Latin Quarter of Paris is an area in the 5th and the 6th arrondissements of Paris. It is situated on the left bank of the Seine, around the Sorbonne.
Palace of Fontainebleau
The Palace of Fontainebleau or Château de Fontainebleau is located 55 kilometres southeast of the centre of Paris, and is one of the largest French royal châteaux.