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Key Takeaways:
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France is one of the go-to honeymoon destinations for Indians, but most visitors prioritise Paris. The country has the Alps, Atlantic vineyards, coastline, medieval islands, Alsatian canal towns on the German border, and a river valley. Each region has its own climate, cuisine, architecture, and best time to visit.
With this guide, you will know the 15 best places to visit in France, including details on what to do in each city and the specialties of each place.
Quick Look: France for Indian Travellers
| Visa | Schengen visa required |
| Visa Cost | VFS service fee: Approx. 2,411 INRVisa fee: Approx. 8,500 INR |
| Round-trip flights cost | 60,000 – 90,000 INR(Connecting flights cost less) |
| Daily budget | 7,500 – 9,000 INR |
| Currency | 1 Euro = 109 INR (Fluctuates daily) |
| Trip duration | 10 – 14 days (2 – 3 regions) |
| Language | French(English is well spoken in Paris and tourist areas) |
Best Places to Visit in France: Top Tourist Attractions
From the Mediterranean coastline, vineyards, Alps, and islands, you can choose which suits your style from this list.
1. Paris
Paris is the city of love and one of the most famous tourist places in France. Singles, couples and elders; everyone finds the city romantic.
Paris is where most flights from India land. Some don’t even plan to visit other cities as Paris has many things. The art, food, architecture, Michelin-starred restaurants, museums, and cafes here are more than anywhere else in the country.
Must-do things in Paris
- Visit the Eiffel Tower, built in 1889, and it’s 330 metres tall.
- See the Mona Lisa and 35,000 other works at the Louvre Museum.
- Visit Notre-Dame Cathedral, which reopened in December 2024 after a major restoration, and the entry is free.
- Take a day trip to the Palace of Versailles, and the highlight here is the Hall of Mirrors with 357 mirrors.
- Go to the Sacre-Coeur Basilica in Montmartre for a free hilltop view over the city. This neighbourhood also has portrait artists and old-style cafes.
- Visit the Galeries Lafayette department store on Boulevard Haussmann to buy souvenirs from Paris and branded items. The 8th-floor rooftop terrace is free to enter and gives one of the best views in central Paris.
2. Nice
For a beach vacation in France, go to Nice, a city on the south coast of France along the Mediterranean Sea. You have 300 sunny days a year and 7 km of pebble beaches. You can stay here or make it a day trip, as it is just 30 – 40 minutes from Monaco and Cannes.
The famous things to do in Nice
- Walk on the Promenade des Anglais, where the Mediterranean is on one side, and the old seafront hotels are on the other.
- In Vieux-Nice (Old Town), see the narrow Baroque streets, 17th-century churches, and the daily market that sells flowers, vegetables, crafts, and local street food.
- Visit Colline du Chateau for a beautiful view of both the bay and the old port.
- See the largest public collection of Henri Matisse’s paintings and sculptures at the Matisse Museum.
3. Lyon
Lyon is France’s third-largest city, located between Paris and Marseille. The old town here is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. When you visit in December, attend the four-night light festival that gets millions of visitors each year.
The best things to do in Lyon
- Walk through Vieux-Lyon (Old Town) and find the hidden pathways that take you to the Renaissance buildings.
- Take the funicular (train) to the Basilique Notre Dame of Fourviere to see the white hilltop basilica and look at the river views and the Alps.
- To eat French pastries, Lyon’s best cheese, seafood, and meats, go to Les Halles Paul Bocuse, an indoor food market.
- Croix-Rousse Hill gives you a chance to see a working 19th-century Jacquard loom at La Maison des Canuts museum and learn how Lyon built its economy on the silk trade.
- See the Théâtre Gallo-Romain. It is two open-air theatres built in 15 BC into the hillside, and even now, you can see outdoor performances in summer.
4. Marseille
Marseille is France’s second-largest city and was founded by Greek traders in 600 BC. It is a working port city with a fish market on the old harbour and multicultural neighbourhoods. You have North African, Comorian, Italian, Greek, Turkish and Armenian groups here.
The best activities to do in Marseille
- Take a boat tour through the Calanques to see the white limestone cliffs.
- Walk around the Vieux-Port (old harbour) in the morning to watch fishermen sell their catch directly from the boats.
- Climb to Notre-Dame de la Garde, a basilica 154 metres above the city, to get the best view of Marseille, the port, and the sea in all directions.
- Le Panier, the city’s oldest neighbourhood, offers street art and artisan boutiques.
- Take the ferry from the old port to Chateau d’If. It is an island fortress that held political prisoners for nearly 300 years.
5. Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a popular place in France for its wine. There are over 6,000 wineries in the region producing some of the world’s most well-known red wines, particularly from areas like Médoc, Saint-Emilion, Barsac, and Pomerol.
The best experiences in Bordeaux
- See the Miroir d’Eau, the world’s largest reflecting pool. It is located in front of 18th-century stone buildings.
- Visit Cité du Vin, a museum dedicated to wine, and famously known as the wine theme park. The place features an interactive display of ancient Egyptian wine. Also, join the wine tasting session.
- Take the train to Saint-Emilion to walk through a medieval village. The village was built atop a monolithic church. It was carved entirely from a single rock.
- Roam in the Rue Sainte-Catherine, the 1.2-kilometre shopping street.
6. Strasbourg
Strasbourg is on the border between France and Germany, and the city clearly reflects both cultures. The architecture here is a blend of German-style buildings. Even the street signs are in both French and German.
Strasbourg’s interesting things to try
- Walk through La Petite France. It’s a 16th-century canal quarter with half-timbered houses. The place gives you a chance to see what the city looked like 500 years ago, as most of it has not been rebuilt.
- Visit Strasbourg Cathedral, which took 424 years to finish construction.
- Take a guided tour of the European Parliament to understand how the EU legislature works.
- Visit the Palais Rohan, an 18th-century palace. It is preserved with original furniture, tapestries, ceramics, and painted ceilings from 1740.
- Walk through the Marche de Noel (Christmas Market) in November and December to see France’s oldest Christmas market, which has been operating since 1570.
7. Annecy
Annecy is a small town in the French Alps, 45 kilometres from Geneva. The town is located at the edge of Lac d’Annecy, one of the cleanest lakes in Europe. The old town has canals running between buildings, and the mountains surround the lake on three sides.
The best things to do in Annecy
- Visit the Island Palace, a 12th-century prison island in the middle of the canal, to see one of the medieval buildings in the Alps and a stone courthouse built on the water.
- Roam around the Annecy Old Town on a Tuesday, Friday, or Sunday morning for the market where local farmers sell fresh produce.
- Walk through the Gorges du Fier, a narrow limestone gorge 13 km from Annecy.
- Go paragliding from Col de la Forclaz over the lake and town.
8. Chamonix
For a mountain region, Chamonix, in the French Alps, is one of the best towns to visit in France. It is located at the base of Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in western Europe, at 4,808 metres.
The town is well known for skiing in winter, but in summer, cable car rides, glacier visits, hiking, and paragliding are popular.
Chamonix’s best things to do
- Take the Aiguille du Midi cable car up to 3,842 metres. It is one of the highest cable cars in the world.
- Visit the Mer de Glace, which you reach by a rack railway. Then walk down into an ice cave carved directly into the glacier, where the blue ice walls are visible from there.
- Go paragliding from Planpraz at around 2,000 metres. The flight takes you over the Chamonix valley with Mont Blanc, before landing in the town below.
9. Colmar
Colmar is a small city of 70,000 people in the Alsace region. The old town is made up of half-timbered houses from the 15th to 17th centuries, painted in soft pastel colours, which are beautifully reflected in the canals of the Petite Venise quarter. Almost none of the buildings have been rebuilt in this region.
Colmar’s top attractions
- Walk through Petite Venise, the most photographed part of the town, where half-timbered houses are lined up near the canal and reflect in the water.
- Visit the Musée Unterlinden to see the Isenheim Altarpiece, a major work of German Renaissance art.
- Take a cycle ride or an electric scooter to Eguisheim to see the village, famous for its concentric-circle layout around a central courtyard.
- Go to the local markets at Place de l’Ancienne Douane to try Alsatian wines, regional cheeses, handmade gifts, and traditional pastries from long-running family vendors.
- Visit the Musée Bartholdi located in the birthplace of Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty. Inside, you can see original models and early versions of the design.
- Take a bicycle and follow part of the Alsace Wine Route toward villages like Riquewihr and Ribeauville. Both are within 15 km and are known for their preserved medieval streets and vineyard views.
10. Provence
Provence is a region in southern France with lavender fields, hilltop villages, Roman ruins, and a Mediterranean coastline. It’s good to hire a car and not expect public transport to get you around Provence. As the villages, lavender fields, and Roman sites are spread out and not well connected by public transport.
Must-do things in Provence
- Drive through the Valensole plateau, and you can stop along the road to walk through the lavender.
- Visit the hilltop stone village of Gordes and the 12th-century Senanque Abbey, surrounded by lavender fields.
- Visit Les Baux-de-Provence, a village built on a rocky outcrop with the remains of a fortress at the top. Just below it is Carrières des Lumieres, where digital art is projected across the large limestone cave walls.
11. Loire Valley
The Loire Valley is a 280-km stretch of river in central France. French kings built more than 300 chateaux along this river between the 15th and 17th centuries. Two of them, Chateau de Chambord and Chateau de Chenonceau, are among the best-preserved royal buildings in Europe. The entire valley is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is also a famous cycling destination, with a flat 900-km route along the river.
The best things to do in the Loire Valley
- Visit Chateau de Chambord, the largest chateau in the region. It has 440 rooms and a central double-helix staircase, designed so two people can use it at the same time without crossing paths.
- See Chateau de Chenonceau, built directly over the River Cher. The building extends across the water through a long gallery, and there are gardens on both banks.
- Make a stop at Clos Luce in Amboise, where Leonardo da Vinci spent the last three years of his life. The property displays working models of his inventions based on his original designs.
- Walk through the gardens of Chateau de Villandry. The layouts are precise, with sections dedicated to vegetables, herbs, and ornamental plants arranged in patterns.
- Take a cycle ride in the Loire a Velo route, especially between Blois and Saumur. The path runs along the river, past small towns, vineyards, and chateau viewpoints.
12. Mont Saint-Michel
Mont Saint-Michel is a small island off the Normandy coast. A medieval abbey has stood atop this granite rock since the 8th century.
The island has only 30 permanent residents and receives 3 million visitors every year. The bay around it has the highest tidal range in Europe, with water levels rising up to 15 metres. At high tide, the island is completely surrounded by water.
A few recommended things to do at Mont Saint-Michel
- Visit the abbey (Christian monastery) at the top. It was built in layers over the rock, and as you move up, you get the view of the bay.
- Roam in the Grande Rue, this is the main street through the island, lined with small restaurants and shops inside medieval buildings.
- Take a guided walk across the bay. This is one of the few places in France where you can literally walk on the seabed.
- Dine at the Hotel La Mère Poulard, one of the oldest restaurants on the island, known for its open-fire omelettes.
13. Toulouse
Toulouse is France’s fourth-largest city. The whole city is in its pink shade as the buildings here are made from a local pink terracotta brick. It is also the European capital of aerospace, and it is home to Airbus and the Cité de l’Espace, it blends both technologies with a rich history. The main highlight is that nearly 300,000 people in the region work in aerospace.
Toulouse must-do things
- Visit the Cité de l’Espace to see Europe’s largest space museum, and walk through a full-scale replica of the Mir space station.
- See the 18th-century city hall in Capitole de Toulouse. The painted ceilings covering the entire surface are among the most decorated public rooms in France.
- You can walk along the Canal du Midi, a 360-kilometres waterway built in 1681 to connect two seas, which was considered the greatest engineering project of 17th-century France.
- Visit Les Abattoirs to see 4,000 works of modern and contemporary art, including a Picasso painting.
- Walk along the Garonne riverbank in the evening, as the light reflected on the buildings and the water gives you a warm view. In summer, there are open-air cinema screenings as well.
14. Avignon
Avignon is a walled city in the south of France. The entire old town is still enclosed by its 14th-century stone walls, which already makes it feel different from most French cities.
At the centre of the city, you have Palais des Papes, the largest Gothic palace in Europe, built during the period when the Catholic Church moved its headquarters here from Rome between 1309 and 1377. In July, the city changes completely during the Festival d’Avignon, with over 1,500 shows.
The best things to do in Avignon
- Walk through the Palais des Papes to see the largest Gothic palace in Europe, built when seven successive popes ruled the Catholic Church.
- Visit Les Halles d’Avignon, a covered market with 40 food stalls, to taste Provencal produce including olives, honey, cheese, and fresh vegetables from the farms surrounding the city.
- Sit in the Jardin des Doms park above the Rhone for a river view.
- Attend the Festival d’Avignon in July to see the largest theatre performances in the courtyard of the Palais des Papes.
- Take the train to Arles to walk through a Roman arena built in 90 AD, and visit the streets where Van Gogh lived and painted in 1888 – 1889.
15. Cannes and Saint-Tropez
Cannes and Saint-Tropez are two towns on the French Riviera, both known for luxury & film crowds. It is also one of the best beach spots in France. Most people look forward to the Cannes Film Festival every May.
Saint-Tropez is a former fishing village that became a global name after Brigitte Bardot made it famous in the 1950s. Both places have beaches, private beach clubs, yacht harbours, and old towns.
The best things to do in Cannes and Saint-Tropez
- Walk La Croisette in Cannes to see the 1.8-kilometre seafront boulevard where the Cannes Film Festival happens every May.
- Spend a day at Plage de Pampelonne in Saint-Tropez, a 4.5-kilometre beach, with both free public sections and private beach clubs.
- Take the ferry from Cannes to the Iles de Lerins to visit a monastery that has operated continuously since 410 AD.
- Walk up to Le Suquet, the medieval hilltop quarter above Cannes harbour, to see the 12th-century watchtower, which became a resort town.
- Visit the Annonciade Museum in Saint-Tropez, a small museum in a 16th-century chapel on the harbour, to see Post-Impressionist works.
- Shop for ceramics, antiques, local food, accessories, and fresh produce at the Place des Lices market in Saint-Tropez on a Tuesday or Saturday.
Conclusion
France is not just Paris. So, try visiting more cities and towns. The flights are more expensive than the daily expenses, so stay longer and try to experience more. A minimum of 10 days is better, as you can plan for 2 – 3 different cities.
Contact Dimaak Tours for more information on international trips. We will help you decide on a destination that fits your budget and style.
FAQs on the Best Places to Visit in France
1. Is France expensive for Indians?
Yes, France is one of the most expensive countries in Europe. From the stay to the food, everything here is expensive.
In Paris, a mid-range hotel costs approximately 9,000 INR per night. One meal is around 1,000 INR even at a simple restaurant.
2. How many days are enough for France?
You need at least 12 – 15 days in France to visit all the famous cities and make your vacation a mix of popular and hidden sights.
If you are focusing on just two cities, six days is an ideal duration. Paris alone requires at least 3 days to see the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre-Dame, and Montmartre.
3. Which city in France has the most Indian food options?
Paris has more Indian restaurant options than other cities in France. Nice, Cannes, Marseille, Strasbourg, and Bordeaux have very limited options. If you need a pure vegetarian meal, then Paris is the best place.
