![]() ![]() To the south, the great mountain chain of the Pyrenees rears up along the Spanish border, running from the Basque country on the Atlantic to the Catalan lands of Roussillon on the Mediterranean there’s fine walking and skiing, as well as beaches at either end. Inland from Bordeaux, visitors flock to the gorges, prehistoric sites and picturesque fortified villages of the Dordogne and neighbouring Limousin, drawn too by the truffles and duck and goose dishes of Périgord cuisine. More Romanesque churches follow the pilgrim routes through rural Poitou-Charentes and down the Atlantic coast to Bordeaux, where the wines rival those of Burgundy. Further east, the green valleys of Burgundy shelter a wealth of Romanesque churches, and their wines and food are among the finest in France. To the west, Brittany is renowned for its Celtic links, beautiful coastline, prehistoric sites and seafood, while the Loire valley, extending inland towards Paris, is famed for soft, fertile countryside and a marvellous parade of châteaux. ![]() ![]() On the northern Atlantic coast, Normandy has a rich heritage of cathedrals, castles, battlefields and beaches – and, with its cream-based sauces, an equally rich cuisine. The picture is similar in Alsace-Lorraine where Germanic influences are strong, notably in the food. Few holiday-makers stay long in the largely flat, industrial north, but there are some fine cathedrals and energetic cities to leaven the mix. Marseille, in particular, has a host of exciting new cultural institutions, a legacy of its year as European Capital of Culture in 2013.įor most people, however, it’s the unique characters of the regions that will define a trip. Information is highly organized and available from tourist offices across the country, as well as from specialist organizations for walkers, cyclists, campers and so on.Īs for where to go in France, Paris, of course, is the outstanding cultural centre, with its impressive buildings – not least Frank Gehry’s stunning new Fondation Louis Vuitton – and unparalleled art, nightlife and ethnic diversity, though the great provincial cities – Lyon, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Marseille – all now vie with the capital and each other for prestige in the arts, ascendancy in sport and innovation in attracting visitors. Train services are admirably efficient, as is the road network – especially the (toll-paying) autoroutes – and cyclists are much admired and encouraged. Restaurants and hotels proliferate, many of them relatively inexpensive when compared with other developed Western European countries. After reading this region-by-region overview, you might want to arm yourself with 20 fun facts about France. This legacy of history and culture - le patrimoine - is so widely dispersed across the land that even the briefest of stays will leave you with a powerful sense of France's past. ViaMichelin can provide a detailed cost for your journey: fuel costs adapted to your vehicle and toll costs throughout Europe.France boasts metropolitan powerhouse cities that represent the countries accumulation of wealth, evident in the astonishing variety of places to visit, from the Dordogne's prehistoric cave paintings and the Roman monuments of the south, to the Gothic cathedrals of the north, the chateaux of the Loire, and the cutting-edge architecture of the grands projets in Paris. These stages will also be included in the ViaMichelin GPS app if you have saved your route in your Michelin account.įor every calculated route, ViaMichelin offers the choice of two or three itineraries and allows you to make an easy comparison. You can add up to 6 stages to your route. Economic: this route focuses on fuel efficiency and avoiding toll roads.Discovery: this route option favours scenic routes of tourist interest.The short (prioritising distance): this route option involves the shortest distance to reach the destination, whilst always remaining on passable roads.The quickest (prioritising time): this route option takes the least time to reach the destination.This is the default route that Michelin recommends. Michelin recommended: this route option focuses on safety, simplicity and minimising any risk of route errors.ViaMichelin offers route and distance calculations between towns, addresses and points of interest for 4 possible modes of transport: car / motorcycle / bike / pedestrian.įor car and motorcycle routes you can choose from the following variants: ![]()
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