Things to do in France

Paris, the capital, is a city of monuments and museums, from the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre to Notre-Dame, Montmartre and the café terraces of the Left Bank, with the palace of Versailles nearby. On the Mediterranean, Nice is the sunny heart of the Côte d'Azur, with its palm-lined promenade, pastel old town and easy trips to Monaco, Èze and Cannes.

Between them lies a remarkable variety of landscapes: the châteaux of the Loire Valley, the vineyards of Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne, the lavender fields of Provence, the island abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel, the beaches of Normandy and the peaks of the Alps and the Pyrenees.

French cooking is a pleasure at every level, from croissants and baguettes to cheese, bistro classics and regional specialities. Spring and early autumn are lovely, summer is warm and busy, especially on the coast in August, and winter brings skiing in the mountains and Christmas markets in Alsace. High-speed trains make it easy to travel between regions.