Places to Visit in France – Off the Beaten Track
There are many famous places to visit in France – Paris, Nice, Provence for instance, but there is so much more to see. As you may know if you’ve had a look around our website, I prefer to get off the beaten track a little. This page serves as a starting point to some of them, and as time goes on, I will add more content. I’ve just bought a new camera, so I hope that this year (2024) I’ll finally be able to pick up where I left off.
Like the rest of the site, this is my work so when I visit more places you’ll get more ideas. It’s essentially a live page that I’ll update regularly.
February 2024 update- the ferry is booked!
My Own Trips to France
On the longest of our many trips to France, we spent one month on the road. We found some wonderful places, but there were also many that I didn’t have time to see, but did a lot of research. My plan is to share this acquired knowledge with you, and I hope to share what I think are some of the hidden gems.
The links on this page will send you through to pages about regions and towns, and from there you will be able to choose what you’d like to read next.
These are my personal reviews and not those of a tourist office so expect honesty. I will first be sending you off on a virtual tour of Collioure, set on the Mediterrean sea near the Spanish border. The town is certainly worth a visit, but perhaps consider the time of year because it gets extremely busy in the summer. My first article about this quaint town is introduced next.
Places to Visit in France: Collioure – An Introduction
A Visit To Collioure. Beautiful buildings and azure blue sea
“Collioure is famed for being one of the places Picasso chose to live and paint. When I was first told of this jewel in the Mediterranean my instinct was to run! The words, “it gets pretty busy with tourists” are a red flag to me, more one to saunter aimlessly and stop frequently for refreshments, the idea of bustling streets anywhere other than where it should be, like a morning market for instance, has me quaking in my flip flops!” Read More Here
This town is easily accessible by road as well as good train and air links into Perpignan; we stayed with at Mar Estang in nearby Canet Plage. At first sight, this resort would not be on my list, but the overarching region of the Pyrenees Orientales (Eastern Pyrenees) is definitely one of best places to visit in France. This campsite is run by Siblu, and it’s great base for exploring the region from.
I have written multiple posts about the region, because I fell in love with it; you’ll be able to navigate through to them from the Languedoc-Roussillon page. The area is also featured heavily in my book, Clancy Goes to France, which takes you on a journey with us as we travel off the beaten track places.
Brittany, One of the More Popular Places to Visit in France.
One of the more common places to visit in France is Brittany, with its easy access from major towns in the north of the country as well as several incoming ferry ports from the UK. It’s a wonderful region and one that offers white sandy beaches akin to those found in far more tropical climates.
We have stayed in three different places in Brittany, and I am in the process of writing the reviews now. Once they are completed, I will link to them from this page as well as from the main navigation menu. I also love this region because of it’s ease of access for us. We live in the south west of England and can take Brittany Ferries from Plymouth to Roscoff. In fact, I’m thinking of buying a property in Brittany as an investment. More on that later!
On the negative side I guess would be the lesser amount of sunshine when compared to other areas in France but that, after all, is what this website is all about; giving you as much useful information to be able to compare different places to visit and live in France. They are all unique and offer something different with diverse food and culture and even language.
Brittany is a place where I was privileged to witness something which I try to remind myself of if I’m feeling a bit down in the dumps, I took a day trip and drove off the beaten track and Lola and I found a deserted cove. It was May so fairly quiet but after a few minutes we no longer had the place to ourselves. You can read about it at A Special Day In Brittany.
Ceret: Pyrenees Orientales.
Ceret is worth a visit if you are looking for a relaxed atmosphere and immersion into French culture. It features heavily in my book, but I’ve also given you a sample of my words on in an article about Ceret.
I am going to leave you with those articles to get you started, while I pop off to compile more research. I hope that once I have things rolling better you’ll be able to find useful information and inspiration to explore some of these fabulous places to visit in France.