France Attractions

So you're going to France for your next vacation. You have picked a location, organised your travel, and booked your accommodation. That is the easy part of the "where" and the "how." The trickiest part of planning and enjoying your holiday comes next when you need to tackle the "what" issue. That is what are you going to see and what are you going to do. Please do not even think the word "everything".

Tourists often mistakenly schedule every hour of every day in advance to ensure they see every French chateau, abbey and vineyard. If this is your inclination our advice is don't go. You will be as stressed as if you never left work so you might as well stay there and earn more money.

If you go with a to-do list of "famous sights," you will come home with a lot of beautiful pictures but with no real emotional connection to where you have been. You will look photos of various chateaux and not be able to distinguish which one was which. Your holiday will be one chateau blur. You'll have spent your entire time hurtling from one famous chateau or abbey or rather than soaking up the significance of that chateau, abbey you toured in a nanosecond.

Please do not be a speed tourist forever intent and acting possessed determined to get yet another tick in a box on their must see list. Never see more than two chateaux in a day and do not do more than three days of your vacation (ideally spaced out) chateaux hopping.

You probably selected France as your destination in order to escape the hurried pace of your normal live. So what you need to do is to slow down a bit and enjoy life at another pace. This way you can return home feeling rested and rejuvenated. Remember you are on holiday and you are not trying to set any records. Leisurely drink in the scenery and the culture and sample some of the acclaimed local wine whilst enjoying a picnic.

If you are renting a chateau or a villa, set aside some time to just hang out there and relax. Often you see groups of families who rent a chateau or a villa together busy traipsing all over the countryside ticking all of the boxes on someone's overly optimised list of must see sites and must do activities. Some poor person got the task and wanted to make sure no one could later complain that they missed something.

Always remember most people travel to France for the experience that is unique and totally different from their everyday American English, or Antipodean existence. Find yourself a little cafe, bistro, or a pub. Sit down. Order something. Listen to the locals chatting. Talk to a stranger even if it is in Franglais. Smell that freshly baked bread. Savour that glass of wine. Relax you are on holiday. And if you miss something important - no problem. It is the perfect excuse to come back again for another relaxing holiday another time.

France is one of the most popular family holiday destinations for families staying in holiday villas and self catering apartments. France is located in Western Europe. The country is famous for fashion, art, music, cinemas and food. The climate differs from region to region. The northern and north western region of France have a temperate climate. On the other hand, the south east region experiences the Mediterranean climate. Inland places face harsh weather with less rain, stormy and hot summers and colder winters. The mountainous areas are covered with snow for the majority of the year.

The Alps are one of Europ's most popular skiing resorts. Albertville, Grenoble and Chamonix are the most popular places to stay for winter sports. Here you will find ski chalets and self catering apartments available to rent direct from the home owners. In the summer tourists come to the Alps for the hiking. There are numerous things which can be enjoyed while holidaying in France. It is the most famous tourist destination in the world. The country attracts tourists through the dozens of tourist attractions such as Paris, Atlantic beaches, winter sports in the Alps and various castles. You can indulge into the diversified culture of France.

Paris is the most visited city in the world. Also known as the city of lights, the capital city of France has lots of attractive things for the tourists to see. The beautiful city of Paris is a famous spot for couples on their honeymoon. It is considered the most romantic city of all. While there you can stay in one of the many luxury self catering apartments or holiday villas in the capital. The best way to find out all about Paris is to visit one or several of its museums, consisting of more than seventy. You can purchase one single ticket that allows entry to all of them. The Eiffel Tower is the most popular landmark in Paris. Apart from this, Paris is visited for the Lachaise Cemetery, Catacombs, Sainte Chappelle, Chateau de Versailles and Grande Arche de la Defense. Paris hosts a number of major fashion and sports events throughout the year. Many tourists rent a holiday villa or self catering apartment and use this as a base to explore the locals towns and museums.

The Tour de France is the infamous cycling tournament that takes place that covers most areas of France. The cyclists cover more than 3,000 kilometers. Hundreds of tourists come to France especially to witness the greatest racing event. There are luxurious holiday villas, apartments and cottages all available to rent in France. Cannes is famous for hosting the annual Cannes Film Festival. Thousands of tourists and local residents gather in the city to get a glimpse of their favorite film star. Every evening during the film festival, film stars from around the world walk the red carpet.

Besides the film festival, Cannes is also famous for its beaches. So, even if you don't get to see the film stars, you can relax on one of the enchanting beaches instead. Iles de Lerins is a place with two beautiful beaches in Cannes. Dotted along the coastline you will find numerous self catering apartments and holiday villas with swimming pools available for rent.

Nice Carnival is yet another exciting event worth visiting. The 10 day festival takes place in Nice every year. It is the combination of parades, street theaters, concerts and food stalls. The carnival has been taking place in France since the middle ages. This is the largest carnival out of them all.

Every August the South of France fills up as the rest of France arrives. Motorways can be horrible and the traffic near the beaches even worse. But the reputation, while sometimes deserved, is overdone. With a little homework, even in August it is still possible to find your own place in a villa with a pool in the sun far from the crowds.

A quick geographical tour of some of the areas of interest:

The Cote d'Azur: is the area stretching West as far as Menton. The scenery is beautiful. It is here that the foothills of the Alps fall off at the coast. This dramatic combination of scenery and sea views is one of the things that makes the area so famous. Villas that are a little way inland are generally the best value for money in the area: you will find some very comfortable holiday villas for about half of what one pays closer to the coast. For most people, this area has the ideal combination of pretty villages and easy driving distance to the sea when one is so inclined. Villas in the area are in the areas around Valbonne, Opio and Tourrettes-sur-Loup. A little further West, in the areas around Grasse are the villas with the most spectacular views in the South of France.

The stretch to the East of Nice that includes Monaco, Cap Ferrat and going as far as the Italian border is the home of serious money. One of the reasons for this is of course the beauty of the scenery and the quality of the building. Rents for villa holidays are similarly breathtaking, either impressive or wasteful depending on how you see the world. The Var is a very popular spot for vacations in the area around the Gulf of St Tropez. St Tropez proper is a stylish suntrap which came to prominence in the 50s when Brigitte Bardot and others graced the then undeveloped sands. The development of the town has come on some way since then and it is packed in the summer, but it retains a certain exclusivity: celebrity spotting is not hard in St Tropez.

Villa holidays in St Tropez proper are not cheap, but as you get further inland so the scenery improves with spectacular views over the Gulf of St Tropez, and the villa rents go down. Around the Gulf at Beauvallon are a number of charming villas for about one third of what one pays a few kilometres closer to the so-called 'action'. There are also a some attractive and realistically priced villas near the charming village of Grimaud. 

The style of villas in the St Tropez area is dictated by local government, and must be in a Provencal style. Further West, towards Grasse, a more modern style of villa can be found alongside the traditional Mas Provencal. Some practical considerations: Tradition in France dictates that some villa owners insist on minimum two-week bookings in villas during peak periods. The airports for the areas mentioned are at Nice and Toulon.