20 Must-Visit French Cities for International Travelers

Which cities would you choose for a French trip? Paris must head the list, followed by Nice on the French Riviera, neither of which would come as a shock. However, how about the others? This list of the most popular cities might surprise you…in alphabetical order with one exception. Paris is the most popular French city, so we have to start there.

Paris

Paris is one of the world’s most romantic and beautiful capital cities and with a population of around 2,250 is by far the largest city in France. Its iconic buildings are known the world over: The soaring Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame Cathedral, the famous Latin Quarter on the Left Bank, the Champs-Elysées, and Montmartre.

The capital’s museums are among the best in the world, with the Louvre leading the way. Moreover, don’t forget the Centre Pompidou with its exciting contemporary art exhibitions, the fabulous collections of Impressionists and Post-Impressionists in the Musée d’Orsay, converted from a former railway station, and the less well-known but superb Cluny Museum where medieval treasures like the 15th-century Lady and the Unicorn Tapestry are to be discovered. Consequently, there are numerous small quartiers with their street markets and restaurants and bars where the locals hang out.

Paris may be the capital but France is very regionally minded; therefore, for a true taste of the country, you need to explore other regions and cities.

Aix-en-Provence in the Bouches-du-Rhône

The old capital of Provence is one of the south of France’s most charming cities. It has everything you would expect: architecture that takes you back to the 17^th and 18^th centuries, elegant patrician houses, and long tree-lined avenues where bubbling fountains keep the summer temperature cool.

Old Aix is a great place to stroll through, centered around the famous Cours Mirabeau where the plane trees meet over the avenue lined with cafés and restaurants that spill out onto the pavements. Artists and writers who flocked to Aix met at the Café des Deux Garçons at no. 53.

The cathedral St-Sauveur, the Quartier Mazarin, the Fondation Vasarely, and the Tapestry Museum are good places to step into. Then sit in a café or restaurant surrounded by locals and the students that make Aix such a lively city. Furthermore, Aix’s famous open-air markets fill the streets daily.

Above all, Aix is the city of Paul Cézanne who was born and lived here. You can follow his life in Aix and then drive out to La Ste-Victoire, the mountain that the artist painted 60 times.

Nearby cities include Marseille (25 km), Avignon, and Nîmes.

Amiens in Picardy, North France

Amiens is best known for its cathedral; visit if you can during the summer months when the son-et-lumière (sound and light show) dances over the magnificent façade of the largest Gothic cathedral in France.

Amiens has surprisingly attractive parts. The Quartier St-Leu just north of the cathedral is crisscrossed with canals and small houses of past textile workers. Once run-down, this is the place for the waterside bars and restaurants that contribute to some of Amiens’ lively nightlife.

And it’s the canals that water the strange hortillonnages (market gardens). It’s well worth taking a boat on a quiet trip through the blossoms of the fruit trees and fertile plots of land, still providing the locals with their fruit and veg.

For culture, there’s the excellent Musée de Picardie with its huge Puvis de Chavannes paintings on the walls of the main stairwell, and a room, surprisingly, created by Sol le Witt. No wonder Amiens attracted Jules Verne, who lived here for most of his life and died here in 1905. Fans visit his house, full of memorabilia and objects belonging to the writer.

For families, there’s the theme park, Samara, showing how our distant ancestors lived in prehistoric times in north Europe.

Amiens also features a delightful Christmas market, in addition to two enormous annual flea markets, one around Easter and the second on the first Sunday in October.

It’s another ideal place for a good short break from either Paris or London. Nearby cities include medieval Arras, with its major attractions, and the British World War I Memorial in Arras.

Arles in the Bouches-du-Rhône

Once the Roman capital, then a religious center in the Middle Ages, Arles has a fascinating history. Its importance began when Julius Caesar took Marseille in 49 BC and Arles became commercially significant, standing at a crossroads of major routes as well as providing a major port.

Its great antique glory was the Roman Theater, built between 27-25 BC. There’s little left of the huge theater which could seat 12,000 people, but it remains an impressive ruin.

The other great Roman edifice is Les Arènes, an amphitheater of the 1^st century with a capacity for 20,000 spectators, featuring cages for animals and a huge backstage area. You can walk through the upper levels and watch bullfighting and opera from the tiered seats.

The UNESCO World Heritage Site is in the Camargue, where cowboys on white horses round up the bulls in the strange marshy flatlands.

Arles is situated near Avignon, Nimes, and Montpellier. It’s also very close to the fascinating city of Aigues-Mortes, built as a fortress port by Louis IX in the 13th century as a jumping-off point for his departure on the Seventh Crusade, and still boasting its massive fortifications and towers.

There’s another great attraction north of Arles, the Carrières de Lumières near Les Baux-de-Provence, where vast limestone quarries house large reproductions of great Impressionist artists.

In the Middle Ages, Arles was one of the major starting points for a pilgrimage to Compostela in Spain.

Avignon in the Vaucluse, Provence

Stretching along the left bank of the river Rhône, Avignon is regarded as the center of Provence where religion played a dramatic role and art flourished. Today it’s a beautiful, theatrical city with a lively arts scene and a famous annual Arts festival in July and August that recalls medieval pageants and uses the city’s splendid backdrop as its stage.

Awalled city with ramparts still standing, Avignon is best known for the immense Palais des Papes, built by the schismatic popes who began with Clement V, moving their headquarters from Rome to Avignon. From 1309 to 1377, seven French popes held power here. The Palace is a vast fortress of two buildings with audience rooms, courtyards, a treasury, banqueting hall, and bedchambers displaying the wealth, power, and love of comfort of those long-dead spiritual leaders.

The other major site is the Pont d’Avignon, or Pont St-Bénézet, which stretches out into the river but doesn’t reach the opposite bank.

There are museums to suit every taste, including the Musée du Petit Palais with a major collection of Italian paintings from the 13^th to the 16^th centuries, decorative arts at the Musée Louis-Vouland, and numerous great restaurants serving Provence cuisine. Additionally, you’ll find cafés with shaded outdoor terraces to spend your day and bars for an exciting nightlife.

Biarritz on the Atlantic Coast

Once the Monte Carlo of the Atlantic coast of France, Biarritz’s bright star faded in the 1960s as the Côte d’Azur resorts took over as the hot places to see and be seen.

Biarritz rose to prominence in the mid-19th century, created by Napoleon III as the most fashionable resort in France. Much remains of the old city and the gracious mansions; the halles, the Place de l’Atalye, and the old port are the focus of today’s visitors.

It was the French who first rediscovered the resort with its fabulous surf, along with chic Parisians who have recently made the French Atlantic coast a more sought-after destination than its rival to the east.

For anyone interested in the ocean, the Musée de la Mer with its collection of exotic tropical fish, sharks, and stingrays from all the world’s great oceans is a must. It’s one of Europe’s greatest aquarium collections, featuring fish swimming in tanks designed to resemble their natural habitats.

Between Biarritz and Bordeaux, you’ll discover stunning beaches, including some of the best naturist resorts.

Bordeaux in the Gironde on the Atlantic Coast

On the banks of the mighty river Garonne, Bordeaux is a grand city, historically significant during the Roman occupation and today recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city was under English rule for three centuries due to the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine to Henry Plantagenet, who became Henry II. Therefore, it’s not surprising that Bordeaux has always attracted the British. Its seafaring tradition was solidified by the English demand for wine from the surrounding vineyards, many of which are still British-owned.

Today, Bordeaux is a gracious neo-Classical city revamped in the 18^th century. There’s been a significant restoration project that returned the 18^th-century buildings along the quays and in the old town to their original glorious ochre color.

Bordeaux ranks among France’s most attractive cities to visit, featuring a superb Grand Theater, old neighborhoods, a cathedral, and excellent museums like the newly reopened Musée des Beaux Arts, alongside the hugely entertaining Musée d’Aquitaine.

Sample delightful food in restaurants, relax in pavement terrace cafés, and venture into the famed Bordeaux wine region.

Lille in Nord-Pas de Calais, North France

Lille, which is Northern France’s largest city with around 234,000 inhabitants, is popular for weekend breaks from both London and Paris, especially during Christmas when its Christmas Market fills the streets. Once a great Flemish city, Lille retains much grandeur from the past with its elegant ancienne bourse (old stock exchange), winding cobbled lanes, and old red brick houses.

It was the birth city of Charles de Gaulle in 1890, and his house is filled with mementos of the great leader. However, for the real story of the man, you need to visit the inspiring Memorial and his home in Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises, situated between the medieval city of Troyes and Chaumont in Champagne.

Artworks looted by Napoleon are displayed in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, making it the second museum after the Louvre in Paris, while important contemporary exhibitions are held at the TriPostal, the old sorting office at the center. Don’t miss the evocative, beautiful Musée de l’Hospice Comtesse, a former hospital showcasing Flemish art in its historic rooms.

One of the greatest annual events in northern France is the annual braderie, or flea market, that takes over the whole city for a weekend in September.

Lille also serves as a great center for sightseeing in this region. Don’t miss sights including the Louvre-Lens, the outpost of the Louvre in Paris with a stunning display in a contemporary building; La Piscine, a surprising museum and gallery in a former Art Deco swimming pool in nearby Roubaix, and the nearby towns of medieval Arras with its World War I memorials and Amiens.

Lyon in the Rhône Valley

Lyon in the Rhône valley is the second biggest city in France with nearly 500,000 inhabitants. Once a major trading and industrial city with silk as the main production, today it’s a vibrant city with a reputation as a major gourmet destination, exceptional museums, and unique attractions like the traboules (secret, covered passageways that allow for hidden navigation through the city), alongside great murals painted on its buildings.

From the remarkable Gallo-Roman museum on the hill of Fourvière (try to be there for the excellent summer arts festival taking place here in the old Roman arenas), you can see Lyon stretching out below you. The red-tiled roofs densely populate the city’s skyline, with the towers of St-Jean cathedral standing out.

It’s a city best explored on foot, taking in the different areas from the Croix-Rousse, the old silk weavers’ district to the new district, which compensates for its bland appearance with cultural blockbusters. Here you’ll discover the Institute Lumière, an outstanding cinema and film museum housed in the former villa of the Lumière brothers, two of film’s earliest pioneers. Additionally, this area holds the grim center of the history of the resistance and deportation; this was the city of Klaus Barbie, known as the ‘Butcher of Lyon.’

Take a tour through the traboules — originally built for silk weavers to transport their delicate work without damage, later used during World War II for Resistance fighters.

Try to be in Lyon during the extraordinary Festival of Light in December. It’s a top attraction, featuring fantastic light shows illuminating the city’s facades and buildings over three days and nights.

Marseille, Provence

Marseille – to some, still the place of The French Connection; to others, a rejuvenated city lifting its image, particularly since its recognition as the European City of Culture in 2013.

Marseille has always been a vital Mediterranean port since its origins as a major trading post established by Greeks from Asia Minor. It holds the title of both France’s second city and its oldest, showcasing a mix of Roman remains and the superb new MuCEM, a museum dedicated to the Mediterranean cultures.

Additionally, it possesses two quirky claims to fame. La Marseillaise, the Revolutionary song, was named after the people of Marseille and was sung during the storming of the Tuileries. Moreover, just off the coast, lies the iconic Château d’If, where the protagonist in Alexandre Dumas’s The Count of Monte Cristo was wrongfully imprisoned.

Now, there’s a direct train from London St. Pancras, which stops at Lyon and Avignon before reaching Marseille. This means that without changing trains in just over six hours, Marseille becomes a viable city for a short break from the UK.

Marseille is also close to other magnificent locales: the charming Var in Provence, the cities of Aix-en-Provence, Avignon, Nîmes, and Montpellier, not to mention the intensely romantic Aigues-Mortes, and the wild marshes, bulls, and cowboys of the Camargue.

Montpellier in Languedoc-Roussillon

Montpellier was once a huge trading center, significant for merchants from all over Europe, as well as the Levant and Near East. Europe’s first medical school was founded here in 1137, and its university students contribute to this Mediterranean city’s vibrant atmosphere, making it one of the liveliest cities in the south of France. Today it’s the capital of the Languedoc-Roussillon region.

Montpellier boasts a delightful old quarter, centered around the Place de la Comédie with the esplanade Charles-de-Gaulle extending from its north end. This is the prime spot to stroll, enjoy pavement cafés, and listen to live musicians. Formal gardens, a cathedral, and the Musée Fabre—showcasing 17^th to 19^th-century European paintings by major artists, ceramics, and contemporary art—are highlights. Add to that a bustling Saturday flea market and a daily fruit and veg market around the Arc de Triomphe, and you have a fantastic city to explore.

If you’re after sun and sand, Montpellier is ideally located near the Mediterranean beaches, including the delightful resort of Sète.

For naturists or others who enjoy a clothing-optional experience, the nearby resort of Cap d’Agde is the place to visit.

Nantes in Pays de la Loire, French Atlantic Coast

Once the capital of Brittany, Nantes is one of those cities that experienced decline and has dramatically reinvented itself in the last decade. Just two hours away from Paris by the TGV express train, it has become a launching point for a coastline that is rapidly competing with the Côte d’Azur in terms of popularity.

However, it’s the Machines de L’île that have led this revival. Here, on a long island in the Loire at the town’s center, you will encounter not only the fabulous Grand Élphant that ‘walks’ around carrying passengers while flexing its trunk and spraying water at delighted bystanders, but also a Marine Worlds Carousel that immerses you into a Jules Vernes version of the world.

The Castle of the Dukes of Brittany is now an outstanding museum detailing the city’s rise and fall, including its involvement in the slave trade. Do visit the poignant Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery by the river. There’s a cathedral with an extraordinary tomb complete with lifelike marble figures, and a gracious 19^th-century section.

Nantes never stands still; its latest project involves placing artworks down the estuary feeding into the Atlantic. Take a cycle ride or a trip, and you’ll be amazed and intrigued.