France
One of Europe’s most romantic countries, France has it all. From vineyards to hamlets, small villages and castles, the Parisian cafes and the fine dining, there are hundreds of reasons why France should be considered for a holiday. The fact that this is the most visited country in the world, with over 78 million tourists, shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering everything that France has to offer. It is the place that inspires artists the most and its capital, Paris, is the world’s most renown city for romantics.
The official name of the country is the French Republic and it has as neighbors Spain, Andorra, Italy, Monaco, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembours and Belgium. The total size of its territory is 674,843 sq. km. and its population is at 65,8 million.
If you want to go to France, there are a number of transportation choices at your disposal, from planes, to trains, buses or by car. There are a number of international airports in France, the most notable one being Charles de Gaulle (CDG), which is located in the vicinity of Paris. Other cities that have international airports which are visited mostly by airlines from Europe or North Africa are: Lyon, Bordeaux, Nice, Marseille, Lille, Toulouse and Nantes. If you’re getting to France with a low cost airline, chances are that you will land at Beauvais airport, which is found 80km from Paris.
France offers a number of cities with high cultural value, the first one being its capital, Paris, but it also has Strasbourg, Toulouse, Lyon and Bordeaux, plus many others. You will also find here ski resorts, seaside resorts, beautiful beaches and rural regions where one can find a peaceful atmosphere and lots of beauty.
If culture is what you’re after, the Louvre is the most visited in the world, but you shouldn’t miss Musee d’Orsay either if you enjoy impressionism.
While Paris is the first destination in France, the French Riviera is the second one, getting over 10 million travelers each year, which get to enjoy 300 days of sunshine out of 365, the 115 km of beaches and coastline, the 14 ski resorts, 18 golf courses and over 3,000 restaurants where they can taste the famous French gastronomy.
The Loire Valley and its castles are your third option and here you can enjoy some beautiful castles, but also historic towns like Angers, Amboise, Nantes, Orleans, Blois, Tours, Saumur or Chinon.
France’s most visited tourist sites are the Eiffel Tower with 6.2 million visitors, the Louvre Museum with 5.7 million, the Versailles Palace with 2.8 million, Musee d’Orsay with 2.1 million and the Arc de Triomphe with 1.2 million. Outside of Paris, the most visited tourist sites are Chateau de Chambord (0.71 million), Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg (0.54 million), Puy de Dome (0.5 million) and Carcassonne (0.36 million).
Cities & Regions of France: