Backpacking France: 12 best places to visit
The most rewarding stops for backpackers in France, ranked and mapped — and real routes through them, written by travellers who went.
Read France stories1
Paris
Ile-de-France
The city of light.
2
Nice
Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur
Riviera promenade and old town.
3
Mont Saint-Michel
Normandy
Abbey island in the tides.
4
Bordeaux
Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Wine capital, grand facades.
5
Lyon
Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes
France's food capital.
6
Chamonix
Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes
Under Mont Blanc.
7
Avignon
Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur
Popes' palace and Provence.
8
Loire Valley
Centre-Val de Loire
Fairytale chateaux.
9
Strasbourg
Grand Est
Half-timbered Franco-German charm.
10
Marseille
Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur
Gritty Mediterranean port.
11
Annecy
Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes
Canals and an alpine lake.
12
Colmar
Grand Est
Storybook Alsace town.
Backpacking routes through France
Real trips through France, drawn on maps by the people who took them.
Paris to the Basque Coast: Bordeaux, Europe's Biggest Dune and the Surf at Biarritz
France's Atlantic route by rail: Paris to Bordeaux's wine bars, the Dune du Pilat above Arcachon, surfing Biarritz, and Basque Saint-Jean-de-Luz.
Provence to the Riviera by Regional Train: Avignon, the Calanques and Nice
A week through southern France on cheap TER trains: Avignon's papal city, Arles, Aix's markets, hiking the Calanques from Cassis, Marseille and Nice.
Into the French Alps: Annecy, Chamonix and the First Days of the Tour du Mont Blanc
A budget hiker's route into the French Alps: Annecy's lake, Chamonix under Mont Blanc, and walking the classic first stages of the Tour du Mont Blanc.
Been backpacking in France?
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