France hosts more world-class sport than almost anywhere: the Tour de France, Roland-Garros, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Vendée Globe, and the 2024 Olympics. It is also the country where alpinism was invented at Chamonix, where bouldering was invented in the Fontainebleau forest, and where European surfing started at Biarritz. The Verdon is one of the great climbing venues, the Ardèche and the Tarn are paddled by hundreds of thousands a year, and the Alpine cols are open to any cyclist from June.
Start here
If you only do sport & adventure once in France.
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Mont Ventoux 1,910 m of bare limestone — the Tour's hardest climb, and windiest -
Circuit des 24 Heures 13.6 km, part of it public road, raced flat out for a day and a night -
The GR20 180 km across Corsica's spine — often called Europe's hardest waymarked trek -
Pont d'Arc A 60 m natural stone arch the river cut for itself -
Forest of Fontainebleau 25,000 hectares of oak and sandstone — the birthplace of bouldering - Hossegor A pine-backed beach break that hosts the world tour
Region by region
Île-de-France
Paris, Versailles and the ring of royal forests and cathedral towns around them
Hauts-de-France
Flemish belfries, the Opal Coast and the battlefields of the Somme
Brittany
2,700 km of granite coast, standing stones older than the pyramids, and a Celtic language
Pays de la Loire
Where the Loire meets the Atlantic — Nantes, the Vendée beaches and the last châteaux
Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Bordeaux and its vineyards, the Dordogne's prehistory, and Europe's tallest dune
Occitanie
Carcassonne and the Cathar castles, the Canal du Midi, the Pyrenees and the Camargue's edge
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Mont Blanc, the world's largest linked ski areas, Lyon's kitchens and a chain of volcanoes
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Annecy Canals, a lake often called the cleanest in Europe, and mountains behind -
Chamonix Directly beneath Mont Blanc — the town that invented alpinism -
Grenoble A flat city with three mountain ranges starting at the ring road -
Megève A working village that the Rothschilds turned into a ski resort - Alps & Mont Blanc Western Europe's highest mountain and the largest linked ski areas on earth
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Mont Blanc 4,806 m — the highest mountain in western Europe -
Lake Annecy Often called the cleanest lake in Europe, ringed by a cycle path -
Gorges de l'Ardèche 30 km of limestone canyon, paddled by around a million people a year -
Les Trois Vallées Around 600 km of linked piste on one pass — the biggest in the world -
Tignes–Val d'Isère L'Espace Killy — glacier skiing that runs into June -
Lac du Bourget The largest natural lake in France, under the Dent du Chat
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Lavender and Roman arenas inland, the Riviera on the coast, and the Alps behind both
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Briançon The highest town in France, walled by Vauban at 1,326 m - The Southern Alps The Verdon gorge, the Écrins, and 300 days of sun on the sunny side of the Alps
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The Calanques White limestone inlets between Marseille and Cassis, reachable on foot or by boat -
Gorges du Verdon 700 m deep and turquoise, from glacial rock flour in the water
Corsica
A mountain in the sea — 1,000 km of coast, the GR20, and a language of its own
Réunion
An Indian Ocean volcano with three collapsed craters, and 1,000 km of walking trails
Mayotte
One of the world's largest lagoons, humpback whales, and a double coral barrier
Overseas collectivities
French, but outside the region geography.
Other things to do
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Culture & heritage 53 UNESCO World Heritage sites, and the cathedrals that invented Gothic -
Food & wine Seventeen wine regions, 1,600 cheeses, and the gastronomic meal on the UNESCO list -
Nature & outdoors Glaciers, gorges, volcanoes and 180,000 km of waymarked footpath -
Cycling Over 25,000 km of signed cycle route, most of it flat and away from traffic -
Remembrance The Somme, Verdun and the Normandy beaches — two wars written into the landscape -
Pilgrimage & spirituality Four Camino routes, Lourdes, Mont-Saint-Michel and the Romanesque abbeys -
Spa & wellness Around 90 working thermal spa towns, and the coastline that invented thalassotherapy -
Romance The Riviera corniche, a Loire château, a Provençal village, a Paris weekend -
Shopping & savoir-faire Perfume in Grasse, porcelain in Limoges, crystal in Lorraine, couture in Paris -
Nightlife & entertainment Festival season, cabaret, beach clubs and the theme parks