France still has roughly ninety operating thermal stations, many of them prescribed and part-reimbursed by the health system — Vichy, Aix-les-Bains, Évian, Cauterets, Dax. Vichy is UNESCO-listed alongside the other great spa towns of Europe. On the coast, thalassotherapy was invented in Brittany in the 1890s and is now standard along the Atlantic and the Riviera. Add the Provençal and Alpine wellness hotels and this is one of the deepest spa offers anywhere.
Start here
If you only do spa & wellness once in France.
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Vichy A Second Empire spa town, listed by UNESCO with Europe's great spas -
Aix-les-Bains Thermal baths on the shore of France's largest natural lake -
Évian-les-Bains Belle Époque lakeside, and the water everyone has drunk -
Cirque de Cilaos Up 400 hairpins to a caldera village, thermal springs and lentils -
Gérardmer The Vosges' lake resort — sailing in summer, skiing in winter -
Carnac Three thousand standing stones, raised before the pyramids
Region by region
Hauts-de-France
Flemish belfries, the Opal Coast and the battlefields of the Somme
Grand Est
Champagne cellars, the Alsace wine road and Strasbourg's Christmas markets
Normandy
The D-Day beaches, Mont-Saint-Michel, Monet's Giverny and the alabaster cliffs
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
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Mont Blanc, the world's largest linked ski areas, Lyon's kitchens and a chain of volcanoes
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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 - Auvergne & the Volcanoes Eighty volcanoes in a line down the Massif Central, and the spa towns beneath them
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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
Réunion
An Indian Ocean volcano with three collapsed craters, and 1,000 km of walking trails
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 -
Sport & adventure Skiing, surfing, climbing, paddling — and the Tour, Roland-Garros and Le Mans -
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 -
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