New Caledonia — The world's largest lagoon, UNESCO-listed, around a 400 km island

The world's largest lagoon, UNESCO-listed, around a 400 km island. A fuller New Caledonia guide is being written.

An overseas collectivity — French, but outside the European Union's NUTS statistical geography, so it belongs to no metropolitan region and shades no département on our maps.

Getting there

Access: Flights from Paris via Tokyo, Singapore or Sydney to Nouméa — around 24 hours. Check current French government travel advice before booking.

The other collectivities

Saint-Barthélemy Caribbean Fourteen beaches, a Swedish-built harbour town, and no mass tourism
Saint-Martin Caribbean The French half of the smallest island shared by two nations
Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon North Atlantic A fragment of France 25 km off Newfoundland, on Atlantic Canada time
French Polynesia Pacific 118 islands across five archipelagos — Tahiti, Bora Bora, the Marquesas
Wallis & Futuna Pacific Three kingdoms, a crater lake, and almost no visitors at all