Hidden places in France

A pilgrim village of slate roofs around a Romanesque abbey church.

A village clinging to a cliff high above the Lot river.

A red-brick cathedral like a fortress above the river Tarn.

A royal château on the Loire, where Leonardo da Vinci spent his last years.

A Roman arena and the streets Van Gogh painted.

Home of the famous tapestry and a base for the D-Day beaches.

A Loire château mixing four styles, and a good base for Chambord.

A Gothic cathedral famous for its blue stained glass.

A colourful fishing village with a church tower rising from the sea.

Half-timbered houses on a steep medieval street running down to a river port.

A painterly harbour lined with tall, narrow houses in Normandy.

A flower-filled Alsace village below a castle ruin and vineyards.

A pastel old town by the Italian border, famous for its lemons and gardens.

A cliffside village at the entrance to the Verdon Gorge.

A walled medieval town with underground tunnels, an hour from Paris.

A Breton town of half-timbered houses, crêperies and painted pottery.

A walled wine village surrounded by vineyards on the Alsace Wine Route.

A Basque fishing port with a sheltered beach and half-timbered houses.

A walled hilltop village of artists above the Riviera.

A walled town with gardens below its ramparts on the Gulf of Morbihan.

A pastel fishing village on a deep blue bay near Nice.

A medieval village covered in flowers on the shore of Lake Geneva.

Canals, flower boxes and one of the clearest lakes in Europe, ringed by mountains.

A double-walled medieval citadel with over fifty towers.

A hilltop village of golden stone in the Luberon.

A pilgrimage village stacked up a cliff face above a gorge.

A walled corsair city with huge tides and rocky islands you can walk to.

A golden-stone medieval town in the Dordogne, famous for its markets.

A medieval village perched on a rock high above the Riviera.

Colourful half-timbered houses along little canals in the heart of Alsace.

An abbey on a tidal island, cut off by the sea at high tide.

A vast tidal bay with seals, salt meadows and a little steam railway.

Brittany's biggest island, with wild cliffs and sheltered beaches.

White limestone cliffs and turquoise inlets between Marseille and Cassis.

Wetlands of pink flamingos, white horses and black bulls.

An alpine valley below Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Western Europe.

A vast amphitheatre of cliffs in the Pyrenees with one of Europe's highest waterfalls.

Wild headlands and turquoise coves at the western tip of Brittany.

Europe's tallest sand dune, between the ocean and a pine forest.

An ancient forest of sandstone boulders, next to a royal château.

Monet's house and gardens, with the famous water-lily pond.

A canyon with a giant natural stone arch over the river.

A deep limestone canyon with stone villages along a clear river.

A Basque mountain on the French–Spanish border, climbed by a little rack railway.

A mountain lake below the Vignemale peak in the Pyrenees.

Pine-covered islands with clear water, 15 minutes by boat from Cannes.

A bare white summit above Provence, legendary for cyclists.

Giant pink granite boulders along the Brittany coast.

A three-tiered Roman aqueduct over a river you can swim in.

A dormant volcano looking out over a chain of volcanic cones.

Endless rows of lavender on a high Provençal plateau.

A lake town surrounded by the forested Vosges mountains.

A flat island of salt marshes, white villages and cycle paths.

White chalk cliffs and natural arches above a pebble beach in Normandy.

Fountains, plane trees and markets in Cézanne's home town.

An elegant riverside city at the heart of wine country.

Burgundy's capital, home of mustard and colourful glazed roofs.

An old harbour guarded by medieval towers on the Atlantic.

Flemish-style facades and a cosy food scene in northern France.

France's food capital, with hidden passageways called traboules.

France's oldest city, with a lively port and Mediterranean food.

A sunny student city with a grand central square and lanes of cafés.

A square with gilded gates and a wealth of Art Nouveau buildings.

A creative city with a castle and a giant mechanical elephant.

A vast Gothic cathedral and champagne cellars carved in chalk.

Brittany's capital, with crooked half-timbered houses.

A medieval city of half-timbered streets and the cathedral Monet painted.

The 'pink city' of brick buildings along the Garonne.

The Popes' Palace and a famous half-bridge across the Rhône.

Pastel facades, a wide bay and the Promenade des Anglais on the Riviera.

Half-timbered Petite France on the canals and a towering pink cathedral.

Café terraces, riverside walks and world-famous museums.