Planning a Trip to France?

France works for a wide range of trips, which is both its strength and the reason people over-plan it. Paris alone can absorb a week; so can the Alps, the Atlantic coast, or the wine regions. The useful first decision is not what to see but how many bases you want, because moving every two days is what turns a good France trip into a tiring one.

Spring and early autumn are the most comfortable months across most of the country — mild, and quieter than peak summer. August is worth understanding before you book: it is when much of France takes its own holiday, so the coast and the south are at their busiest while some city restaurants and smaller businesses close for several weeks. Winter is quiet and cold in the north, and it is ski season in the Alps.

France is in the Schengen area, so for most visitors from outside Europe the binding constraint is the total number of days allowed across a rolling period, counted across every Schengen country together. If France is one leg of a longer European trip, work that out before booking rather than after.

Getting around is one of the easier parts. The high-speed rail network connects most major cities quickly and drops you in the centre rather than at an airport, which is usually faster door to door than flying domestically. A car earns its keep in rural regions and is a liability in the cities.

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