10 Stunning Places in France to Add to Your Bucket List That Aren't In Paris

France is so much more than just Paris. Granted, Paris is fabulous, I’ll never argue with that, but when you venture outside the capital, there is so much waiting for you. And if you love history, as I do, you’ll be in your element.

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Since moving here 10 years ago, I’ve spent many happy hours exploring France. And I’ve found a recurring theme. Not only are the French amazing at preserving their history, but so many of the attractions are either free to enter or have a nominal fee. Meaning, they’re accessible to all.

From the fabulous chateaux to the ancient monuments, I’ve picked the places that took my breath away when I visited. They won’t be on everyone’s list, but they made it onto mine, and hopefully, there’ll be a couple of new discoveries on there for you.

La Cité, Carcassonne

The fortified city walls of Carcassonne at dusk with the sun setting

If you’ve ever wanted to walk inside a real medieval fortress, La Cité is the place. Yes, it’s a little bit touristy, but, in my opinion, absolutely worth it. I’ve been a couple of times now, and it never seems to lose its appeal.

The fortified city of Carcassonne sits on a hill in the Languedoc, surrounded by double walls and 52 towers. As you see it coming into view from the road, it almost doesn’t look real. The Romans built the first defenses here in the 1st century BC, the Visigoths reinforced them in the 5th century, and the French added to them in the 13th century after finally taking the city during the Albigensian Crusade.

Architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc restored the whole thing in the 19th century. A million and a half people visit every year, but go early in the morning or in the off-season, and you’ll have the cobbled streets largely to yourself.

A view of Carcassone from across the river with grass in front of the city.

If you love a bit of historical romance, make sure you read the Kate Mosse trilogy set in Carcassonne. She has a way of bringing history to life through her words, and you’ll see Carcassonne in a whole new light. Plus, you’ll feel like you know a bit about the city before you go. It really is like taking a step back in time, and you can feel the history beneath your feet.

Cité du Vin, Bordeaux

The photograph captures La Cité du Vin in Bordeaux, France, at twilight. This cultural facility is renowned for its bold architecture that resembles a swirling wine decanter, reflecting the city's deep connection to winemaking. The silver and gold facade of the building glistens against the evening sky. In the foreground, a red sightseeing boat cruises along the Garonne River, providing a contrasting pop of color and a sense of scale to the image.

I don’t live far from Bordeaux, under an hour by train, and it’s become the place I go if I need a quick city fix without the crowds. Bordeaux has been producing wine since the Romans planted the first vines there around 60 AD, so it made sense to build a museum worthy of the subject.

The Cité du Vin opened in 2016 and looks like nothing else in France. The building is designed to evoke swirling wine in a glass, and the permanent collection takes you through 20 themed areas that cover wine culture over 5,000 years of history.

the 5 senses buffet at the cite du vin in bordeaux with examples of the different colours of wine as an exhibit

The ticket includes a tasting at the top-floor belvedere with a view over the Garonne. It’s hands-on, multilingual, and worth setting aside several hours. They even have a five senses bar that leads you through how the senses are used in wine. Absolutely fascinating.

Mont Saint-Michel

Nothing quite prepares you for Mont Saint-Michel. I was lucky to visit in February, when there weren’t too many people and the weather was superb. A granite island rising 92 meters from the bay, it has been a pilgrimage site since 708 AD when, according to legend, the Archangel Michael appeared to the Bishop of Avranches and told him to build a sanctuary on the rock.

A narrow cobblestone street on Mont Saint Michel, flanked by medieval half-timbered buildings with rustic shop signs, leading up toward the island’s historic abbey.

The abbey that followed took centuries to complete and became one of the most important religious sites in medieval Europe. At its peak, 200 monks lived and worked up there. The tides around Mont Saint-Michel are some of the most dramatic in Europe, rising to 14 meters and moving at the speed of a galloping horse.

They cut the island off entirely for centuries, which is what made it nearly impossible to besiege during the Hundred Years’ War. The English tried. It held. We did a full tour of the abbey, and when we got to the prison cells, it made you go cold thinking about what it must have been like to be stuck there day in, day out, in tiny, cramped quarters with no windows, freezing cold.

The Ramparts, Saint-Malo

A breathtaking aerial view of the walled city of Saint-Malo on the Brittany coast, surrounded by turquoise waters and sandy beaches. This fortress town played a key role in France’s naval history.

Saint-Malo is so much more than a ferry port. It’s a walled port city on the Brittany coast, and the ramparts that surround it are walkable for the full 1.8-kilometer circuit. The original walls date to the 12th century, though the city was almost completely destroyed during Allied bombing in 1944 and had to be rebuilt stone by stone from old photographs and blueprints.

The city made its fortune from privateering. The French crown licensed Saint-Malo’s corsairs to attack enemy ships, and some of them became very rich. Jacques Cartier, who claimed Canada for France in 1534, was born here. So was the writer Chateaubriand, whose tomb is on a small rocky island just offshore, which you can see from the walls.

More recently, the film Lee, featuring Kate Winslet playing Lee Miller, told the story of Saint Malo during World War II. Also, the novel All the Light We Cannot See, adapted into a Netflix series, offered a different perspective, although practically none of the series was shot on location.

Monet’s Garden, Giverny

Exterior view of Monet’s Giverny house with bright green shutters, pink stucco walls, and a vibrant garden filled with blooming roses in front.

Claude Monet lived at Giverny from 1883 until he died in 1926, and the gardens you visit today are largely what he created and painted obsessively over the last 30 years of his life. The water garden with its Japanese bridge and lily ponds was a second garden he added in 1893, diverting a small river to feed it.

He painted the Water Lilies series here, working on it until he was nearly blind. The 250 works in that series now hang in museums across the world. The house, studio, and gardens are all open to visitors from April to November. Go mid-week if you can; weekends in summer are packed.

It’s a wonderful place for reflection, and the village of Giverny is beautiful, too, and well worth spending a couple of hours walking around.

Chateau de Chenonceau

An aerial view of Château de Chenonceau showcasing its iconic arches over the river and its beautifully manicured gardens. The surrounding forests and river reflect the estate's natural beauty.

Chenonceau spans the River Cher in the Loire Valley on a 16th-century bridge, and its story is largely one of powerful women. In fact, it’s known as the Ladie’s Chateau and its history has always fascinated me.

I visited at Christmas, and it didn’t disappoint. It brought all the stories to life for me as I walked around the rooms, imagining some of France’s most powerful women living out their lives here.

A grand, white-stone room with classical architecture featuring a symmetrical design. There are two large potted plants in niches, a grand fireplace, and checkered black-and-white flooring. The room feels formal and stately.

Diane de Poitiers received the chateau as a gift from King Henri II in 1547 and commissioned the bridge across the river. When Henri died in 1559, his widow, Catherine de Medici, forced Diane out and took it for herself, then extended the bridge into the full gallery you see today.

During World War I, the gallery was converted into a hospital, and 2,254 soldiers were treated there. In World War II, the river beneath it marked the border between occupied France and the free zone, so the chateau became an escape route for people crossing from one side to the other. And that’s just the beginning of the stories.

Donjon Gilles Aycelin, Narbonne

Narbonne was once the most important Roman city in Gaul, the capital of the province of Gallia Narbonensis, founded in 118 BC. Today, its most dramatic landmark is a medieval tower that was built between 1295 and 1306 by Archbishop Gilles Aycelin, who doubled as Lord Chancellor of France and an advisor to King Philippe IV.

Gilles Aycelin was also the man who helped organize the trial of the Knights Templar at the start of the 14th century. The tower never lets you forget that medieval church politics was not for the faint-hearted.

The Donjon Gilles Aycelin in Narbonne, featuring its historic Gothic architecture with intricate stonework, spires, and towers under a clear blue sky.

The tower is 42 meters tall with 162 spiral steps and four rooms, including a treasury chamber and the King’s bedroom. At the top, on a clear day, you can see all the way to the Pyrenees.

When you stand there looking around at the 360-degree view of the surrounding countryside, it’s almost as though you can reach out and touch the cathedral that stands nearby.

The Medieval Market, Sarlat

Sunny square in Sarlat-la-Canéda with cafes, stone buildings, and a lively atmosphere, a must-see place to visit in the Dordogne.

Sarlat-la-Caneda in the Dordogne has one of the best-preserved medieval town centers in France, largely because the town fell into economic decline after the Wars of Religion, and nobody could afford to tear it down and rebuild. The Saturday market has been running since 1261 and fills the entire old town.

You’ll find foie gras, truffles, walnuts, duck confit, and Périgord black truffles in season from November through March. The town itself served as a backdrop for films, including The Witches of Eastwick and Ridley Scott’s The Duelist. Sarlat has been classified as a sector sauvegardé since 1964, meaning the whole center is a protected historic zone.

The Old Basin, Honfleur

Vibrant row of colorful historic buildings along the harbor in Honfleur in Northern France, with docked sailboats and a mirror-like reflection on the calm water during golden hour.

Honfleur sits at the mouth of the Seine where it meets the English Channel, and it has been a working port since at least the 11th century. The Vieux Bassin, the old harbor, is lined with narrow slate-fronted buildings up to seven stories tall, mostly dating from the 17th and 18th centuries.

The town was the birthplace of Erik Satie, and the composer’s house is still there. Norman painter Eugène Boudin was also from Honfleur, and it was he who encouraged a young Claude Monet to paint outdoors. The painters who gathered here in the 1860s, including Monet, Courbet, and Jongkind, effectively laid the groundwork for Impressionism.

Monolithic Church, Aubeterre-sur-Dronne

The view of an old stone building with arches, a monument in the middle and columns underground in Aubeterre-sur-Dronne

Aubeterre-sur-Dronne is a small village in the Charente, close to the Dordogne border, and it is home to one of the most unusual churches in Europe. The Église Saint-Jean is carved entirely into a limestone cliff.

The original cavity was cut in the 7th or 8th century, but the Viscount Pierre de Castillon expanded it massively in the 12th century after returning from the First Crusade, wanting a place to house holy relics. The excavation required removing around 9,000 cubic meters of stone, the equivalent of nearly three Olympic swimming pools.

The church is 27 meters long, 16 meters wide, and 20 meters high, making it the tallest rock-hewn church in the world. Inside, there is a 6-meter stone reliquary modeled on the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, a necropolis with around 170 tombs cut into the floor, and a gallery carved into the rock above.

During the French Revolution, it was turned into a gunpowder factory. It was then used as a cemetery until it was banned on public health grounds. A rockfall then buried the entrance entirely, and it was only rediscovered in the 1950s. Aubeterre is also officially one of the most beautiful villages in France, so the church is not the only reason to go.