What are the prettiest cities in France?

Wine drinkers know that there is no better place than Bordeaux to taste world-renowned wines, and within Bordeaux there is no better place to delve into wine culture than the La Cité du Vin museum. Inaugurated in 2016, the cultural center has almost 150,000 square feet of space to discover and to learn how to distinguish different wines. We also recommend you take a stroll or bike along the Garonne River docks, which are fully walkable. If you’re dreaming of replaying Beauty and the Beast, head to the storybook towns of Alsace, a region bordering Germany. From Paris, you can get to Alsace’s capital city, Strasbourg, via the fastest service in as little as 1h 43m. There’s plenty to do here, such as the light show at the Gothic cathedral and the famous Strasbourg Christmas Market. Year-round, you can spend time in Grande Île, the historic city center, where you’ll find the Kammerzell House, a Renaissance-style building that is now a restaurant. Then, walk to La Petite France district, where most houses are surrounded by canals and date back to the 16th and 17th centuries.

Which French villages are like the one in Beauty and the Beast?

From Strasbourg, you are only a short 24min train trip away from Colmar and a 1h 7m train journey away from Ribeauvillé, two villages you will swear sprang from the pages of your favorite fairytale or Disney movie. You can get to Avignon from London St Pancras (6h 7m), Paris (2h 38m) or Marseille (27min) as well as many other European cities. Once there, do not miss the 14th-century Palace of the Popes, where nine popes lived while France was the seat of Catholic power. There’s also a bridge that has inspired a nursery rhyme. If you love theater and have a bigger budget, visit in July when the city hosts not one but two live arts festivals. While most shows are in French, there are a few that are in English or offer subtitles. During the rest of the year, you can also catch the Avignon-Jazz Festival, or Hivernales d’Avignon, a contemporanean dance festival.

What city in France looks like Venice?

If you’re a fan of canals, book a ticket to Annecy and see why the city is nicknamed the “Venice of the Alps.” Its storybook downtown is crisscrossed by canals and will only take 3h 42m to reach from Paris thanks to the high-speed train. This beautiful city will enthrall lovers of nature and sports thanks to its pristine lake at the foot of the Alps, which offers plenty of options from sailboating to wakeboarding. If you’re brave, try paragliding to truly take in the beauty of Annecy and its surroundings.

Prettiest cities in France and how to visit by train

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