10 travel ideas: See the world without leaving France
Some of France's diverse landscapes evoke exotic and far-flung locations
The Cascade des Tufs (Jura) could be in Thailand; ‘Little Tokyo’ on rue Sainte-Anne (Paris); the ‘Venice of Languedoc’ in Castres (Tarn); the bastide village of Cordes sur Ciel (Tarn), which is reminiscent of TurscanyPhoto: jef77/Elena Dijour/BearFotos/ldgfr Photos/Shutterstock
Domestic tourism looks set for another bumper summer in France after a recent survey found a 6% rise in the number of residents holidaying close to home.
Two thirds (67%) of respondents said they planned to stay in France and, of the top 10 most searched-for destinations online, almost a third were in France, the survey for travel comparison website Liligo found.
Key to the country’s allure is its diversity of landscapes, with some scenery feeling altogether more farflung than ‘authentically French’. This has not been lost on savvy tourist offices or travel guide editors, who have often marketed their towns and books based on comparisons to more exotic locations.
In 2023, for example, Hachette published the second edition of its bestselling Voir le monde sans quitter la France. Profiling 58 French locations “where you can feel like you’re somewhere else”, its blurb promised readers would be “surprised and dazzled by these alternatives to foreign travel, accessible without a passport and without taking a plane”.
Here are just 10 alternatives to foreign travel, accessible without a passport
The world comes to FranceThe Connexion
1. Ireland – Cotentin Peninsula
The cool water of the Channel coast may not appeal to bathers, but the rocky and windswept Cotentin Peninsula in Manche – known as France’s ‘little Ireland’ – has long appealed to poets. Jacques Prévert spent the final years of his life here, and his home and garden are open to the public.
2: ‘Little Tokyo’ – Paris
Tucked between the 1st and 2nd arrondissements of Paris is a street known as ‘Little Tokyo’. Rue Sainte-Anne is home to a series of restaurants and boutiques that celebrate Japanese culture, where you can find everything from kimonos to karaoke.
Paris Japan Expo (located in Villepinte beside Charles de Gaulle Airport) is held annually, hosting a range of performances, stalls, workshops, martial arts demonstrations, and cosplaying stages (where people dress up as characters from pop culture).
Ad
For fans of Japanese gardens, Parc Oriental de Maulévrier is the place to go. This 29-hectare park is the largest Japanese garden in Europe, located near Cholet (Maine-et-Loire). It was originally part of the domain of the Château de Colbert, and attracts visitors each spring for the traditional Japanese cherry blossom festival known as Hanami.
If you get the chance to pass through Saint-Martin-de-la-Mer (Côte-d’Or), stop off at Domaine de la Pierre Ronde. This unique holiday park allows guests to stay in semi-underground troglodyte houses inspired by Hobbiton, the Hobbit village in New Zealand, where The Lord of the Rings was filmed.
4: Thailand: Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
The rural region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté is known for its Burgundy wine caves and agricultural produce. However, for something a little more exotic try visiting Baume-Les-Messieurs (Jura), home to the Cascade des Tufs, a stunning waterfall framed by mossy rocks and sprawling vegetation. Many find it resembles tropical Thailand.
5: Egypt: Saône-et-Loire
The Couhard pyramid in Autun (Saône-et-Loire) offers a taste of the Egyptian pyramids of north-east Africa. This authentic Gallo-Roman cenotaph was built in the 2nd Century, measuring 27m high, and is an intriguing historical site.
6. Scotland: Cher
Les Fêtes Franco-Écossaises are celebrated every July in the small town of Aubigny-sur-Nère (Cher), an occasion for lovers of kilts, haggis and bagpipes. The town belonged to the Scots for more than 250 years under the ‘Auld Alliance’ after being gifted by Charles VII, and the Château des Stuarts still stands in the middle of the historic centre, now homing the Aubigny mairie.
Visitors to the Dune du Pilat in Gironde are allowed for a moment to believe that the biggest sand dune in Europe is in fact the Sahara desert itself. The windswept beach measuring 500m by 2.7km can give rise to vast dunes reaching heights of up to 100m. In recent years the area has become a paragliding hotspot.
8. Brazil: Charente-Maritime
Royan sits on France’s west coast and, after World War Two, was rebuilt with 1950s Brazilian architecture in mind. Wandering around the seaside town you will see traditional designs rubbing shoulders with the white concrete curves, cubic shapes, and bright colours of contemporary villas.
A departmental tourism campaign in 2022 hailed Tarn, in the south of France, La Toscane Occitane (Occitan Tuscany), much to the horror of some Italian politicians. Its largest city, Albi, is known as ville rouge, mirroring the red in the flag of Tuscany’s capital, Florence. Similarities can also be drawn between the landscapes, each with rolling hills lined with cypresses and parasol pines.
Typically-Tuscan locations include Tarn’s historic bastide villages – built mostly between the 13th and 14th Centuries in a grid pattern around a central square. Cordes sur Ciel is one of south-west France’s earliest ‘revolutionary’ bastide villages and sits high on a large rock, sometimes giving the appearance of hovering above the clouds (hence the name).
In another nod to Italy, the town of Castres is known as ‘the Venice of Languedoc’, largely due to its collection of pastel riverside houses and old bridges. It hosts an annual Venetian-inspired carnival.
10. The US: Var
Visitors to the Gorges du Verdon (Var) may find it reminiscent of the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Carved by the turquoise Verdon River which flows between huge limestone rocks, this impressive site is the largest canyon in France and one of the biggest in Europe.
