France Travel Guide

Posts Tagged ‘location’

From glamorous cities to pristine skiing slopes to relaxing country sides, France really does have it all. In France you can find medieval castles and cathedrals, museums and world-famous collections, fascinating UNESCO world heritage sites and tantalizing cuisine and wines.

Paris is a popular destination for visitors to France. It is a thriving city with a rich and extensive history. It has enough attractions to keep any visitor to the city busy for a long stay. Among its many major attractions are the Louvre Museum and the Eiffel Tower. Cannes, Nice and Lyon are also attractive and worthwhile cities to visit.

The Rhone-Alps region is famous for the recreational activities that it offers to visitors. It offers beautiful skiing destinations, hiking, river rafting and other fun outdoor activities. It is a region with breath-taking natural beauty and sites.

France boasts a number of beautiful beaches. French beaches are known around the world for their liberal views of bathing attire. Topless or nude beaches are not uncommon along the Mediterranean coast and Corsica Island.

Disneyland Paris adds to the attraction of the country for family holidays. Wine tasting in the Beaune Region is a relaxing and enjoyable experience. These two examples of activities to do in France, illustrate the point that there truly is something in France for everyone, of any age or background.

There are many feasible ways to get around France anything from hiking to flying will do the job, depending on where you want to go. A scenic, leisurely and somewhat luxurious way to travel is by waterway. France has an extensive network of canals and rivers, bordered by picturesque views and world heritage sites. This is a slower, more relaxing way to travel for those who have the time. The trains are comfortable and punctual, with many intercity connections, as well as bus-train connections. There are domestic flights to many locations in France with shuttle services that can take you to the center of the city that you land in. These are quick and simple ways to travel around the country.

France offers a large variety of accommodation options for the traveler. You can choose from one to four star luxury hotels, campsites, tourist apartments, furnished accommodation, guest houses, holiday villages or even monasteries. There are approximately 17,500 hotels, inns and motels in France so there is a lot to choose from. The hotels can be chosen according to price, services and location. There are also many hotel chains available. France offers over 9,000 fully equipped campsites, rating from 0 to 4*. There are also 2,300 farm campsites.

Paris, Cannes and Nice boast many five star and five star luxury hotels. Cannes is famous for its luxury beach resorts that attract celebrities from around the globe. There are many hotel and travel packages available for many of the major cities in France.

French Ski Resorts

The most famous ski resort in the French Alps is Chamonix-Mont-Blanc. Chamonix is both the oldest and the biggest French winter-sports resort. Site of the first Winter Olympics, held in 1924, Chamonix boasts the world’s highest cable car (12,000 feet). From the top, the view of Mont Blanc, at 15,700 feet, is stunning.

Chamonix Ski Resort

Visitors to Chamonix can do more than ski, though. There are conferences, a science fair, fishing and hunting, various music and folk festivals, and an alpine museum. An 18-hole golf course will delight golfers, and three movie theaters provide enough viewing entertainment for even the dedicated film buff. Five dancing spots, or discotheques, will keep the under-30 entertained, while the health-conscious adventurer can indulge in day-sports like cycling, mountain climbing, hiking, horseback riding, swimming, tennis and ice skating.

Chamonix is part of the Ski Pass Mont Blanc Area, and provides access to more than 140 individual pistes, or dedicated ski runs covering more than 94 miles. A dedicated Ski Pass will provide access not only to Chamonix, but Argentière, Combloux, Cordon, Le Tour, Les Contamines, Les Houches, Megève, Passy Plaine Joux and St. Gervais Mont-Blanc as well. A good portion of the dedicated runs are above 8,200 feet, so year-round skiing is guaranteed. Chamonix also has 54 snow machines to provide adequate base and good terrain, and 49 lifts capable of transporting more than 52,000 passengers per hour.

Megève Ski Resort

Megève is built around a medieval heart, but boasts the kinds of amenities all travelers and ski enthusiasts will appreciate. Expensive and stylish, Megève was built in the 1920’s as a resort alternative to St. Moritz, and has continued to upgrade and attract discerning travelers ever since. Fortunately, you won’t need star status to enjoy one of the luxurious hotels or chalets, though you will need a sizeable vacation fund; Megève is not cheap.

The ski area, 185 miles of marked trails, has 81 integrated lifts – no T-bars for luxurious Megève. If you get there in the right year, you may even be able to witness a World Cup race, hosted on a regular basis (Chamonix was the site of the 2007-2008 race). If you get off on snowboarding, Megève also has two snow parks and a half-pipe (for the unfamiliar, think of a skateboarding park with snow). Megève gets 80 inches of snow a year, making for good to very-good base, and supplements Nature with 175 snow-making machines. Méribel, located in the center of the Three Valleys (the biggest, linked winter sports area in the world), has 200 lifts and 372 miles of dedicated trails.

Méribel Ski Resort

Méribel used to be an intermediate site, but opening up Mont Vallon and the top of the valley have made it a destination-must for extreme skiers as well. The wooden chalets, many owned by British tourists who favor the ski slopes, are tastefully rustic, the language more often English than French. A very popular resort for France skiing holidays.

Morzine Ski Resort

Morzine has easy road access, and is ideal for beginning skiers. Its gently inclined, tree-filled slopes and pleasant atmosphere are non-threatening to those unfamiliar with French customs, cuisine, or skiing. The weather is also typically mild – no need to worry about getting lost in a snowstorm. The one drawback to Morzine is its non-central location and lack of adequate transportation to other ski sites. Morzine makes snow, but not in sufficient quantity to overcome localized snow conditions, which can be disappointing. This makes it ideal for cautious beginners, but a bummer for more advanced skiers, who would prefer Serre Chevalier, with its 50 runs designed specifically for advanced or expert skiers.