Travel advice for France
From travel safety to visa requirements, discover the best tips for traveling to France
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written by Eleanor Aldridge
updated 25.03.2019
The ingredients for a great European weekend break are simple. You’ll need a walkable city centre, a handful of excellent restaurants, some cool bars, affordable places to stay, interesting attractions and good transport.
14 days / from3953 USD
An active walking tour out of the way in France
Your trip starts with an in-depth introduction to France in Paris: several unique day excursions connect you with local Parisians to show you their city and way of life. Afterwards continue south to start a few days walking journey through Southern France before ending around Avignon.
view tour ⤍10 days / from2469 USD
Southern France – Walks in the Alpilles and Lavender fields
Start your tour in the coastal city of Marseille, exploring Cassis on the way. Around the Alpilles in Provence, you will be provided with detailed walking materials to explore the area on foot, from both Les Baux and St Remy. End your tour in famous Avignon.
view tour ⤍12 days / from3018 USD
Tasting Eastern France
A delicious yet active journey through Eastern France. Start your trip in Lyon with some unique food tours before setting off on a 4-day walk across the Beaujolais region. Almost every day ends with a wine tasting in your guesthouse, soothing for body and soul.
view tour ⤍10 days / from5668 USD
Taste of Three - Belgium, France and Switzerland
Start your journey in Belgium and explore Brussels, Ghent and Bruges. A high-speed train will then take you to Strasbourg, from where you'll discover the Alsace. Proceed to Basel as your base, from where you'll see plenty of Switzerland: Zermatt, Matterhorn, Mount Pilatus and much more.
view tour ⤍With more than 2000 restaurants and a prestigious culinary history stretching back to the nineteenth century, Lyon easily ranks as one of the top foodie destinations in Europe.
Visiting traditional bouchons for dishes such as andouillette and tarte aux pralines is a must, while the city’s indoor market, the Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse, will keep you occupied for hours; stop at one of the market bars for locally cured charcuterie and a light red from nearby Beaujolais.
Lyon is a delight to wander. You’ll spend most of your time between the ancient alleys of Vieux Lyon and the grander streets of the Presqu’île, perhaps with forays into the appealingly gritty district of Croix-Rousse. You’ll rarely find yourself walking for more than half an hour, with café terraces aplenty for stops en-route.
Venture a little further, and there’s even more to discover: inventive contemporary restaurants in the modern quarter of the city; the vineyards of the northern Rhône; the charming village of Pérouges.
Chief among Lyon’s attractions is the stand-out Musée des Confluences, devoted to science and anthropology.
The city also holds an excellent Musée des Beaux-Arts, with works from the likes of Rubens and Rembrandt, while you’ll find exhibitions by big names such as Yoko Ono and Andy Warhol in the Renzo Piano-designed Musée d’Art Contemporain (MAC). Make time, too, for the Institut Lumière, which celebrates the birth of cinematography.
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Whether you’re after a stylish Airbnb pad, a boutique hotel or a budget hostel, Lyon delivers.
Head to Mama Shelter for edgy design at budget prices, splash out on a night at converted convent and spa the Fourvière Hôtel for luxury, or save your pennies at one of the beautiful campsites just outside the centre.
Looking for something more unusual? Self-cater on a quirky barge moored on the Saône or cosy up in a lavish four-poster at the nearby Cháteau de Bagnols.
With some of France’s great vineyards on the doorstep, there’s little surprise that it’s easy to find a great glass of wine in Lyon. Natural wine bar Chateauneuf du Peuple is one of the coolest spots to drink, with a range of unusual bottles from boutique producers.
You’ll find award-winning cocktails at L’Antiquaire, an American-style speakeasy with a French twist, while the speciality coffee scene is starting to flourish at hip little cafés such as Mokxa and Le Tigre.
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Thanks to budget flight connections across the continent (including EasyJet), a direct Eurostar link to London and two-hour TGV line to Paris, Lyon is easy to reach from many major cities in Europe.
This means you’ll spend less of your weekend travelling, giving you more time to make the most of the city.
If you plan carefully, it can be surprisingly affordable to visit Lyon. Hotel prices are generally much kinder than in the capital and France’s larger cities, and you’ll find plenty of things to do for free.
The whole city is UNESCO-listed, with the Basilique Notre-Dame, Roman amphitheatres and ancient traboules (secret passages once used by silk manufacturers) just a few of the fascinating sights that are free to explore.
When it comes to eating and drinking, you might need to bypass the city’s 18 Michelin-starred restaurants, but you’ll find the riverbanks are made for sunny-day picnicking.
This feature contains affiliate links; you can find out more about why we’ve partnered with hotelscombined.com here. All recommendations are editorially independent.
Top image: Cityscape of Lyon © Svetlana Bondareva/Shutterstock
written by Eleanor Aldridge
updated 25.03.2019
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From travel safety to visa requirements, discover the best tips for traveling to France