NewsBite

Advertisement

France

Destination guide

Paris

View guide
Paris destination guide, Traveller.
Of the nine million visitors to the Louvre each year, 70 per cent are there just for a glimpse of the Mona Lisa.

Visiting France’s most famous museum has become a nightmare

With huge numbers queuing for a glimpse of the Mona Lisa, visiting the Louvre is an ordeal. And now Australians will have to pay even more to visit.

  • Abigail Buchanan
Limoges and its gothic cathedral.

‘Why?’: I stayed in the city that France forgot and loved it

Limoges has cobbled streets lined with half-timbered houses, a fabulous cathedral, a beautiful food market and – unlike Paris, Lyon, Nice and Bordeaux – few tourists.

  • Sue Williams
The TikTok effect … queues where you wouldn’t normally expect them.

I used social media to plan my Paris holiday. Result? Lots of queuing

Paris just closed its last tourist information office, citing social media as a better source. So I decided to put it to the test.

  • Nick Duerden
Travelling across France on the high-speed OUIGO service.

This French high-speed train is cramped, but the savings are glorious

France’s budget OUIGO train service uses the same mechanics as the original TGV and travels at incredible speeds of up to 320km/h.

  • Chrissie McClatchie
The Mediterranean glimmers beyond the arched windows at La Passagere.

The food is superb, but it’s not why I fork out for French fine dining

What price a cultural experience? People spend more on a Taylor Swift concert or a soccer final.

  • Brian Johnston
Advertisement
Cafe de Flore was a hangout of the intelligentsia. Picasso edited an art magazine from the back room, Trotsky and Hemmingway were regulars.

Forget the Louvre: Here is the one thing you must do in Paris

You’ll learn more about Paris culture from a cafe terrace than from a museum.

  • Brian Johnston
Even on the Cote d’Azur, wine gets the ice cube treatment.

If the French put ice in their wine, you can too

In this one region of France, putting ice in your wine is so popular that a whole new drink has been invented: a piscine.

  • Chrissie McClatchie
Juan-les-Pins: unpretentious.

The rich on the French Riviera are bored and boring, so I escaped them

If you’re not rich but interested in life’s variety, you should head to Juan-les-Pins, the Riviera town for the discerning and unpretentious.

  • Brian Johnston
Claims of overcrowding on the Camino are overstated, according to experts.

A transformational experience: Ultimate guide to Europe’s greatest walk

Some leave in tears, others irrevocably changed. Whatever you’re seeking on this epic pilgrim’s trek, you’ll join more people along “the way” than ever before.

  • Sarah Baxter
Lower prices, more flexibility … Rhone River, Avignon.

Luxury brand’s big French river-cruise comeback

When Travelmarvel’s one-time charter, MS Van Gogh, returns to France, gastronomy will be a major feature, as is likely with any visit to foodie France.

  • Julietta Jameson

Original URL: https://www.watoday.com.au/traveller/topic/france-9ug