France at a glance
Tap through to the live Land-tour Atlas for every place’s card: how ships or tours use it, who goes and when.
Tour start cityOvernight stopDay highlightClassic route
Most tours run March–October · lavender peaks in July
- Janfew or none
- Febfew or none
- Marfew or none
- Aprfew or none
- Maypeak
- Junpeak
- Julpeak
- Augfew or none
- Seppeak
- Octpeak
- Novfew or none
- Decfew or none
Spring has the cheapest Best of France dates, though Giverny's garden is shut in March. Lavender blooms mid-June to early August, peaking in July; autumn brings wine country and some of the year's best fares, and few countrywide tours run in winter.
Every France place we map
10 land-tour stops, grouped as the itineraries use them. Places with a full Seabound guide link straight to it.
Day highlights 3
Overnight stops 5
The classic routes
The routes the tour companies sell most often here, drawn on the map above.
Paris → Normandy D-Day beaches → Mont-Saint-Michel → Loire Valley → Paris · 8 days
Run by Cosmos
Paris → Lyon → Arles → Nice → Carcassonne → Bordeaux → Loire Valley → Normandy D-Day beaches → Paris · 13 days
Run by Trafalgar
Chartres → Loire Valley → Sarlat-la-Canéda → Carcassonne → Arles → Nice · 13 days
Run by Rick Steves
Paris → Avignon → Pont du Gard → Arles → Nice · 9 days
Run by Globus
Tour companies that go here
The number is how many places on this map each one uses.
France map questions
How many land-tour stops are on the France map?
10: 3 day highlights, 5 overnight stops, 2 tour start cities. Each one opens a card on our interactive map.
When is the France season?
Most tours run March–October · lavender peaks in July. Spring has the cheapest Best of France dates, though Giverny's garden is shut in March. Lavender blooms mid-June to early August, peaking in July; autumn brings wine country and some of the year's best fares, and few countrywide tours run in winter.
Who runs tours in France?
Trafalgar, Rick Steves, Cosmos, Tauck, Globus, Intrepid, plus 2 more use places on this map.
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