From volcanic wilds to world-class artwork: 10 enjoyable and fabulous causes to go to France in 2026 | France holidays

Ride a dragon in Calais

You don’t must enterprise too far into France to search out its wow issue. Indeed, inside minutes of exiting the ferry or Channel Tunnel, you will be staring a fire-breathing dragon within the face. The Dragon de Calais is a 25-metre-long mechanical beast that stomps alongside the renovated sea entrance carrying 48 passengers on its again (grownup ticket €9.50), emitting jets of fireplace, steam and water from its nostrils. It was created by the crew behind Les Machines de L’île, a set of steampunk wonders together with a 12-metre elephant, in Nantes.

This yr, Calais’ dragon is joined by Le Varan, an enormous iguana that crawls across the city and the previous fishing district with room for 25 passengers (adults €8.50). While you’re there, discover the seashores alongside the coast at Hardelot-Plage and go to the Chateau d’Hardelot, with its historical past of Franco-British relations.

Celebrate Monet in Rouen

This yr marks the one centesimal anniversary of Claude Monet’s loss of life and lots of galleries and venues in Normandy and Paris have occasions deliberate. You don’t must face the crowds at Giverny or the Musée d’Orsay to understand the good artist’s work, although. Instead, go to Rouen, the place Monet discovered the ever-changing, silver-grey mild on the intricate and imposing facade of the cathedral so inspiring he painted it greater than 30 occasions (from the window of what was, on the time, a women’ undergarment store reverse).

The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen has the most important assortment of French impressionist works exterior Paris, together with one of many cathedral work and works by Camille Pissarro and Alfred Sisley. While you’re there, discover the Boucles de la Seine natural regional park, the place you may cycle between the loops of the River Seine via orchards and previous the ruined Abbaye de Jumièges.

Visit a postman’s palace in Drôme

The Dauphiné area, near Grenoble, combines breathtaking surroundings and curious points of interest. Chief amongst them is the Palais Idéal, a whimsical monument constructed over 33 years from the late Nineteenth century by Ferdinand Cheval, a postman whose inspiration got here from the journey journals and postcards he delivered on his 20-mile spherical. On the facade of the 10-metre-high palace, you’ll see legendary creatures and mysterious grottoes, Egyptian temples and Swiss chalets, whereas the small on-site museum recounts the tales of Cheval’s tragic life, and people who fought till the Sixties to have the construction recognised as a listed monument.

Nearby, discover the jaw-dropping Vercors mountains, with precipitous roads such because the Combe Laval route, which was chiselled out of the rock within the Nineteenth century to move timber. Also go to the fascinating Grotte de Choranche underground caves, with curious, spaghetti-like stalactites, and the city of Pont-en-Royans, the place medieval homes cling excessive over a gorge.

Discover Brittany by bike

Cyclists have all the time been spoiled by the sleek, car-free cycle paths all through France, and now the Traversée Bretonne, a brand new route via the guts of Brittany, presents a recent problem. Starting within the metropolis of Nantes, the 14-stage route takes riders previous the curious mid-century structure of Saint-Nazaire (such because the Soucoupe, a sports activities centre formed like a flying saucer), then on to the “Atlantic Riviera” at La Baule, with its belle époque villas and huge seaside.

Further alongside, the full of life metropolis of Rennes is ideal for rehydrating: Rue Saint-Michel is nicknamed Rue de la Soif (thirsty avenue) as a result of it has a bar roughly each 7 metres. The route finishes with a pleasant flat stage at Mont-Saint-Michel.
traversee-bretonne.com

Celebrate figs in the Var

Plan a late-summer sojourn within the Vallée du Gapeau, inland from Toulon, which is famend for its fig orchards: native folks say the bushes like their heads within the sunshine and their toes within the water. At the top of August, the beginning of the harvest is well known with the full of life Fête de la Figue within the village of Solliès-Pont. As effectively because the bountiful market, there are excursions of the groves and a full of life four-course dinner with music within the village’s essential sq..

While you’re there, hike in the wooded valley and admire the curiously formed “elephant rock”. Visit the native olive oil mill at Moulin à Huile du Partégal (entry free) to discover its historical grove and style its oils; and stroll the unspoiled villages of Solliès-Ville and Solliès-Toucas.
valleegapeau-tourisme.fr

Taste cheese within the Jura mountains

To actually perceive the flavours of French cheeses, it pays to go to the landscapes by which they’re made. One of probably the most enchanting areas for a foray in fromage is the Jura mountains, the house of comté cheese. Here, as a part of the Routes du Comté, you may go to the so-called cathedral of comté on the Fort Saint-Antoine (tour reservations important, €11), the place Fromageries Marcel Petite ages its 100,000 wheels of comté between the stone arches of a Nineteenth-century army fort. Nearby, subsequent to the Lac de Malbuisson, Restaurant du Fromage presents a comté and savagnin wine fondue in its Swiss-chalet-like surrounds.

An hour west, the city of Poligny is house to La Maison du Comté, a customer centre devoted to explaining how the cheese is made and infused with the flavours of the 130 crops from the spectacular panorama on which the cows graze.
montagnes-du-jura.fr

Hunt for bric-a-brac in Normandy

Take a street journey to the bucolic Perche regional pure park in southern Normandy, an space of rolling hills, cider farms and charming villages. It is right, too, for many who love attempting to find classic treasures and bric-a-brac. Near the cities of Bellême, Mortagne-au-Perche and alongside the D923 street between La Ferté-Bernard and Nogent-le-Rotrou, you will see many brocante retailers and warehouses with artfully displayed objects on supply.

The space is a well-liked weekend vacation spot for Parisians, therefore the abundance of fine eating places. In the village of La Perrière, La Maison d’Horbé B&B and wine bar (rooms from €142.50) is ready in an antiques store, whereas in Saint-Hilaire-le-Châtel, the Hotel les Prés has its personal restaurant (rooms from €142).
perche-tourisme.fr

Relive historical past within the Vendée

You want by no means utter the phrase Disney when you’ve found the Puy du Fou, a theme park like no different, within the countryside of the Vendée. With bombastic historic re-enactments of Viking invasions, Roman chariot races, medieval jousting and greater than 2,500 actors throughout the park, lots of the reveals are massive on wow issue.

Yet there are additionally experiences that evoke a quieter sense of marvel – stroll via the cabins and hull of the 18th-century ship La Pérouse and see its myriad wildlife gathered from all over the world, earlier than it sinks in a storm within the South Pacific. Moving, too, is the Amoureux de Verdun expertise, which places you within the trenches of Verdun within the first world battle, the place actors play out a love story.
Adult tickets from €47, puydufou.com

Swim in a tidal pool in Brittany

There are a number of tidal swimming pools alongside the Emerald Coast in Brittany. At Dinard, the Piscine de Mer overlooks the huge essential seaside, alongside stately belle époque villas and maritime pines; and from Saint-Malo’s Piscine de Bon Secours, you may stroll at low tide to the island of Grand-Bé for an amazing view again to the walled city.

The Emerald Coast is nice for mountain climbing too, so make some extent to walk out to the dramatically perched Fort La Latte on the Cap Fréhel headland.
dinardemeraudetourisme.com

Explore the wild Aubrac plateau

Many holidaymakers pace via the centre of France on the autoroute often known as La Méridienne (A75), sure for busy seashores of the Med. Those preferring extra solitude, nevertheless, ought to exit sooner (exit 39 to be exact) and enterprise west on to the extraordinary, volcanic panorama of the Aubrac plateau. Here, stone-walled meadows abound with wild flowers and the buron huts that after housed cowherds and cheesemakers have been transformed into welcoming rustic eating places, such because the Buron de Born, serving native potato and cheese dishes similar to aligot and truffade. At evening, the whole absence of sunshine air pollution makes it supreme for stargazing.
tourisme-en-aubrac.com

Carolyn Boyd is the creator of Amuse Bouche: How to Eat Your Way Around France (Profile, £10.99). To help the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery prices could apply.