Top Day Trips in France

Beaujolais Wine Villages ★ 4.7 · Lyon

The Beaujolais Cru villages lie 30 to 55 minutes north of Lyon, where ten AOC Crus produce Gamay wines of genuine depth. Morgon and Fleurie offer domaine tastings, village restaurants serving andouillette and charcuterie, and the Le Hameau Duboeuf wine museum at Romanèche-Thorins.

Tip: Hire a car for the Route des Crus; public transport reaches Romanèche-Thorins but not the smaller villages.

Cassis (port and bouillabaisse) ★ 4.6 · Marseille

Cassis 22km east of Marseille is the port town with four bouillabaisse rooms on the harbour, Chez Gilbert the canonical reference, plus AOC Cassis white from the surrounding hills.

Reims (Champagne) ★ 4.6 · Paris

Reims is the Champagne capital, 45 min from Paris by TGV. Pommery, Veuve Clicquot, Taittinger and Ruinart all run cellar tours; lunch at L'Assiette Champenoise.

Tip: Book a 10:00 train and a 14:00 cellar tour; lunch at one of three local bistros between tastings.

Vienne and the Cote Rotie ★ 4.5 · Lyon

Vienne is 20 minutes south of Lyon by TER and combines France's finest Roman theatre with Cote Rotie, the steep Rhone Valley appellation where syrah grown on granite terraces produces some of France's most aromatic reds. Lunchtime brasseries near the Temple of Augustus and afternoon domaine visits on the Cote Blonde and Cote Brune.

Tip: Take the TER from Part-Dieu; domaine visits need booking a week ahead for the Cote Rotie estates.

Aix-en-Provence (markets and calissons) ★ 4.5 · Marseille

Aix-en-Provence 30km north of Marseille runs a daily food market at Place Richelme from 8am to 1pm, plus the bigger Tue, Thu and Sat extension at Place des Precheurs for spices and produce.

Perouges (Medieval Village) ★ 4.4 · Lyon

Perouges is a walled medieval hilltop village 40 minutes east of Lyon where the Galette de Perouges, a flat caramelised brioche sold from a window counter at Place du Tilleul, is the food reason to come. The village also supplies Bleu de Bresse cheese to Lyon's finest kitchens.

Tip: Arrive before 10:00 or after 15:00 to beat the tour groups; the galette window opens from 09:00.

Bourg-en-Bresse (Bresse Chicken AOC) ★ 4.4 · Lyon

Bourg-en-Bresse is the capital of the Bresse chicken AOC, 55 minutes from Lyon, where the blue-legged birds with their blue-white-red colouring have held protected status since 1957. Lunch at a Bressan farmhouse restaurant with cream, morels and a vin jaune from the Jura is the reason to come.

Tip: Book lunch at a Bressan ferme-auberge a week ahead; the Dombes ponds nearby are worth a 20-min drive.

Calanques National Park (cove cabanons) ★ 4.4 · Marseille

The Calanques between Marseille and Cassis run a handful of cabanon kitchens like Le Chateau and Le Bistrot in Sormiou, grilled fish on the rocks with sea-side terraces accessible May to September.

Cote Bleue (L'Estaque and Sausset) ★ 4.4 · Marseille

The Cote Bleue west of Marseille runs from L'Estaque (Chez Magali panisses since 1947) out to Sausset-les-Pins, the oursin season September to April the reason to come in winter.

Macon (Southern Burgundy) ★ 4.3 · Lyon

Macon is the southern gateway to Burgundy, 65 km north of Lyon, where the Macon-Villages and Pouilly-Fuisse appellations produce crisp Chardonnay with limestone character. The medieval abbey at Tournus and the winemakers of Chaintre make a full day.

Tip: Hire a car at Macon station; the best Pouilly-Fuisse estates cluster around Fuisse and Solutre-Pouilly.

Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (Camargue rice) ★ 4.3 · Marseille

Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in the Camargue delta is the rice country, Le Clos du Rhone and Mas Saint Bertrand cooking bull-stew gardiane with red rice and sea bream with the rice.

Giverny (Monet's garden) ★ 4.3 · Paris

Giverny is Monet's Normandy garden village, an hour from Paris. Hotel Baudy, the 1880s artists' canteen across from the garden, still serves a French bistro lunch.

Tip: Hotel Baudy is the historic spot; the apple-orchard ciders served alongside are the Norman pick.

Aubagne (Pagnol's market town) ★ 4.2 · Marseille

Aubagne 17km east of Marseille is Marcel Pagnol's hometown and the santon capital of Provence, the Tuesday food market and the santon workshops the two reasons to make the trip.

Chantilly ★ 4.2 · Paris

Chantilly is the 25-minutes-from-Paris chateau town that gave its name to whipped cream. The Hameau in the chateau gardens plates the cream with meringues and tarts.

Tip: The cream is plated in the Hameau in the gardens; €8 for a meringue and crème de Chantilly.

Versailles ★ 4.0 · Paris

Versailles in Paris's outer suburb is more than the palace: the chateau-side town has bistros, a Saturday market on Place du Marché Notre-Dame, plus a Trianon hotel.

Tip: Skip the chateau cafeteria. Lunch at Gordon Ramsay au Trianon or the bistros on Rue de la Paroisse instead.

Provins ★ 4.0 · Paris

Provins is the UNESCO-listed medieval town 1h20 from Paris, with cheese fairs, honey shops and the 12th-century Ramparts. Lunch at La Table Saint-Jean for game.

Tip: Saturday and Sunday are market days. Combine with the medieval festival weekend (early June).

Chartres ★ 4.0 · Paris

Chartres is the Beauce cathedral town an hour from Paris by SNCF. The cathedral is the spine; lunch at Le Tripot for Beauce-regional bistro plates.

Tip: Lunch at Le Tripot Mon-Fri; the cathedral has English audio guides from 10:00.

Barbizon ★ 4.0 · Paris

Barbizon is the 19th-century painters' village south of Paris. The Musée des Peintres de Barbizon sits in the former Auberge Ganne; bistros line the Grande Rue.

Tip: Combine with a morning at Fontainebleau forest and chateau; lunch at one of the bistros on the Grande Rue.