Romantic getaways in France off the beaten path.
Less-touristed romantic getaways in France, for travelers seeking fewer crowds but all the beauty.
Rocamadour's monumental staircase — still climbed on one's knees by devoted pilgrims — sets the tone for what France's most romantic villages actually offer: not spectacle for its own sake, but places where history has settled into stone over centuries. Across 110 picks spanning Pyrénées-Orientales, Lot, Aveyron, and beyond, you'll find Collioure's Catalan coastline, Conques' gold-treasured Romanesque abbey, and Estaing's seven protected monuments crowded into a single river village.
Conques
This tiny village in Aveyron whose Romanesque abbey church and its treasury — including a gold statue of Sainte Foy — earned UNESCO World Heritage status in…
Rocamadour
Medieval pilgrimage village in the Lot département of southwestern France, Rocamadour clings to a cliff face rising steeply above the Alzou valley, with a co…
Cremieu
A little medieval town in Isère, southeastern France, Crémieu has preserved its historic centre largely intact and hosts an annual September festival, Les Mé…
Estaing
Estaing, a modest village on the Lot river in Aveyron, is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France and carries an unusual concentration of protected his…
Forcalquier
Once the capital of a flourishing county in medieval Haute-Provence, Forcalquier is a tiny town in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence sitting between the Lure and L…
Espalion
A little town in the Aveyron department of southern France, Espalion sits directly on the Lot river, with a café and restaurant scene in its compact centre a…
Collioure
A Mediterranean fishing village on the French Catalan coast where the last ridges of the Pyrenees meet the sea, Collioure has long drawn artists to its water…
Foix
The castle of the Counts of Foix, classified as a historic monument since 1840, rises on a rock above this modest medieval town at the foot of the Pyrenees i…
Clermont-l'Hérault
A modest wine-country town in the Hérault department of southern France, Clermont-l'Hérault sits alongside the Lergue and Salagou rivers and carries a café a…
Banyuls-sur-Mer
Banyuls-sur-Mer gives its name to the surrounding wine region and sits on a bay at the southern end of France's Mediterranean coast, making it the country's…
Moustiers-Sainte-Marie
Village in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence with an unusual density of cafés and restaurants for its size, Moustiers-Sainte-Marie sits against a rocky escarpment…
Sainte-Enimie
This photogenic village in the Gorges du Tarn in southern France's Lozère, Sainte-Enimie sits directly on the river and holds membership in Les Plus Beaux Vi…
Gérardmer
Sitting directly on its own lake in the Vosges mountains of northeastern France, Gérardmer is a compact town with a café and restaurant scene that would suit…
Saint-Céré
This compact town in the Lot department of southern France, Saint-Céré sits on the River Bave with vineyards in the surrounding countryside and scenic views…
Chenonceaux
Château de Chenonceau, built across the River Cher and the most visited château in France after Versailles, sits at the edge of this little hamlet in the Ind…
La Roque-Gageac
Sitting directly on the Dordogne river in southwestern France, this tiny village carries membership in Les Plus Beaux Villages de France and a strong reputat…
Decize
This stone arched bridge crosses a wide river into this compact Burgundian town, where a Romanesque church tower and slate-roofed buildings rise above a live…
Joigny
A tiny wine-country town on the river Yonne in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Joigny has a medieval old town that has earned the Pays d'art et d'histoire designati…
Josselin
A multi-turreted medieval castle rises directly from the riverbank in this tiny Breton village, its grey stone towers reflected in the calm water below, with…
Ménerbes
This walled hilltop village in the Luberon mountains of Provence, Ménerbes holds membership in the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France association and sits in…
Cordes-sur-Ciel
Built in 1222 by Raymond VII, Count of Toulouse, on a ridge high enough above the Cérou valley to earn the name "sur-Ciel" (above the sky), this medieval for…
Cassel
Perched on a prominent hill above French Flanders, Cassel is a modest commune in the Nord department with panoramic views from the summit of Mont Cassel and…
Sancerre
Sancerre is a medieval hilltop village in the Cher département of Centre-Val de Loire, overlooking the Loire river and recognized as one of France's most bea…
Cluny
Founded in 910 by Duke William I of Aquitaine, the Benedictine Abbey of Cluny shaped this little Burgundian town into one of medieval Europe's great centres…
Salins-les-Bains
Salt has shaped Salins-les-Bains since the fifth millennium BC, and the town's historic saltworks — added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2009 as an ext…
Nantua
Sitting directly on the glacial Lac de Nantua in the southern foothills of the Jura Mountains, this small French town in the Ain département is known for its…
Nant
This little village in eastern Aveyron sits alongside a river with mountain views in the distance, and carries an unusually dense architectural record for it…
Aiguèze
Sitting on the Ardèche river in southern France's Gard department, this modest village has been a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France since 2005 — th…
Saint-Florent
A former fishing port on the Gulf of Saint-Florent in Haute-Corse, this small Corsican village now fills its harbour with pleasure boats and its waterfront w…
Pérouges
This medieval walled village in the Ain department, northeast of Lyon, Pérouges is listed among the Plus Beaux Villages de France and carries one of the most…
Salers
Salers, a tiny village in the Cantal department of south-central France, is the origin of both the Salers breed of cattle and the AOC-protected Salers cheese…
Saint-Cirq-Lapopie
Clinging to a steep cliff above the Lot river in south-western France, this small Quercy village draws visitors with dramatic viewpoints, a strong café and r…
Ornans
Birthplace of the painter Gustave Courbet, this little town in the Doubs department sits along the Loue river in the Jura massif, its house facades rising di…
Bonneville
This flower-filled stone fountain anchors Bonneville's cobbled main square, backed by a salmon-pink town hall and Alpine ridgelines, making this Haute-Savoie…
Saint-Etienne-de-Baigorry
This little Basque village in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques sitting on the Nive des Aldudes river, Saint-Étienne-de-Baïgorry is the main gateway to the Aldudes va…
Champagnole
This small town in the Jura department of eastern France, Champagnole sits on the right bank of the Ain river at the heart of the Jura massif's second platea…
Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste
Walled medieval village in the French Pyrenees, Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste sits on the Tech river close to the Spanish border and belongs to the Les Plus Beaux…
Fayence
This hilltop village in the Var department of Provence, Fayence sits above the plain between the southern Alps and the Esterel massif, with cafés and restaur…
Lautrec
Lautrec, a village in the Tarn department of southern France, is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France and the ancestral home of the Toulouse-Lautrec…
Château-Chalon
Vin jaune — the prized yellow wine of the Jura — reaches its most celebrated expression in Château-Chalon, a little cliff-top village in eastern France whose…
Jonzac
A spa town in the Charente-Maritime since 1986, Jonzac sits on the Seugne river in the heart of Cognac wine country, with a café and restaurant scene that pu…
Le Touquet-Paris-Plage
One of France's most storied seaside resorts, Le Touquet-Paris-Plage sits on the Opal Coast at the mouth of the Canche river in Pas-de-Calais, with a wide be…
Talmont-sur-Gironde
Founded in 1284 by Edward I of England, Duke of Aquitaine, this tiny hamlet on a promontory above the Gironde estuary in Charente-Maritime holds the 12th-cen…
Noyers
Well-preserved medieval village on the river Serein in Burgundy's Yonne department, Noyers-sur-Serein is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, with…
Saint-Martin-de-Re
This waterfront village on the Île de Ré, off the Charente-Maritime coast near La Rochelle, Saint-Martin-de-Ré is home to Vauban's 17th-century fortification…
Bidart
A small Basque Atlantic-coast town in southwestern France, Bidart stretches along several kilometres of shoreline where heavily folded cliffs drop down to be…
Apt
This small Provençal town on the Calavon river in the Luberon mountains of Vaucluse, Apt has a café and restaurant scene that would suit a town twice its siz…
Lourmarin
This Provençal village in the Vaucluse holds membership in Les Plus Beaux Villages de France and pairs a café and restaurant scene unusually dense for its si…
Die
Clairette de Die, a sparkling wine produced in the surrounding Diois region, is the calling card of this little subprefecture in southeastern France's Drôme…
Saint-Leon-sur-Vezere
A compact village on the Vézère river in the Dordogne, Saint-Léon-sur-Vézère holds membership in Les Plus Beaux Villages de France — the national association…
Villefranche-de-Conflent
Enclosed within intact medieval walls in the Pyrénées-Orientales, Villefranche-de-Conflent is a tiny Catalan village in southern France where the Têt and Cad…
Tournon-sur-Rhône
Small Rhône-side town in the Ardèche, Tournon-sur-Rhône sits in deep wine country north of Valence with a café and restaurant scene that punches above its size.
Leucate
A small Mediterranean coastal town in the Aude, Leucate sits between the sea and the Étang de Leucate lagoon, with a café and restaurant scene that punches a…
Céret
Known for its modern art museum, cherry harvests, and bullfighting tradition, Céret is a tiny Catalan town in southern France's Pyrénées-Orientales, sitting…
Sarlat-la-Canéda
Sarlat-la-Canéda's medieval and early Renaissance centre — a dense network of narrow lanes, shaded squares, and stone mansions with lauze-tile roofs — was th…
Cerbère
Pocket-sized French village where the Pyrenees meet the Mediterranean, Cerbère sits at the southernmost seaside point of mainland France and serves as a key…
Argenton-sur-Creuse
A modest town in the Indre department of central France, Argenton-sur-Creuse sits along the Creuse river with a café and restaurant scene in its compact cent…
Mauriac
A tiny town in the Cantal department of south-central France, Mauriac grew from a 6th-century abbey whose buildings still stand, now repurposed as public off…
Lagrasse
This compact village in the Corbières massif of southern France's Aude department, Lagrasse sits on the Orbieu river in wine and mountain country and holds m…
Pézenas
A small town in the Hérault department of southern France with one of the oldest protected historic districts in the country, Pézenas holds a dense café and…
Les Baux-de-Provence
Atop a rocky spur in the Alpilles mountains of southern France, Les Baux-de-Provence is a tiny medieval village built around a ruined castle overlooking the…
Nérac
A small town in Lot-et-Garonne, southwestern France, sitting on the water with a café and restaurant scene that punches above its size, and vineyards in the…
Saint-Véran
Claimed to be the highest permanent settlement in the French Alps, this pocket-sized hamlet in the Hautes-Alpes sits at high elevation within the Queyras Reg…
Monflanquin
Founded in 1256 as a military bastide town on a strategic north-south route, Monflanquin is a little village in Lot-et-Garonne, south-western France, that ch…
Mers-les-Bains
A small seaside resort on the Somme coast, Mers-les-Bains is known for its Belle Époque seafront villas — a listed quarter that earned the town second place…
Cabourg
Marcel Proust's favoured retreat on the Normandy coast, Cabourg is a Belle Époque seaside town on the Côte Fleurie where the river Dives meets the English Ch…
Baume-les-Dames
Small town on the Doubs river in eastern France's Franche-Comté, with vineyards in the surrounding countryside, scenic viewpoints nearby, and a central core…
Gerberoy
This compact commune in the Oise department of northern France holds membership in Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, the association recognising the country…
Paray-le-Monial
This pocket-sized Burgundian town on the water, Paray-le-Monial draws visitors with its ornate Renaissance town hall on an open square, an unusual density of…
Carennac
Small Dordogne-side hamlet in the Lot department of southwestern France, Carennac holds a medieval priory — an 11th-century church and cloister — alongside a…
Sant'Antonino
This small Corsican hill village in the Balagne region is considered the oldest, highest, and most scenic settlement in that area, and holds membership in Le…
Le Grau-du-Roi
The only commune in the Gard department with a Mediterranean coastline, Le Grau-du-Roi is a small southern French town with a real café and restaurant scene,…
Le Vigan
Modest town in the Cévennes region of southern France's Gard department, Le Vigan sits on the River Arre and carries a café and restaurant scene that punches…
Capdenac
Admitted to the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France association in 2010, Capdenac is a small village in the Lot department of south-western France, set above t…
Bédarieux
This tiny town in southern France's Hérault department where the Orb river runs through the centre, Bédarieux sits within the Haut-Languedoc Regional Nature…
Montolieu
Known as a Village du Livre — a book village — Montolieu is a little commune in the Aude department of southern France, set on the southern edge of the Massi…
Largentière
Silver mining shaped this pocket-sized Ardèche village for centuries — its name, adopted in the 13th century, refers directly to the silver-bearing ore extra…
Beuvron-en-Auge
A hamlet in Normandy's Calvados department that holds the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France designation, Beuvron-en-Auge punches above its size with a little…
Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert
A medieval hamlet on the Chemin de Saint-Jacques pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert sits where the narrow valley of the Gell…
Anduze
A small town at the foot of the Cévennes in southern France's Gard department, Anduze sits on the River Gard with a café and restaurant scene that punches ab…
Quinson
This tiny Provençal village in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence where a converted stone chapel houses the tourist office, wooded hills rise behind compact streets, an…
Gex
This tiny French town close to the Swiss border and Geneva, Gex centres on a handsome terracotta-and-stone hôtel de ville with a clock tower, green shutters,…
Najac
A medieval ridge village in southern France's Aveyron, Najac is dominated by a partly ruined château built in 1253 on the orders of Alphonse de Poitiers, wit…
Aigues-Mortes
Enclosed within well-preserved medieval walls, this pocket-sized town in the Camargue region of southern France sits at the junction of two waterways and dra…
Soorts-Hossegor
This small Atlantic resort town in the Landes department of southwestern France, Hossegor is built around surfing: its beach break, including the wave known…
Martel
Known since the 17th century as "the town of seven towers," Martel is a medieval village in the Lot department of southwestern France, founded in the 11th ce…
Lauzerte
A 12th-century bastide village in the Quercy Blanc region of southern France, Lauzerte sits on a hilltop above vine-covered valleys and holds a place on the…
Arbois
Arbois holds a double distinction in French wine history: it became France's first AOC-designated wine region in 1936 and is still known as the capital of Ju…
Saint-Valery-sur-Somme
This pocket-sized seaport and resort on the south bank of the Somme estuary, Saint-Valery-sur-Somme has medieval ramparts, a Gothic church, and a long waters…
Tonnerre
A compact Burgundy town on the water's edge, Tonnerre pairs a handsome neoclassical Hôtel de Ville — visible on its cobbled central square — with surrounding…
Orthez
This medieval stone bridge with a fortified tower spans a green river at the heart of this pocket-sized Pyrénées-Atlantiques town, where a compact café scene…
Le Barcarès
A tiny Mediterranean coastal town in the Pyrénées-Orientales, Le Barcarès sits on the shore of the Salses-Leucate lagoon complex — a protected natural area t…
La Chaise-Dieu
This pocket-sized village in Haute-Loire is anchored by a Gothic abbey rebuilt between 1344 and 1350 at the request of Pope Clement VI, a former monk there.
Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue
Two Vauban watchtowers — on the islets of Tatihou and La Hougue — earned this pocket-sized Normandy fishing village a place on the UNESCO World Heritage list…
Trégastel
Tiny seaside resort on Brittany's Pink Granite Coast, Trégastel sits right on the water between Perros-Guirec and Pleumeur-Bodou, with scenic viewpoints alon…
Auvillar
A member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France since 1994, this compact village on the Garonne in Tarn-et-Garonne is also a stop on the Santiago de Compostela…
Ille-sur-Têt
A compact Roussillon town on the Têt river, with vineyard surrounds, a flower-decked mairie facing a compact central square, and easy access to upland Pyrene…
Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val
Medieval village on the Aveyron river in southern France's Tarn-et-Garonne, Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val has preserved much of its historic core — with many liste…
Belvès
This member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, Belvès is a compact village in the Dordogne department of southwestern France, with a café and restaurant s…
Collias
This compact village in the Gard department of southern France, Collias sits on the River Gard within the Gorges du Gardon, with mountain views and a Mediter…
Saint-Martin-de-Londres
A compact wine-country village in the Hérault, northeast of Montpellier, with a café and restaurant scene that is well stocked for its size.
Brioude
This modest Auvergne town on the Allier river, Brioude draws visitors with its grand Romanesque basilica — warm golden-red stone, ornate arcaded apse, and a…
Bouzigues
Oyster production defines this little village on the Étang de Thau lagoon in southern France's Hérault, where an unusual concentration of seafood restaurants…
Limoux
Blanquette de Limoux, a sparkling wine first recorded in a 1544 text and now protected by a designated origin classification, has defined this small Aude tow…
Uzès
Uzès, a tiny town in the Gard department of southern France's Occitanie region, carries the historic title of "premier duché de France" — a precedence grante…
Sare
Member of the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France association, Sare is a pocket-sized Basque village in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques on the Spanish border, backed…
Thuir
A sun-warmed Catalan town in southern France's wine-growing Roussillon plain, Thuir pairs a compact café-lined centre with the legacy of its famous aperitif…
Argelès-sur-Mer
A Mediterranean coastal town in the Pyrénées-Orientales, Argelès-sur-Mer sits directly on the water with a café and restaurant scene that punches above its s…
Luxeuil-les-Bains
Known since Celtic times for its hot springs, Luxeuil-les-Bains is a pocket-sized spa town in Haute-Saône, eastern France, where thermal bathing has shaped t…
Souillac
A little Dordogne-valley town in the Lot with a riverside setting, a compact café-and-restaurant core, vineyard surroundings, and easy access to the wider re…