From the US there are direct flights from many US cities to Paris, making Paris a logical starting point for any trip to France. If you’re already in Europe, France has excellent road and rail links with neighboring countries.

The answer to this really depends on what you plan to do. If your interests tend to cultural and gastronomic then France is wonderful any time of the year. If you want to visit the coast and enjoy beach days, then summer, roughly June to mid September, is best. In August, Paris is deserted by locals as they leave for their summer holidays to avoid the heat in the city.

France might look relatively small on a map (it’s smaller than the state of Texas) but with several different climate zones, varying local cuisines, mountains, wine regions and a significant amount of coastline, there’s an awful lot to see in France. Rather than trying to fit everything in and rushing around but ultimately seeing nothing, we suggest focusing on a few destinations to suit your interests. Our experienced travel advisors will be able to help you narrow down your choice of destinations and craft the optimal itinerary for the amount of time you have. France is a joy to revisit, because there’s always something new. You can mix in some favorite destinations with some new, each time you return.

You could spend your whole trip in Paris, and take day trips by high speed train to various places, but we feel it’s important to experience a bit more of life outside Paris than day-tripping allows. If you have 10 days then a trip that starts in Paris, takes you to Avignon in Provence, then Nice on the Cote d’Azur gives a fabulous opportunity to see three very different sides of the country – the capital, the countryside, and the coast.