Region information

AQUITAINE

The waves of the Atlantic ocean are a paradise for surfers. Professionals from all ove the world come to Lacanau, Hossegor and Biarritz. With its landscapes, culture and heritage, Aquitaine is a rich area. This is reflected in the diversity of landscapes: the slopes of the vineyards in Bordeaux, the sandy "Landes" of the Basque coast and the plateaus of Périgord.
Aquitaine consists of 5 departments:

 

Dordogne

The Dordogne has a beautiful nature and is situated at the river Dordogne that flows from east to west through the region. Perfect for canoeing or swimming. It is fun to go through the beautiful surroundings for biking or hiking. Explore the picturesque villages, delicious meals, caves, mountains or visit one of the old castles.

 

The castle of Beynac is built on a huge cliff in the village of Beynac-et-Cazenac. The construction has lasted three centuries. The rooms are often beautifully decorated with historical stories. Especially the kitchen makes impression, because it looks like the knights has left a few hours before your arrival. In addition, the castle served as a film location for the film "Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc". In the municipality of Rouffignac-st-Cernin-de-Reilhac is the Castle of L'Herm located on an unexpectedly beautiful place. The castle has fascinating history stories, which many times ended with the death. They are there so much that the ruins still has the reputation of a haunted castle.
 

The city of Perigueux brings you back to the time of the Middle Ages. With many medieval streets, old houses and mansions with towers it`s a nice city to spend a day.
Sarlat is one of the most beautiful villages of France. It's been 1200 years old and many buildings are preserved from that era. Almost daily there is a market where fresh fruit and vegetables are sold.
Less known, but worth to visit is the old town of Brantome, with an abbey from the ninth or tenth century, the oldest bell tower in France and the Cave of the Last Judgement. The location on a peninsula in the river Dronne makes it even better.

Gironde (33)

This is the largest department of France. The sandy beaches of the Atlantic Ocean is 120 kilometers long and stretches from the Pointe de Grave in the north to the Bassin d'Arcachon, a unique bay in a fishing town in the south of the region. Pointe de Grave is the point where the Atlantic Ocean flows into the Gironde. There is a lighthouse where a museum is established. Nearby is Soulac-sur-Mer with Basilique Notre-Dame-de-la-Fin-des-Terres. This is a Romanesque abbey church in the dunes and belongs to the World Heritage List of UNESCO.
The wine and the port of Bordeaux is world famous, the old part is by the United Nations even declared to World Heritage. From the tower of the Saint-Michel Basilica you will have a magnificent view over the city. Around Bordeaux is the famous wine region, where brands such as Medoc and Graves come from. Did you know that 80% of this region produces red wine, the remaining 20% is sweet or dry white wine or rosé.
The forest of Landes de Gascogne is the largest in Europe. The protected Regional Park stretches from the Bassin d'Arcachon deep into the Gers. In addition Gironde also has the highest dune in Europe, Dune du Pilat, this is up to 105 meters.

Landes (40)

For watersport lovers the department Landes is the perfect place to go on holiday. The area is known for its world famous surf spots. The biggest international surfing competitions are held in Hossegor and Seignosse. However, for surfing, you can go along the entire coast of Biscarrosse to Tarnos. All year there are surf, bodyboard and longboard lessons for beginners and experts.
Thanks to the favorable climate you can play golf all year long. Due to the sandy soil, architects made original forms for the various courses which can give it suitable for beginners and experts. In this area with many forests you can also relax. In the town of Contis is a 38 meters high lighthouse , from here the contrast between forest and ocean is very clear. For who the sea is too rough, there are great rivers and lakes in the interior of Landes to find.
It is one of the few departments in France, where bullfights still occur. Although for the bullfights they don`t use bulls, but cows. They make the beast angry, but not wounded or slain. The cows fighter's goal is to dodge the cow.

Lot et Garonne (47)

The department has a varied landscape. The hilly landscape consists of slopes with some reasonable increases and decreases, but also has many areas with cliffs. However, thanks to the mild climate, the area has the largest orchards in Europe. When you drive throughout the Department, you especially see agricultural land. These are mainly grown fruits and vegetables or fields full of sunflowers. The seeds are used as feed for local cattle. A striking appearance are the blonde cows of the race Blonde d'Aquitaine, named after the region where the cows live. The department has many old villages. Some has grown over the years into complete towns where only the center still have historic buildings, some villages are almost completely back to the time when the Romans were still the boss. Plenty of towns and surnames are originate from the time of the Roman Empire.
Agen, the capital city of Lot et Garonne, lies on the river Garonne. There is a striking bridge from 19th-century built over the river. In the center you will find a beautiful cathedral from the 12th century, dedicated to the Holy Caprasius.
In the town Nerac you will find Château de Nerac. It is a beautiful castle in Renaissance style. The largest part is destroyed during the French Revolution, so only the north wing is still original.

Pyrénées-Atlantiques

This department is located at the foot of the Pyrenees with the beautiful Béarn region where many rivers and streams can be found. The landscape has a rich history and the area has many traditions. On the coast is the town Biarritz, where in the certain centuries several monumental buildings were built. Biarritz is also a perfect starting point for trips to the Basque Country. There are several options, by car, foot or on a horse.
The town of Saint-Jean-de-Luz is located between the sea and the mountains. It has great attractions, as the Botanical garden and also the church of St. John the Baptist is beautiful. Fishsoup Toro is the specialty of the town.

ÎLE DE FRANCE (PARIS)

Paris had a numerous unique monuments as the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe and Panthéon, charming areas (Montmartre, Le Marais, Saint-Germain des Prés), distinctive brasseries, international restaurants, museums as the Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, Centre Georges Pompidou and Institut du Monde Arabe. But there are also a lot of unknown museums like Musée de la Publicité, Musée de la Mode and Musée des Arts Forains. Île de France consists of 8 departments:

  • Paris (Centre)
  • Seine et Marne
  • Yvelines
  • Essonne
  • Hauts de Seine
  • Seine Saint Denis
  • Val de Marne
  • Val d’Oise

 

 

 

 

AUVERGNE

Auvergne is located in the Massif Central region, the capital is Clermont-Ferrand and spa town Vichy. Especially for nature lovers the area is very popular. It is a place with vast green plains, volcanoes (puys), lakes with perfectly clean water and sometimes deep valleys as the gorge of Allier and Sioule. There is a lot of ecotourism in this area, treatments in hot springs and leisure exercises. Auvergne consists of 4 departments:

  • Allier
  • Chantal
  • Haute-Loire
  • Puy-de-Dôme

Puy-de-Dôme is a well-known and popular tourist area with fewer than 80 ancient volcanoes. There are a lot of lovely towns and cities,   places as Vichy and Moulins are worth it to visit.

Modern ski resort Super Besse is located on the southern slope of the Sancy Mountain (1886m). The Massif of Sancy has 3 ski resorts with a total of 200 km ski slopes and 900 km cross-country skiing trails. Le Mont-Dore, Super Besse and Chastreix-Sancy are three ski resorts, with lots of character and their slopes are spread across the highest volcano of France.

 

BOURGOGNE

When you’re talking about wine Beaune is the heart of Bourgogne, 8-% of the wine from Bourgogne is red. The most famous towns of the region are Dijon and Beaune, these cities have many historic buildings, which recall the rich life of Bourgogne. From highway of the route de soleil you can see the vineyards of Côte d’Or. Bourgogne, with its 1200 km of waterways, is the paradise of the river tourism. It consists of 4 departments:

  • Côte d’Or
  • Nièvre
  • Saône et Loire
  • Yonne


 

LIMOUSIN

 

Limousin is located in Massif Central, with its capital Limoges. The region has a hilly, green countryside with many rivers, lakes and beautiful valleys. Famous rivers are Vézère and the Dordogne. The regional nature park of Millevaches is also located in Limousin.

On this granite plateau you can find meadows, woods, forests, rivers, lakes and springs. The region is known because of the Limousin cow. This is one of the best beef breeds in the world.

Limousin consists of 3 departments:

 

 

  • Corrèze

In Corrèze you’ll find big cities as Tulle and Brive. There are many meadows, apple orchards, lakes and numerous rivers as Vézère, Dordogne and the Corrèze. L’Yssandonnais is a hiking area, located southwest of the department (southern gateway to Périgord and Aquitaine). It’s a beautiful place with white limestone hills, numerous vineyards, orchards and small rivers.

There are several caves, as the caves of La Fage and many medieval towns. A couple examples are Argentat, Uzerche, Turenne and Collonges-la-Rouge, which is known as ‘The Ruby of France’, because the town is built of red sandstone.

  • Creuse

Creuse is one of the sparsely populated departments in France. It is an area with lots of water, where Lake de Vassivière is the most popular destination. This is the largest lake in Limousin with a surface of 1.000 hectares. This provides an opportunity for different forms of water recreation such as fishing, swimming, canoeing, windsurfing, peddle boats and water skiing. On the island of Vassivière is a centre for contemporary art.

Besides this in Creuse you’ll find the one and only spa town of Limousin. This is located in Évaux-les-Bains. Aubusson is also a town which is worth it to visit, this is the city of the tapestry art. 

  • Haute-Vienne

This department is located in Limoges and is famous because of the eponymous porcelain. A beautiful city to visit with every third Friday in October a culinary feast in Rue de la Boucherie, the market halls on Place de la Motte are decorated with porcelain and there is a market with regional products.

In Haute-Vienne are also a number of medieval towns and castles. It is worth it to visit medieval town Rochechouarts, there is also a museum of contemporary art established in this castle. Besides this you can visit castles as Châlus, Château de Brie or Montbrun.

For tranquillity you can visit park Périgord-Limousin, which is located in a part of Haute-Vienne and the other part lies in the Dordogne. It contains 180.000 hectare of beautiful landscapes.