The south of France, an essential travel guide (2024)

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Thesouth of France from the Riviera to the Pyrenees

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For more detail, see Languedocand Provence-Côted'Azur regional pages
►See also; city guides: Nice Marseilles Nimes

The area that makes up what theFrench refer to as "leMidi",is generally speaking the most popular tourist region in France, andneeds little introduction. It consists of theFrenchMediterraneancoastline and its hinterland, from the Italian to the Spanishborders, and is made up of two French regions, PACA orProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur to the east of the Rhone, andLanguedoc Roussillon to the west of the Rhone.
. The coastal region is very busy in Summer,and travelling to the south of France by car on a summer Saturday canbe a nightmare experience; but the region has masses to offer, in termsof climate, history, and landscape.

The FrenchRiviera("la Côte d'Azur") is a small part of the south of France,the thin coastalstrip from around Cassis (east of Marseille) in the west to the Italianborder in the east. It is a coastline that gets very crowded in summer,though on account of the rocky coastline, there are still some quietand peaceful spots to be found, for instance around Saint-Raphaël.

Briançon, inthe southern Alps

However much of the actual coast of the FrenchRivierais fairly heavily built up in many parts, andaccommodation is expensive, particularly in the most famous resortslike St. Tropez, Cannes or Nice.The mountainous hinterland, on theother hand, the "Alpes de Haute Provence" the "Hautes Alpes"the "Alpes Maritimes", isvery attractive, with its small villages and towns, many of themperched precariously on hillsides or beside trickling rivers thatbecome raging torrents in the springtime. The southern Alps aredifferent from the northern Alps – drier, more rocky, andless crowded. Briançon, capital of the High Alps department,is the highest small city in Europe. And the Gorges du Verdonare thedeepest in Europe.

Beachin the Languedoc

Those who do not want tospend their holidays being mass-grilled on a beach will prefer areasinland from the coastal strip, notably to the hills and mountains of Provence,withtheir dry landscapes and deep river gorges and valleys, or the valleysof the Cevennes, more wooded and rural, or theinland areas of the Languedoc. The historic area of Provence (which used to include land tothewest of the Rhone as well as the east) has a lot of historic cities,such as Avignon with its famous bridge, Arles with itsRoman remains, the Camargue,and theuniversity town of Aix en Provence.

The Languedocregionis the area to the west of the Rhone; it is known on the one hand forits long sandy beaches, and onthe other for its hugevineyards and "garrigue", arid rocky Mediteranean hills with theirvegetationofscrub, aromatic bushes and occasional fields. The most historic city isNimeswith itssuperb Roman remains. High Languedoc includesthesouthernflank of the MassifCentral mountains, a dry mountainous area a bitdifferent to upperProvence, and cut through by deep valleys such as that of the Tarn.

Nimes' MaisonCarrée - afinely preserved Romantemple

The Languedoc coast offers large expanses of sandy beaches,betweenpopular modern resorts such as Cap d'Agde or Le Grau du Roi. For thoselooking for lots of life and restaurants and bars, the Languedoc coasthas plenty to offer; but with its some 200 km of sandy coasts,Languedoc also has some fairly uncrowded beaches, even in high summer.

Thesouthern end on the Languedoc includes the eastern end of the Pyrenees,a natural land barrier between France and Spain. The foothills of thePyrenees are a beautiful mild part of France, famous for fruit andflowers. It is an arid part of France that was frequently fought overin the Middle Ages, and the famous "Cathar castles"and the fortifications of the city of Carcassonnestand witness today to this troubled past. the eastern Pyrenees can bediscovered by taking an exciting journey on the historic Yellow trainup into the mountains.
For further west, towards the Atlantic, see Gascony .

Maincities:
Perpignan, Montpellier,Marseilles,Toulon, Cannes, Nice

Touristattractions inthe south of France:

See details on regional information pages:

• TheLanguedoc-Roussillon region
• TheProvence AlpesCôte-d'Azur region
  

Accommodation:

• Characterholiday rentals in Gascony & Pyrenees ,
• Characterholiday rentals in Provence,
• Smallcampsites in the south of France
• Smallindependent hotels in the south of France

A shortguide to "le Midi" - the South of France from the French Riviera to thePyrenees. Its coast, its beaches, its mountains, its heritage and otherpoints of interest.

Horse riding in the Camargue natural park wetlands area

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