The BEST time of year to visit France?

I’m not sure there is a "best" time to go to either France or Paris. Any time of year is great; they are just all a little different. Here are a couple things to consider. Hopefully, others will put forth more ideas.

Unless you want to spend a lot of time seeing other tourists, don’t visit in August. Paris is left to the tourists. The Riviera has lots of vacationing French families, but the traffic is so horrendous that you end up wishing you were in Siberia. July isn’t nearly as bad if you want to go "in season." Earlier is obviously better than later in July.

May, when you visited before, is great as is June. Nice weather, very lively, not completely swamped with tourists. The days are getting longer so you have daylight on your side.

Fall is nice as far as avoiding tourist crushes; however, it starts to cool off a little and days quickly get shorter. September is lovely; early October is very nice; later October and November the darkness descends and the weather can get very unpredictable (or even awful).

I guess I just suggested May, June, September and possibly July as my favorites.

Where to visit: That depends entirely on your own interests. I think we all have favorite places. You specifically requested "towns" so I’ll suggest my favorite outside of Paris. Dijon, in Burgundy, is a wonderful town/city. Prices are reasonable; there are many good restaurants; there is a tremendous choice of things to do; it’s easy to get there from Paris.

Other suggestions for towns: Rouen, Reims, Avignon, Aix-en-Provence are major favorites and are all very different but very beautiful. All have many things to see, including wonderful art museums and cathedrals. We enjoyed Orleans, Quimper and St. Malo but they aren’t high on most tourist lists.

We prefer the smaller towns and villages and I highly recommend you visit one or two if you can. Paris is the penultimate city so why visit yet another city? Try the wonderful French village life.

Which village? Tough choice; there are so many. Chartres would be my first choice. It’s easy to get to from Paris; the cathedral is arguably the most beautiful in France; the town itself is charming; there are several other lovely churches; there is a very nice art museum and a stained glass museum; there are many restaurants and the views from the higher part of town are incomparable. Beaune, in Burgundy, is a major tourist favorite and with good reason. The central Old Town is charming; there are many wine tastings; there are many things to do for such a small town.

Farther south, St. Remy is small but quaint and utterly charming. You can visit the Roman ruins at Glanum outside of town; the old town is exactly what you expect from an "old" French village; the asylum where Van Gogh committed himself is open for visits; the countryside, including a trip to Les Baux and Daudet’s Mill are nearby and beautiful. Arles is not a village but a small town and is the quintessential Provencal city. The Roman ruins are spectacular, especially the colosseum; the town itself is what one expects from "Provence."

Why don’t you look up some of these and see if anything appeals to you. What are your particular interests? If you want to hit the beach, go in early summer and visit Stes. Maries de Mer on the Med. If you are up for adventure, there is a gypsy festival there in May!

Hope this helps a bit. Enjoy your research. The research is half the fun!

SalB, this really is quite helpful. I was actually thinking June-July so I’m very happy with that response. 🙂

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond!