The best time to visit France

07.05.2024 - 20:23 / lonelyplanet.com

Summer on the coast or winter on the slopes? Anna Richards, one of the authors of the new Lonely Planet France guidebook, shares her tips for planning the best time to visit France for your perfect vacation.

With Alpine giants, subtropical Mediterranean gardens and a festival calendar covering everything from free music to garlic, the best time to visit France depends on where you want to go.

Provided you go to the right part of the country, France is a year-round destination. Paris, for example, never sleeps, although it naps a little in August when many Parisians flee the city for the coast. Many parts of the country, however, are highly seasonal. Head to rural areas outside of the summer season (generally May to September), and you may find nothing open at all. This is exacerbated in Corsica, where there’s only a narrow window between “completely dead” and “the arrival of the whole of Paris” in May, June and September.

There are three main climates. Paris, northern and western France have mild, wet winters and warm to mild summers. The Mediterranean has hot, largely dry summers and mild winters, while the Alps have snowy, cold winters and cooler summer temperatures.

December sees many French towns turn into a nativity scene, particularly in Alsace, where the German influence runs strong and Christmas markets are an institution. The largest is in Strasbourg, but many prefer the smaller markets in the half-timbered towns of Colmar and Riquewihr. In Lorraine and parts of Alsace, St Nicolas Day on December 6 is more important than Christmas, and celebrations in Nancy, Metz and Epinal see a threatening and grubby “Father Whipper” accompany St Nicolas to give out coal and turnips to naughty children. (Fortunately he doesn't actually whip them.)

Rising temperatures mean that winter weather is becoming increasingly unreliable in the Alps, and many of the lower-level ski resorts have opened only between mid-January and mid-March in recent years, if at all. The higher, larger resorts (such as Serre Chevalier, Les Trois Vallées and Les Portes du Soleil) consistently open from early to mid-December through to mid-April. The ski season in the Pyrenées also runs from December through to April.

Can't wait to hit the slopes? Here are the 8 best places for skiing in France

Off-piste, this also is the season for more unusual snowy activities. Snowshoeing and cross-country skiing are particularly popular in lower-level areas, including the pre-Alpine massif (Chartreuse, Vercors and the Bauges), Jura and the central Auvergne. Even ski stations at altitude are looking to diversify their offerings in the face of the climate crisis. Popular alternatives to skiing include ice karting in Serre Chevalier Briancon, ice diving