30 Stunning Places to Visit on a Road Trip in France

We spent 19 days road-tripping through France in summer 2018: down the Atlantic coast from Brittany to Bordeaux and the Dordogne, then east across the country to Alsace and the German border. Travelling with my parents and sister for part of the way, our family of 4 covered the France leg for 2,224 EUR (about 2,583 USD at 2018 rates). Here are the places we loved most, our itinerary, and the full budget breakdown.

France is also where I grew up, so this trip doubled as a homecoming: a chance to reconnect with old friends and see my own country with a traveler’s eyes. Ironically, it took leaving to make me want to properly explore it. For this leg of our world trip, we chose the Atlantic coast over the more touristy Mediterranean, and it turned out to be just as beautiful.

The Best Places to Visit on a France Road Trip

Saint-Malo

I had no idea Brittany would affect me this much. Friends told us Saint-Malo was beautiful, but I didn’t grasp how beautiful until we set foot there. High walls ring the old town, giving it an extraordinary charm from both inside and outside the ramparts, and the atmosphere within them was something else. The sea views all along the fortifications were magnificent, and with the tide out, the kids ran and played on the beach for hours.

Bordeaux

Among France’s big cities, Bordeaux is my favourite. Its unusual architecture and generous open spaces avoid the closed-in feeling common in other French cities, and its quality of life won over everyone in our group.

La Baule

Another beautiful discovery was the vast, almost mythical beach at La Baule. We felt like the only people on it, digging in the sand for seashells, cockles, crabs and fish. The tide was so far out that we had to walk 500 metres just to reach the water, and even 200 metres in, it was still barely knee-deep.

Rocamadour

If we had to pick just one village, it would be Rocamadour. Walking its streets felt like stepping into another era. Built into a cliffside, this “citadel of faith” has drawn pilgrims since the Middle Ages, and it remains one of France’s most visited sites.

Strasbourg

Strasbourg feels like France and Germany at once. Its imposing cathedral and Alsatian houses line the canals, and storks glide overhead or watch from nests built on the rooftops.

The Full Itinerary

After landing at Basel-Mulhouse airport, we picked up a rental car and set off with my parents and sister toward Besançon, then on to the southwest of France. We drove north along the Atlantic coast and, after a short detour through Benelux, came back through the northeast in time for Bastille Day and the World Cup final. Big cities, tiny villages: every region we passed through, familiar or brand new to us, won us over with its quality of life, scenery, sunshine and food. Here’s the full list, in order (more photos at the end of the article):

• The village of Martel, Lot
• The village of Rocamadour, Lot
• The village of Monflanquin, Lot-et-Garonne
• The village of Issigeac, Dordogne
• Toulouse, Haute-Garonne
• The castle of Bonaguil, Lot-et-Garonne
• Bordeaux, Gironde
• Saintes, Charente-Maritime
• L’île d’Oléron, Charente-Maritime
• La Rochelle, Charente-Maritime
• The village of Clisson, Loire-Atlantique
• Nantes, Loire-Atlantique
• La Baule, Loire-Atlantique
• The village of Guérande, Loire-Atlantique
• Rennes, Ille-et-Vilaine
• The Mont-Saint-Michel, Manche
• Saint-Malo, Ille-et-Vilaine
• Caen, Calvados
• Deauville, Calvados
• The Bridge of Normandy, Calvados
• The cliffs of Étretat, Seine-Maritime
• Rouen, Seine-Maritime
• Metz, Moselle
• Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle
• Strasbourg, Bas-Rhin
• The village of Eguisheim, Haut-Rhin
• Colmar, Haut-Rhin
• Belfort, Territory of Belfort
• Besançon, Doubs
• Basel (Switzerland)

1. Étretat
2. Besançon
3. Bordeaux
4. La Rochelle
5. Nantes
6. Rennes
7. St-Malo
8. Mont Saint-Michel
9. Caen
10. Rouen
11. Strasbourg
12. Metz
13. Toulouse, France
14. Rocamadour
15. Martel
16. Monflanquin
17. Chateau de Bonaguil
18. Issigeac
19. Saintes
20. Oléron
21. Clisson
22. La Baule
23. Guérande
24. Deauville
25. Nancy
26. Eguisheim
27. Colmar
28. Belfort

Planning Your Own France Road Trip

Renting a Car

We rented a Renault Grand Scenic to fit the 7 of us: my partner and me, our two boys, plus my parents and sister. With that many passengers, the trunk was hopelessly small, so we learned to pack only the essentials in our Osprey bags. It turned out to be a useful lesson: it showed us our 4 carry-on bags still held far too many non-essentials for a round-the-world trip. By the end of our time in France, we’d cut the total weight of our luggage from 40 kg to 34 kg, with 28 kg as our goal once we reached Asia. Wish us luck!

Accommodation

For 10 of our 19 nights in France, we stayed with family and friends. The remaining 9 nights were split across 7 different hotels and apartments.

Food

It was a joy to finally eat tomatoes that tasted like tomatoes, apples that tasted like apples, milk that tasted like milk, and pastries that tasted like France. Fellow Quebecers, you know exactly what we mean.

We made a point of trying the regional specialties wherever we went.

And in every region along the coast, we never skipped the oysters, like here in Oléron.

How Much Does a Road Trip in France Cost?

Transport was by far our biggest expense. When we returned the rental car, the odometer showed an extra 5,700 km covering France and Benelux; fuel, tolls and parking added up quickly.

The figures below cover only what we spent in France. I’ve subtracted 3/7 of our accommodation and food costs, my parents’ and sister’s share, but kept transport costs as-is, since driving without them wouldn’t have saved us any fuel, tolls or parking.

Our 4 plane tickets from London to Basel cost just 58.00 EUR (67.37 USD)!

All told, the real cost of our trip to France for our family of 4 was:

• 2,224.00 EUR (2,583.48 USD);
• 117.00 EUR (135.91 USD) per day;
• 29.25 EUR (33.98 USD) per person per day.

Amounts were paid in euros. US-dollar equivalents use the average exchange rate during our trip (June 19 – July 2, 2018): 1 EUR = 1.16 USD.

In detail:

Expense Category	Amount Spent
Flights	58.00 EUR / 67.37 USD
Accommodation	433.00 EUR / 502.99 USD
Transport (including gas, toll, parking)	1,177.00 EUR / 1,367.25 USD
Eating out	331.00 EUR / 384.50 USD
Groceries	209.00 EUR / 242.78 USD
Activities	17.00 EUR / 19.75 USD
Total	2,224.00 EUR / 2,583.48 USD

Conclusion

The second month of our world trip went smoothly. Being back on home turf wasn’t always restful, but it was familiar, and it let us recharge before continuing on to Germany.

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