Petrel

Famous Landmarks in France: 10 Sites Worth Seeing

The world’s most visited country in eight days: four in Paris, then the TGV south to Roman Provence and the Mediterranean light of the Côte d’Azur that pulled every painter you have heard of. See the full itinerary.

From the same hand-researched library as our France itinerary. Last reviewed 2026-07-29.

Paris

Paris invented the modern city as a stage, boulevards for strolling, cafés for watching, museums built from palaces. Its riverbanks are a UNESCO site from end to end, and it rewards walking more than any city on Earth.

1
Eiffel Tower
Gustave Eiffel’s 1889 "temporary" exhibit. Skip the summit queue: the second floor has the better view, and the tower sparkles for five minutes every hour after dark.
Paris
2
Notre-Dame Cathedral
Reopened in December 2024 after the fire restoration. The medieval nave is brighter than it has been in centuries. Free entry; reserve a time slot online to skip the line.
Paris
3
Arc de Triomphe
Napoleon’s arch with the best rooftop view in Paris. You look down the twelve avenues, including the Champs-Élysées, radiating like a star.
Paris
4
Sainte-Chapelle
A 13th-century royal chapel that is essentially walls of stained glass, 1,113 scenes, best in full sun.
Paris
5
Palace of Versailles
The Sun King’s palace, 40 minutes out by RER train, the Hall of Mirrors, the gardens by Le Nôtre, and Marie Antoinette’s make-believe village. A full day; book the earliest slot.
Paris

Avignon and Roman Provence

Provence is where Rome left its best ruins outside Italy and where the popes decamped for seventy years. Lavender fields, hill villages, and 2,000-year-old arenas still in use. This is France at Mediterranean pace.

6
Palais des Papes
The largest Gothic palace ever built, seven popes ruled Christendom from here in the 1300s while Rome seethed.
Avignon and Roman Provence
7
Pont du Gard
A three-tier Roman aqueduct bridge, 49 meters high and 2,000 years old, spanning a river you can swim in below it.
Avignon and Roman Provence
8
Pont d’Avignon
The half-bridge of the nursery rhyme, reaching partway across the Rhône since floods took the rest in the 1600s.
Avignon and Roman Provence

Nice and the Côte d’Azur

The Riviera invented the beach holiday, Russian aristocrats and English lords wintered here, then Matisse and Chagall stayed for the light. It is still the easiest place in France to be outrageously happy on a budget of one ice cream.

9
Promenade des Anglais
The seven-kilometer seafront walk the English built in the 1820s, rent a blue chair, face the impossibly blue bay, and do nothing.
Nice and the Côte d’Azur
10
Castle Hill (Colline du Château)
The viewpoint over Nice’s orange roofs and the sweep of the Baie des Anges. Take the free elevator up, walk down through the gardens.
Nice and the Côte d’Azur

Museums, parks, and neighborhoods are on the full France itinerary, sequenced into a realistic day-by-day plan with transport between cities.

Planning a France trip?

Forward your booking confirmations and Petrel builds the whole day-by-day itinerary for you, travel times between stops included.

Start your free trip

First trip free. No account, no credit card.