Tailor-made travel to France

This is France

France changes character at every provincial border and refuses to be reduced to a single image.

Say 'France' and most people mean something quite specific: Parisian boulevards, a glass of wine on a terrace, perhaps Provence in July. But the country behind that one image is a patchwork of pays, each with its own stone, its own dialect and its own pace. The limestone facades of Burgundy have nothing to do with the granite harbours of Brittany. A market stall in the Périgord runs on different rules than an oyster bed at Arcachon.

QualiMundi doesn't start from a list of 'must-sees'. We'd rather ask what you're after: slowness, coast, wine, silence, conversation, and match that to a region that has been built around it for centuries. Not a day-by-day schedule, but a route that fits whoever's in the car.

Getting there: By train or car from Belgium, or a short flight to a regional airport
Languages: French everywhere, with Breton, Occitan and Alsatian German still very much alive in the regions
Time difference: None. France shares the same time zone as Belgium
Landscape: From Atlantic dunes to Alpine peaks, half a day's drive apart
Best time to go: Strongly dependent on the region. May-June and September usually outshine July-August

The regions

Six faces, no two alike.

France can't be squeezed into a single route. These regions show just how far the spread goes, geographically, culinarily and in mood.

Wine country, inland

Burgundy

Villages of golden limestone among the vineyards of the Côte d'Or, where a Romanesque church tower is more often the highest point than a castle. The pace here follows the grape: calm, seasonal, unhurried.

Atlantic coast

Brittany

A granite coastline that vanishes into mist one moment and bathes in sharp light the next. Fishing harbours like Le Guilvinec still run on today's catch, not on scenery.

Inland, Dordogne

Périgord

Walnut orchards, prehistoric caves and market towns like Sarlat where the weekly market is still a social event. The landscape folds into small valleys. You rarely see far, and that's the point.

Middle mountains

Jura

A plateau of meadows, pine forests and lakes that rarely makes anyone's list, which is exactly why it's stayed quiet. Comté matures here in cellars you can simply visit, without any fuss.

Wetland, south

Camargue

Salt marsh and rice paddy where white horses and black bulls roam free under the watch of gardians. Flat, wide open, and utterly unlike the France that begins three hours' drive away.

Island

Corsica

Mountains that plunge straight into the sea and a scent of maquis you can smell before you even land. Corsicans rarely call their island simply 'France'. You feel that difference in every village.

Table and conversation

In France, the conversation begins at the table, not before it.

A farmer in Burgundy will talk your ear off the moment his vines come up, and say little about anything else. A fishmonger in Brittany sizes you up instantly on whether you actually know what's fresh. France doesn't reveal itself to whoever walks past. It opens up to whoever takes the time to taste, to ask and to come back.

The same is true of the food, which isn't a national cuisine at all but a sum of regional kitchens that barely know each other: butter and cream in the northwest, olive oil and thyme in the south, goose fat in the southwest. Eating in France always really means eating somewhere very specific.

Landscape and nature

Three landscapes that have little to do with the postcard.

France is bigger and emptier than its image suggests. Away from the well-known routes lie regions where wolves have returned, chamois stand on the rocks and canals wind through marshland.

Cévennes

Chestnut forests and dry-stone terraces on steep slopes, where the wolf has quietly returned over the past few decades. The walking paths here are old. Some have lain in the same place for centuries.

Vanoise

France's oldest national park, where ibex and chamois pay little attention to walkers. In summer, this is the same Alps as in winter, just without the lift.

Marais Poitevin

Nicknamed 'green Venice', a network of canals between ash trees where herons and kingfishers are the only bustle. You get around here by flat-bottomed boat, at a walking pace.

Finistère, Brittany, where the name literally means 'end of the earth' and the coast behaves accordingly.

What's possible here

No programme, but plenty of possibilities.

These aren't days on a schedule, but directions we shape together with you, depending on season, region and what you're after.

Cycling along the Loire

Flat paths between vineyards and châteaux, with the river as a constant companion, suited to anyone who'd rather travel slowly than jump from sight to sight.

Walking in the Cévennes

Paths that Robert Louis Stevenson once walked with his donkey, still passable and still quiet. Suited to a single day, or to stringing several stages together.

Tasting oysters at Arcachon

Straight from the grower, on a bench by the water, with nothing between you and the oyster but a knife and a slice of lemon.

Market day in Sarlat

Saturday morning, when the whole Périgord comes to market for the week ahead. Not an attraction, just everyday life, which you get to witness without disturbing it.

Tasting in a family cellar

With a winemaker who tends his own vineyard, in a cellar often older than the village above it, a conversation instead of a sales pitch.

Each of these directions works alone, or combined with another region in the same rhythm.

Verder kijken dan de highlights

Why we look at France differently

No obligatory photo at the Eiffel Tower. Paris can be part of your trip, but it's never the automatic starting point. Some of our best routes begin in a region no tourist ever washes up in by accident.

Regional language isn't scenery. A Breton, an Occitan and an Alsatian identify with their region first and with France second. We plan with that in mind, not around it.

The season decides, not the star rating. We'd rather send you to the Périgord during the walnut harvest than to a guidebook-listed restaurant at the wrong time of year.

Small country, big difference. France is compact enough to combine two or three completely different regions without endless travel, if the pace allows it, not the distance on the map.

Between limestone and Atlantic mist lies as much France as between two different countries.

Wanneer reis je?

When you go decides which region shows itself.

There's no single 'best time for France'. There's a best time per region. Burgundy comes alive during the wine harvest in September, the Atlantic coast is at its quietest in May and June, and August is exactly when many French people head for the coast themselves, bringing the crowds with them to that same coast.

Jan

Feb

Mrt

Apr

Mei

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Okt

Nov

Dec

Top: quiet roads, terrace season in full swing, or perfectly timed for a harvest. Good: pleasant travel weather, with a bit more crowding here and there at the well-known spots. Fair: winter quiet inland or coastal crowds during the summer holidays, not impossible, but worth planning around.

Goed om te weten

Praktisch, zonder ruis.

Practical, without crowding out the romance.

Getting there: By car or train direct from Belgium to most regions, or a short flight for the south and Corsica
Documents: A valid identity card is enough for EU citizens
Health: No special vaccinations needed, just make sure your travel insurance is in order
Pace: Don't underestimate the distances. Burgundy to the Camargue is a full day's travel, not a stopover
Language: French opens doors, especially outside the big cities. English isn't a given everywhere

Frequently asked questions

Does Paris have to be part of the trip?

No. Paris can make a good starting point, but just as often we deliberately leave it out in favour of a region that's less obvious.

Do you need a car?

For most regions, yes. Public transport away from the main lines is more limited than you'd expect. Some combinations also work well with the train as a backbone.

Is France suited to a trip without a tight schedule?

It's exactly suited to that. The distances are manageable enough to adjust a route as you go, without a missed day throwing the whole plan into disarray.

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