46 Best Sights in France

Up the street from the Ancienne Douane on the Grande-Rue, the Maison des Arcades was built in 1606 in High Renaissance style with a series of arched porches (arcades) anchored by two octagonal towers.

Opposite the church, this chapter house is the finest medieval building in town. Once used as a barn for storing grain, its wood-beam roof is constructed of chestnut to repel insects.

This 17th-century mansion is one of Lyon's oldest. In the courtyard you can glimpse a charming garden and the original Tour Rose, an elegant pink tower. In those days, the higher the tower, the greater the prestige. This one was owned by a tax collector.

The former home of van Gogh's closest friend in Auvers, Dr. Paul Gachet, is a local landmark. Documents and mementos evoke both van Gogh's stay and Gachet's passion for the avant-garde art of his era. The good doctor was himself the subject of one of the artist's most famous portraits (and the world's second-most-expensive painting when it sold for $82 million in the late 1980s); the actual creation of it was reenacted in the 1956 biopic, Lust for Life, starring Kirk Douglas. Even his house was immortalized on canvas, courtesy of Cézanne. A friend and patron to many of the artists who settled in and visited Auvers in the 1880s, Gachet also contributed to their artistic education by teaching them about engraving processes. Don’t overlook the garden—it provided the ivy that covers van Gogh's grave in the cemetery across town.

Take a look at Albi's finest restored traditional house, the Maison du Vieil Albi.

Behind the stately facade of this 15th-century medieval-Renaissance dwelling carved into a sheer rock face lies a massive prehistoric structure now complete with a kitchen, ceremonial hall, chapel, arms rooms, a dungeon, bedrooms (with stunning panoramas from 120 feet high), and more, all decked out in authentic period furnishings as though the inhabitants had just stepped out for a stroll. This historic monument is one of the most intriguing and surprising sights in the area (and that's saying a lot).

Jules Verne (1828–1905) spent his last 35 years in Amiens, and his former home contains some 15,000 documents about his life as well as original furniture and a reconstruction of the writing studio where he created his science-fiction classics. If you're a true Jules Verne fan, you might also want to visit his final resting place in the Cimetière de la Madeleine ( 2 rue de la Poudrière), where he is melodramatically portrayed pushing up his tombstone as if enacting his own sci-fi resurrection.

Take a tour of the twin-tower Maison Louis-XIV. Built as the Château Lohobiague, it housed the French king during his nuptials and is austerely decorated in 17th-century Basque fashion.

Real fans of painter Toulouse-Lautrec may want to snap a photo of his birthplace, the Maison Natale de Toulouse-Lautrec, which remains a private residence.

Built in 1537, the Maison Pfister is the most striking of Colmar's many old dwellings. Note the decorative frescoes and medallions, carved balcony, and ground-floor arcades.

The landscape artist Charles-François Daubigny, a precursor of the Impressionists, lived in Auvers from 1861 until his death in 1878. You can visit his studio, the Maison-Atelier de Daubigny, and admire the mural and roof paintings by Daubigny and fellow artists Camille Corot and Honoré Daumier.

The Bartholdi Museum is the birthplace of Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi (1834–1904), the sculptor who designed the Statue of Liberty. Exhibits of the artist's work claim the ground floor, and a re-creation of his Paris apartment is upstairs. The creation of Lady Liberty is explored in adjoining rooms.

Recently restored, the 16th-century mansion where La Fontaine was born and lived until 1676 is now a museum, furnished in the style of the 17th century. It contains La Fontaine's bust, portrait, and baptism certificate, plus editions of his fables magnificently illustrated by Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1755) and Gustave Doré (1868). It's currently closed for renovations until 2026.

Built in 1407 and reputed to be the oldest stone house in Paris (though other buildings also claim that title), this abode has a mystical history. Harry Potter fans should take note: this was the real-life residence of Nicolas Flamel, the alchemist whose sorcerer's stone is the source of immortality in the popular book series. It's not all fanciful: a wealthy scribe, merchant, and dabbler in the mystical arts, Flamel willed his home to the city as a dormitory for the poor—on the condition that boarders pray daily for his soul. Today, the only way to gain entry to the building is to dine in the Michelin-starred restaurant residing on its beamed first floor.

Take a guided tour of Ortillopitz, a vintage Basque country manor. Its typical architecture and traditional furnishings give a glimpse into 17th-century farm life. The rural vistas are especially lovely.

Just 3 km (2 miles) south of Amboise on the road to Chenonceaux, the Pagode de Chanteloup is a remarkable sight—a 140-foot, seven-story, Chinese-style lakeside pagoda built for the duke of Choiseul in 1775. Children will enjoy puffing their way to the top for the vertigo-inducing views, but some adults will find the climb—and the 400-yard walk from the parking lot—a little arduous. You can take a 3D virtual tour of the former château that once stood on the grounds, in its only remaining pavilion, for an idea of its pre-destruction magnificence (it was demolished in 1823 for unknown reasons), then rent a little rowboat (€6 per hour) to float across the adjoining lake. It's worth a quick stop if you're in the area, especially for architecture buffs, and the views from the top are lovely.