In this part there are Upper Normandy tourist attractions – everything interesting east and north from Rouen region to Dieppe and Treport.
travel in france
What to see in Alsace. 1. Northern Alsace
What to see in Alsace? Half-timbered towns, cultural attractions, wine routes, castles. Nature is represented by the Rhine and the Vosges. But for hiking the Black Forest mountains seem to me more beautiful than the Vosges. It is worth hiking through the local hills in autumn, when the vineyards become colorful.
In this part we explore Northern Alsace from Germany to Selestat.
Rouen old town
Rouen old town is full of half-timbered houses and in general a nice, green city. I cannot remember cities of this size with so many unkilled half-timbered houses. It is all the more surprising that the city had a rather turbulent life (they could have burned or destroyed everything) and a good income (they could have rebuilt everything in stone).
Loire cycle route. Tours – Villandry
The section of the Loire cycle route from Tours to Villandry deserves a your attentioin, even if you’re not a big fan of cycling. Idyllic landscapes, not too tiring road through the fields with poppies and cornflowers along the slow river and at the end of a beautiful castle with Renaissance gardens.
Villandry combines fine with other castles – as a bicycle, car or bus route to several points.
Savoy Venice – Annecy attractions
Annecy, like many cities with canals, is called the second Venice, in this case adding “Savoy”. You can spend a day on beautiful Annecy old town. Menton castle, gorge du Fier, secret gardens, Mount Sambuy – another three days. If you want to relax and swim in the lake, you can spend 10 days not boring. It’s quite expensive though, in my opinion. More available with car. But as a base for regular trips to Chamonix, Annecy is not suitable even with a car – too far away. Just one visit to get to know.
Around Annecy Gorge du Fier, Semnoz, Montrottier castle and Secret Garden
In this part about the sights around Annecy, let’s look north and see there the long “home” mountain of Annecy called Semnoz, the gorge du Fier river, Montrottier castle and the Secret garden in the village of Vaulx. More details about each below.
What to see in Etretat
Etretat the essence of the Alabaster coast of France, the best of the best. Let’s see what you can see here and how to get to Etretat
There are many such cozy small resort towns on the Normandy coast. It is to this one that people go to look at the amazingly beautiful white cliffs that form large arches in this place. Famous writers and artists have been here, including Delacroix, Monet, Manet, Offenbach, Dumas, Hugo, Maupassant. There are several paintings by Monet dedicated to Etretat.