Notre Dame
Paris’ great cathedral was ravaged by fire in April 2019. After five years of painstaking work, it finally reopens to the public on December 8th, 2024 with a breathtakingly beautiful renovation.
In an effort to manage visitor numbers in 2025, the Cathedral has introduced an online timeslot reservation system – tickets are free but must be reserved in advance. No reservation is required for people attending Mass in the cathedral.
READ ALSO Five not-so-famous things about Notre-Dame cathedral
Pompidou Centre
Speaking of Parisian landmarks, 2025 is the last chance to visit the the hi-tech architecture Pompidou Centre – home to the largest collection of modern and contemporary art in Europe. It will close for five years from September for a €200 million refurbishment. While it is off the tourist map, a Fabrique de l’Art in Massy will house the art reserves of the Pompidou and Picasso museums.
Parisian summer
Paris had an atypical summer in 2024 as it hosted the Olympic and Paralympic Games - while the Games were fabulous, visitors not interested in sport were advised to avoid the capital in July, August and September. No such issue in 2025, however, and Paris is expecting to once again welcome around 15 million visitors during the season.
But enough about Paris.
The festivals
France loves its festivals – which range from small, local events that last a day or so, to huge international affairs that go on for weeks.
And don’t think that the seasons slow things down, with Nice Carnival and the Menton lemon festival getting party season started early in 2025.
The festivals continue throughout the year and there are far more than we could possibly list here – to pick just a very few of our favourites – the enormous Fête de Bayonne in south-west France in summer, the July 14th firework displays all over France, the Paris-based summer music festival Rock en Seine and the Lyon Fête des Lumières in December.
Cannes
Yes, it’s another festival. But it’s not just any other festival. It’s the glitziest, glammest 11-day festival of cinema, running from May 13th to 24th under the warm mid-May Mediterranean sun.
Some of the year’s biggest movies will get their first showings on the south coast of France – 2024 saw the premier of Francis Ford Coppola’s personal project Megalopolis, while George Lucas was awarded an honorary Palme d’Or.
While it’s still too early to say which films will be in competition in 2025, expect to see more big names and big films on show.
The food
It’s a trope, but French gastronomy is revered for a reason. Every region adds something to the pot. And, yes, there are those who will insist it’s overrated sauce over substance – but, frankly, you can safely ignore them because they don’t know what they’re talking about.
Put it this way. We have festivals dedicated to food and drink here…
READ ALSO 25 of the best food and drink festivals in France
The timeless villages
France is so unfair. It is frequently too pretty for its own good – and just when you think it can’t legally get any more breathtaking, it does. And did we mention the villages? There are some – especially in the south-west of the country – that go the extra mile and are officially recognised as the ‘most beautiful villages of France’.
READ ALSO Which parts of France have the most beautiful villages?
You can get far from the maddening crowds
Of the millions of people who visit France, 80 percent of them visit sites within just 20 percent of the country: largely Paris, the Riviera and certain well-known Alpine towns.
Now many of the best-known places are putting in limits on daily visitor numbers, while the government launches a plan to deal with ‘over-tourism’ and try to distribute their visitors a little more evenly.
READ ALSO 19 alternative places to visit in France to avoid the crowds
Roland Garros
Back to the crowds… For nearly three weeks in May and June, Paris becomes the centre of the tennis world, as the world’s best players face one another on dusty red clay of Roland Garros. The goal? Titles at the French Open, one of the sport’s four Grand Slam events of the year.
The summer
There’s more than one reason why France is the world’s most popular tourist destination – but summer is a big factor. The sun is warm, the views spectacular, the food and drink flows like Champagne at a society wedding, and it’s peak festival time.
READ ALSO 9 of the best things about summer in France
If you don't believe us, ask the experts: the French themselves, who decamp en masse to the beaches or the mountains in July and August.
The Tour de France
The 2025 Tour begins in northern France, with a 185km ride around Lille. The peloton travels 3,320km across the country, taking in mountains and time trials, and long, flat runs, before ending on the Champs-Elysées, on July 27th – a return to its traditional finish line after relocating to Nice in 2024 because of the Olympic Games.
Cyclists’ heaven
It’s no secret that France and bicycles are a match made in cycling heaven. It boasts a vast car-free cycle path, known in French as the Voie Verte (greenways). These peaceful pieces of bike-friendly infrastructure are fast popping up throughout the country.
READ ALSO Vineyards to canals: 7 of the best cycle routes in France
The great outdoors
As well as France’s walkable cities, it is estimated that there are 100,000 kilometres of walking trails in France, crossing the country in all directions offering spectacular views, lungfuls of fresh air and a beauty-filled and accessible way to keep fit and healthy.
Many of them have romantic-sounding nicknames like the Chemin de Stevenson, or the Customs Men’s trail. Some don’t – one of the toughest, in Corsica, is known only by the ominous-sounding GR-20.
READ ALSO 13 of France’s best hiking and cycling routes
Christmas markets
Germany has a justifiable claim to be the world capital of festive celebrations, but France really does give good Christmas market, whether you go for the cross-border stylings of Strasbourg and Colmar, or the very Provencal versions in the south of the country.
Comments