With almost 100 million visitors in 2019, France renewed its position as the most touristic country in the world, followed by Spain, which, for the first time, surpassed the United States. Going back to France, what are the main attractions to receive so many visitors? Undoubtedly his heritage, which is spread across many parts of the country. For our part, we have selected three French cities with a great historical and cultural heritage.
Paris: the City of Light
Almost 40% of all visitors to France ended up in Paris, a city that itself had almost the same number of tourists that the United Kingdom received the same year. The reasons why the City of Light is so visited are many, and we will talk about the most important ones below. But first, we leave practical information on the best areas to stay in Paris. In the link that we leave you, in addition to being able to know the atmosphere that you will find in each neighborhood, there are also recommendations for the accommodation and hotels that you will find in each neighborhood. So you can choose the area according to your budget, location with respect to the most touristic areas and facilitate your trip to the French capital.
The Seine: the most romantic river in the world
The city has developed around it for more than two thousand years, and it is still continuing its course and allowing tourists to enjoy romantic experiences. The easiest is to walk along its shores, from the Eiffel Tower to the National Museum of Natural History.
You can also dine in one of the many restaurants on the banks of the Seine. A very romantic one is La Rose de France, on the Ile de la Cite.
The third option is to reserve dinner, but on one of the boats that travels the river at night and enjoy an unforgettable gastronomic and romantic experience.
Civil heritage
Another of the great attractions of the city are its majestic architectural works. Of course, the most important is the Eiffel Tower, the roof of the city with 300 meters and completed in 1889.
Don’t miss a visit to the old Los Invalidos hospital , today a majestic hotel; the Arc de Triomphe, to the north, the Plaza de la Concordia, with its great monolith; the Plaza de la Bastilla or the Catacombs of Paris, former mines in Roman times that later, in the 18th century, became a cemetery with one of the largest ossuaries in the world. It is estimated that 6 million people rest in the catacombs.
Religious heritage
Despite being a country that leads secularism in the world, its Catholic and Muslim heritage can be seen in its architecture. In fact, it has some of the most famous sacred buildings in the world such as the Notre Dame Cathedral, on the Ile de la Cite; the Great Mosque of Paris, near the National Museum of Natural History or the popular Basilica of the Sacre Coeur, at the top of the bohemian neighborhood of Montmartre.
By the way, in this neighborhood the Montmartre Cemetery is also very visited , where greats of science, arts and literature rest such as Zola, Leon Foucalt, Alexandre Dumas (son), Heinrich Heine, Stendhal, Francois Truffaut or the famous actress Jeanne Moreau.
Museums, art and culture
You would need weeks to be able to visit all of them and fully enjoy all their works. Still, it’s important not to miss the Montmartre Museum; Dali’s, also in that neighborhood; the Picarro Museum, to the south and near the Plaza de la Bastilla; the aforementioned Museum of Natural History; the Pompidou Center, facing the river; that of Orsay, a beautiful place and, of course, the Louvre Museum, one of the largest in the world and where there are works such as the Mona Lisa, by Da Vinci, or the Venus de Milo.
In addition to museums, Paris is also a city famous for its theaters and performance halls. Perhaps one of the most famous is Moulin Rouge, a theater cafe on the southern edge of Montmartre.
However, there are many more and of great entity such as the Mogador Theater, the Paris Theater, the Chatelet Theater, or the Opera Garnier, from the 19th century and which has a museum and library.
Lyon
We leave the northern area to talk about the main city of the French Alpine area, on the border with Switzerland. With more than 2,000 years of history, it was one of the main cities of Roman Gaul and the rivers Saona and the great Rodano cross through it . Thanks to the good conservation of its heritage, it is an ideal place to enjoy culture, art and architecture.
Civil heritage
One of the most beautiful places in Lyon is the Tete d’Or Park, on the east bank of the Rhone, built in the 19th century and which can boast of being one of the largest in the country. Inside, in addition to a large lake, there is a botanical garden, a greenhouse and a velodrome.
Already in the downtown area of the city, you should not miss the Plaza de Bellecour, completely pedestrian, large, with garden areas and where you can practice skating on its winter rink. In addition, it is located between the two rivers of the city.
Precisely, on the other side of the Saona river are the Roman remains of the city, among which the Gallo-Roman Theater and Lugdunum stand out , also a theater but also a museum today.
Religious heritage
You will not have to walk far to enjoy the religious architecture of Lyon. The great attraction in this regard is the Basilica Notre-Dame de Fourviere, with a totally different design from the cathedral of the same name in Paris. In fact, it looks more like the Sacre Coeur in the Montmartre neighborhood. It was completed in 1896 and is the most visited place in the city.
Not far away is the Cathedral of Lyon, with a beautiful façade in golden and white rock and very old. In fact, construction began in 1180 in the Romanesque style, and was completed in 1480 in Gothic style.
In addition to the Catholic temples, Lyon also has one of the most important synagogues in France, built in the 19th century. Its style is neo-Byzantine, although it has undergone some modifications. In any case, both the exterior and interior design have achieved that the synagogue is considered a Historical Heritage of France.
Museums, art and culture
We return to the Parc de la Tete d’Or to recommend you visit the Lyon Museum of Contemporary Art, small but with interesting exhibitions. Right on the other side, you can also enjoy concerts and other events at the Les Transbordeur Auditorium.
Other places of interest are the Villeurbanne Institute of Contemporary Art and the Museum of Confluences, focused on science and which will surprise you by its shape as a large ship.
Marseilles
We finish this review of the French cities with the best heritage and cultural offer with Marseille, on the French Riviera. Like nearby Montpellier, it is very old, in fact it already served as a colony and commercial port for the Greeks in the 6th century BC, a people who continued to colonize to the west until they reached Emporion, the current Ampurias.
Despite being a very modern and touristic city (it has a wide metro line), it still maintains a lot of heritage standing, one of its great attractions.
Civil heritage
The first of these is the city’s Old Port, a water inlet of about a thousand meters that has been operating as a fishing port for centuries. Even today many fishermen make their way to the sea between yachts and private boats and bring fish to the markets to later distribute it in the restaurants of the port itself.
Given their age, the buildings surrounding the port and the ship repair workshops are considered historical monuments. Also, at the entrance to the port, is the Palais du Pharo, a large 18th century mansion on a large esplanade and built facing the sea.
Precisely from the Old Port you can get on pleasure boats that visit the Frioul archipelago. On one of its islands (the smallest) is the Castle of If, a large fortress built in the sixth century, the time of pirates, and with which they wanted to protect the entrance to the city on that side.
Once in the city, to the east of the port, we also recommend visiting the Longchamp Palace, from the time of Napoleon III, in neoclassical style and which was originally used to accumulate water for the city. Today it is a large complex with a large garden, fountains and sculptures from the 19th century and several museums that we will talk about later.
Religious heritage
We return to the coast, this time to the Commercial or New Port, to the north of the Old Port. There is one of the most important temples in the city: the Cathedral of Marseille, built in the 19th century, in a magnificent and fine neo-Byzantine style, two large towers on the main façade, three domes on the back and decorated with mosaics on the the outside. In the city they call her “the biggest”.
To the south of the old port, another great example of religious heritage is the Abbey of San Victor, a building that looks more like a fortress and, although it has undergone several renovations, its crypt has been standing since the 5th century.
The other Catholic monument not to be missed is the Basilica Notre-Dame de la Garde, to the south of the city and on a promontory from where you have great views of Marseille.
Museums, art and culture
We finish our tour of Marseille and its historical heritage and cultural offer by mentioning some of its museums. One of the most important is the Museum of Civilizations, facing the sea between the Old and New ports and which, since 2013, has been organizing exhibitions on the history of the Mediterranean Sea.
As we mentioned before, in the Longchamp Palace, there are also several cultural centers surrounding the large garden. On the one hand, two museums: the Natural History Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts . In addition, for those interested in astronomy, you can also visit the city observatory.
