A land fabled of good food, excellent wine, royal chateaux, romance and art...
Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. Metropolitan France is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, Andorra, and Spain.
France has everything that you could ever want to see on your holidays: a great capital like Paris, good beaches, more monuments than any other country, lovely nature and incredible mountain scenery. It offers good food, great wines and the best thing is, maybe apart from Paris “the City of Lights”, living in France does not have to be expensive.
Local time: GMT/UTC +1 Currency: Euro
Climate: The French climate is temperate, although it gets nippy in the mountain areas, the Alsace and Lorraine. In north-western France you can find high humidity, rain and biting westerly winds, while the Mediterranean south enjoys warm summers and lovely mild winters
Language: France but English is widely spoken
Best time to visit: Spring offers the best weather to visitors, with beach tourism picking up in May. Temperatures aren't too bad in autumn, although the short days mean limited sunlight. Winter means playing in the snow in France's Alps and Pyrenees
Things to do: The North of France consists of the flatlands around the town of Lille and the Channel. The Alps are great for skiing in winter and hiking in summer and the South with its lovely nature, roman ruins and of course the Riviera draws a lot of visitors every year
Things to know: End July and August finds the whole of France on a holiday and tourist facilities woefully low and understaffed
Insider tip: Don`t miss out to visit the artistic quarter of Montmartre at nighttimes, having a nice glass of wine and listen to the street musicians
