Nicola Williams - Lonely Planet France

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A country that seduces travellers with its unfalteringly familiar culture woven around cafe terraces, village-square markets and lace-curtained bistros with their plat du jour (dish of the day) chalked on the board.

France is all about world-class art and architecture, Roman temples and Renaissance chteaux, iconic landmarks known the world over, and rising stars few yet know. Stroll the lily-clad gardens Monet painted and savour un caf (an espresso) at the Parisian cafe where Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir met to philosophise. See glorious pasts blaze forth and imagine the life of a French king at bourgeois Versailles. View tomorrows art stars in squats secreted in abandoned 19th-century Haussmann mansions in Paris, or at new headline-grabbing museums up north. Drink cocktails in a shabby-chic Nantes warehouse. Listen to Marseille rap and Parisian jazz. Sense the subtle infusion of language, music and mythology in Brittany, brought by 5th-century Celtic invaders. Yes, French culture offers never-ending possibilities to fill any stay in France.

Or perhaps it is the French feast of fine food and wine that woos so many travellers. (This is, after all, the country that entices more than any other: with more than 80 million visitors a year, it ranks as the worlds top tourist destination.) But know that gastronomic France goes far deeper than Parisian bistro dining, long lunches outside, shopping for fruit and veg at the market and wolfing down croissants hot from the boulangerie (bakery) for breakfast. Learn how to make petits fours with the kids in Paris or flip crpes in Brittany; taste wine with one of the worlds top sommeliers in Bordeaux; visit an Atlantic Coast oyster farm; drink Champagne in ancient cellars in Reims; tour a Provenal melon farm; harvest olives, peaches and cherries in the hot southand understand that food is as much an art de vivre (art of living) for the French as it is essential for survival.

Then there is the terroir (land) and the startlingly varied journey it weaves from northern Frances cliffs and sand dunes to the bright-blue sea of the French Riviera and Corsicas green oak forests. Outdoor action is what this lyrical landscape calls for, be it fast-paced and pulse-racing, slow and relaxed, solo or en famille. Walk barefoot across wave-rippled sand to Mont St-Michel; ride the cable car to mind-blowing glacial panoramas above mountaineering mecca Chamonix; cartwheel down Europes highest sand dune; surf in Biarritz; ski the Alps; hike from one extinct volcano to another in the Massif Central; float between locks or pedal the towpath along the Canal du Midi. The action is endless and the next adventure just begging to be had.

St-Cirq Lapopie, Lot Valley () BARBARA VAN ZANTEN/GETTY IMAGES

The dramatic play of tides on this abbey-island in Normandy is magical and mysterious. Said by Celtic mythology to be a sea tomb to which souls of the dead were sent, Mont St-Michel ( ) is rich in legend and history, keenly felt as you make your way barefoot across rippled sand to the stunning architectural ensemble. Walk around it alone or, better still, hook up with a guide in nearby Gents for a dramatic day hike across the bay.

OLIMPIO FANTUZ/SIME/4CORNERS

Eiffel Tower

Seven million people visit the Eiffel Tower ( ) in the company of a staggering city panorama, there are 101 ways to do it. Pedal beneath it, skip the lift and hike up, buy a crpe from a stand here or a key ring from the street, snap yourself in front of it, visit it at night or our favourite on the odd special occasion when all 324m of the tower glows a different colour.

JAN STROMME /GETTY IMAGES

Champagne

Name-brand Champagne houses, such as Mumm ( ).

Champagne barrel, Mercier KUMAR SRISKANDAN/ALAMY

Loire Valley Chteaux

If its aristocratic pomp and architectural splendour youre after, this regal valley is the place to linger. Flowing for more than 1000km into the Atlantic Ocean, the Loire is one of Frances last fleuves sauvages (wild rivers) and its banks provide a 1000-year snapshot of French high society. The valley is riddled with beautiful chteaux sporting glittering turrets and ballrooms, lavish cupolas and chapels. If youre a hopeless romantic seeking the perfect fairy-tale castle, head for moat-ringed Azay-le-Rideau ( ).

NEIL SETCHFIELD /GETTY IMAGES

Adrenalin Kick, Chamonix

Sure, 007 did it, but so can you: skiing the Valle Blanche ( ).

CHRISTIAN ASLUND /GETTY IMAGES

Dune du Pilat

The Dune du Pilat ( ) is a mountain that just has to be climbed. Not only is the coastal panorama from the top of Europes largest sand dune a stunner it takes in the Banc dArguin bird reserve and Cap Ferret across the bay but also the nearby beaches have some of the Atlantic Coasts best surf. Cycle here from Arcachon and top off the heady trip with a dozen oysters, shucked before your very eyes and accompanied by crepinettes (local sausages).

ANDREW BAIN /GETTY IMAGES

Pont du Gard

This Unesco World Heritage Site ( ) near Nmes in southern France is gargantuan: 35 arches straddle the Roman aqueducts 275m-long upper tier, containing a watercourse that was designed to carry 20,000 cu metres of water per day. View it from afloat a canoe on the River Gard or pay extra to jig across its top tier. Oh, and dont forget your swimming gear for a spot of post-Pont daredevil diving and high jumping from the rocks nearby a plunge that will entice the most reluctant of young historians.