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France has an official answer to the question of which of its villages are worth seeking out. Les Plus Beaux Villages de France is a designation created in 1982 and awarded to communes with fewer than 2000 inhabitants that meet rigorous criteria of architectural, heritage, and environmental quality. As of 2026, 184 villages across 72 French departments carry the label. These are five that are worth the detour – and the decision to stay.
Perched on the edge of the Vaucluse plateau above the Luberon valley, Gordes is the village most people picture when they imagine the south of France. Honey-colored stone houses climb a steep hillside beneath a sixteenth-century château, and the Abbaye de Sénanque – a working Cistercian monastery set in a valley of lavender – sits a short drive away. June and July bring the lavender into bloom and the village to life. September offers the same golden light with considerably fewer crowds.
Getting there: Fly into Marseille or Avignon. By car from Avignon, Gordes is approximately one hour southeast. A rental car is essential – the village has no rail connection.
Where to stay: Airelles La Bastide de Gordes is a restored sixteenth-century bastide in the heart of the village, with views across the Luberon, terraced gardens, and the kind of service that anticipates rather than simply responds. Consistently among the most-reviewed luxury properties in Provence, and booking fill early in the season.
Where to eat: La Ferme de la Huppe, set in an eighteenth-century farmhouse a short drive from the village, serves seasonally driven Provençal cooking in a setting that is as beautiful as the food. Book well in advance – this is one of the most sought-after tables in the Luberon.
Voted France’s favorite village by the French public in 2013, Eguisheim is arranged in concentric circles around a medieval castle, its streets lined with pastel half-timbered houses, flower-filled balconies, and the wine cellars of some of Alsace’s most respected producers. It sits on the Alsace Wine Route, five kilometres south of Colmar, and produces Riesling and Gewurztraminer from some of the appellation’s oldest vines. Visit in late September or October, when the harvest is underway, and the vines turn gold and red before the crowds of December’s Christmas markets arrive.
Getting there: The train from Paris Gare de l’Est to Colmar takes approximately two hours and twenty minutes on the TGV. From Colmar, Eguisheim is a ten-minute drive or a pleasant cycle through the vines.
Where to stay: Eguisheim has no luxury hotel within its walls – this is part of its charm. The right base is Colmar, fifteen minutes away, where La Maison des Têtes – a five-star Relais & Châteaux property set in a remarkable 1609 building. It offers 21 individually designed rooms, a Michelin-starred restaurant under chef Eric Girardin, and a brasserie for more informal evenings.
Where to eat: Au Vieux Porche is a traditional Alsatian winstub set in a beautifully preserved half-timbered house, serving classics like choucroute garnie and tarte flambée along with local Alsace wines. One of the most consistently praised tables in the village and a perfect introduction to the region’s cooking.
Conques sits in a narrow valley in the Aveyron, hidden from the world until the road curves and the village appears suddenly below – a cascade of medieval stone houses and lauze rooftops descending toward the Dourdou river. At its heart is the Abbatiale Sainte-Foy, a masterpiece of Romanesque architecture whose treasury holds one of the finest collections of medieval gold in Europe. Conques sits on the Via Podiensis, one of the great pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela, and the atmosphere – particularly in the early morning, before the day visitors arrive – is unlike anywhere else in France. The stone rooftops have barely changed in eight centuries. Visit in May, June, or September, when the valley is quiet and the late afternoon light turns everything amber.
Getting there: Fly to Toulouse or Clermont-Ferrand. From Toulouse, the drive north to Conques takes approximately two hours. There is no train station in the village – a car is required.
Where to stay: Moulin de Cambalong sits at the foot of the valley on the banks of the Dourdou, a restored eighteenth-century stone mill surrounded by gardens, river terraces, and a natural swimming pool. Nine rooms, each individually designed, look out over the river or the surrounding nature. It is the most considered address in the area, and reason enough to extend your stay beyond a single night.
Where to eat: The restaurant E&T at Moulin de Cambelong, under chefs Emilie and Thomas Roussey, earned its first Michelin star in 2024 and is already one of the most celebrated tables in the Aveyron. Their cooking is seasonal, creative, and deeply rooted in the produce of the surrounding region. For something simpler in the village itself, Chez Marie, just beside the abbey, offers local cooking at honest prices.
Vézelay rises above the Morvan countryside on what locals call la colline éternelle — the eternal hill. At its summit, the Basilique Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the finest examples of Romanesque architecture in France. Its 62-metre nave holds the relics of Sainte-Madeleine, and at the summer solstice, light falls through the windows in a precisely aligned path down its centre. In 1146, Louis VII, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Saint Bernard of Clairvaux gathered here to launch the Second Crusade. Vézelay is also one of the four great starting points in France for the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela — follow the scallop shells set into the pavement, and you will find the route. Two hours from Paris by road, it makes a very natural overnight stop.
Getting there: Drive south from Paris on the A6, or take the train from Paris Bercy to Avallon, approximately two hours, and continue by car or taxi to Véselay, fifteen minutes away.
Where to stay: Château de Vault de Lugny, a five-star property set in a thirteenth-century château ten minutes from Vézelay, offers sixteen individually designed rooms, a Michelin-starred restaurant, and grounds that include a moat and a walled kitchen garden. For something within the village itself, Hôtel Les Glycines – a wisteria-clad townhouse immediately beside the basilica – is intimate, beautifully decorated, and very well reviewed.
Where to eat: SY La Terrasse serves regional Burgundy cuisine on a terrace with views across the valley. Generous portions, excellent local wines, and the kind of unhurried service that suits this particular hill perfectly.
The oldest village on the Île de Ré, La Flotte, sits on the Atlantic coast of the island that stretches into the ocean west of La Rochelle. Its streets are narrow and whitewashed, lined with hollyhocks and shuttered houses, its small port stacked with fishing boats and oyster crates. The island is flat, which makes it ideal cycling country – most visitors arrive with bikes and spend their days moving between villages, stopping at oyster farms along the way. La Flotte is quieter than the island’s main town of Saint-Martin-de-Ré and all the better for it. The best time to visit is June, September, or early October, when the light is long and the summer crowds have thinned.
Getting there: Drive from La Rochelle across the Île de Ré bridge, which connects the island to the mainland. The crossing takes approximately twenty minutes by car. La Rochelle is served by a direct TGV from Paris Montparnasse in around three hours.
Where to stay: HR Hôtel & Spa Marin is a five-star property on the seafront in La Flotte, with 38 rooms and suites, all with terraces and a spa with a heated seawater pool. It sits thirty feet from the beach and consistently earns the highest ratings on the island for both comfort and service.
Where to eat: L’Ecailler, in the port of La Flotte, is the most consistently praised seafood table on this part of the island – fresh oysters, local fish, and a bottle of Ïle de Ré rosé at a harbour-side table. Book ahead in summer; it fills quickly.
Most of the villages on this list are busiest in July & August, when the French and their European neighbours take vacations. May, June, September, and October offer almost everything that summer does with a quieter, calmer atmosphere. If a village has made the Plus Beaux Villages list, it usually means there is something genuinely worth seeing.
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