10 destinations to avoid in France – and where to go instead

Is overtourism ruining France? Follow our guide to the hotspots that are worth the effort – and their crowd-free alternatives

France attracts more foreign visitors than any other country, so it’s little wonder that visiting the most popular sites can feel like the M25 in rush hour (granted, we’d rather be playing sardines looking at Mont-Saint-Michel than a roadside Little Chef). 
In 2023, faced with overtourism, overcrowding and threats to biodiversity at France’s best-loved sites, tourism minister Olivia Gregoire unveiled a plan to encourage visitors to broaden their horizons. Statistics showed that 80 percent of visitors to France frequent just 20 per cent of the country, flocking to the places they’ve seen in TV shows or on their Instagram feeds (Étretat, a village with a population of 1,200, sees over 10,000 visitors a day in peak season after being used as the backdrop for Netflix’s Lupin). 
While the Olympics didn’t attract the mass tourism expected (in fact, Paris felt quieter than usual and just three million visitors came from abroad for the Games), France is still set to break all its previous records with tourist numbers this year. By March, already more foreign visitors had arrived than in pre-Covid years. But how many of them go skiing in the Auvergne, or swap Versailles for the former palace of Mallorcan royalty?
 Here’s the lowdown on where’s worth the crowds, and where to go to beat the tripod-waving traffic.
Étretat was being broadcast to the masses long before appearing in Lupin, and Claude Monet painted the cliffs and sea arches more than 90 times during the 1880s. Now, more than 10,000 tourists descend upon this Normandy town each day in peak season.
The chalky Alabaster cliffs are spectacular, and it’s not hard to see why Monet was captivated, but Étretat loses points for the town, a hellhole of tourist tatt with nigh impossible parking. If you can visit before the day trippers arrive (evacuate before 10am), shreds of the magic and tranquillity Monet must have experienced remain. 
Worth-a-visit rating: 6/10
Swap it for: Brittany’s Crozon Peninsula has impressive sea arches made from sandstone, with a fraction of the crowds. 
Versailles welcomes around 15 million people each year to marvel at the 2,300-room palace built by the Sun King Louis XIV, with tens of thousands visiting on peak days. The entry queue is arduous – at least an hour if you haven’t pre-booked online – and there’s a further hour for security even if you have booked. However, Versailles is well managed and timed entry slots help to control the flow of people. Beware the overcrowded tea rooms, where you’ll feel as though you’re “eating cake” with half of Paris.
Worth-a-visit rating: 8/10
Swap it for: France was once composed of different duchies, each with their own dukes. In the 13th century, Perpignan was the mainland seat of the Kings of Mallorca, and Le Palais des Rois de Majorque still has original wall paintings from the time. Sure, there’s a lot less gold than in Versailles, but it’s a fascinating slice of little-known history.
The most famous art gallery in the world, The Louvre caps visitors at 30,000 per day, many of whom make a beeline for the gallery’s most famous exhibit: the enigmatic Mona Lisa. Even if you could get up close, the Mona Lisa is surprisingly small, but over the heads of the throngs, she appears little bigger than a postage stamp. Of course, with over 35,000 works of art, the Louvre is about much more than this single portrait, but the queue, crowds and sheer scale of the place feel overwhelming. Plus, following pre-Olympics price hikes, the entrance ticket will set you back €22.
Worth-a-visit rating: 6/10
Swap it: Fine arts museum Le Petit Palais is a much more manageable size and is worth a visit for the sweeping spiral staircase and painted ceiling alone – and it’s free. Plan a visit with our Paris travel guide.
Tidal island monastery Mont-Saint-Michel appears on records as early as the 8th century, and has been home to Benedictine monks since the 10th. It’s arguably the most famous site in France, and attracts up to 15,000 visitors per day. Yes, it’s crowded. Yes, you’ll likely see influencers in impractically high heels prancing on the cobbled causeway at low tide. Yes, an ice cream on the island costs more than your rent. But few places combine more than a millennium’s worth of living history with natural surroundings so spectacular.
Worth-a-visit rating: 9/10
Swap it: Abbaye de Lérins, on Île Saint-Honorat near Cannes, is home to 21 monks and was founded in the 5th century AD. The tropical gardens are reminiscent of Tresco, there’s an eight-hectare vineyard, and the boat trip over is magical. Plan a visit with our Cannes travel guide.
Glitzy Biarritz had an unlikely rise to fame. Although the seafront is pretty built up and the town filled with designer boutiques, this was France’s original surf bum hangout. In 1956, keen surfer and Californian film producer Richard Zanuck arrived to film The Sun Rises, based on Hemingway’s novel. He hit the water, and a surf culture was born. You’ll pay through the nose to stay in Biarritz itself, and it’s now so popular with surfers of all abilities that you risk a plethora of people dropping in on your wave.
Worth-a-visit rating: 5/10
Swap it: Hendaye, straddling the Spanish border, is a great surfing spot for beginners, with a long, sandy beach. Much of the architecture is quintessentially Basque (white, wooden houses with brightly coloured shutters and balconies), and there’s a pleasing absence of high-rise buildings.
If Monet had lived in the Instagram age, Giverny would have succumbed to mass tourism in the 19th century, along with Étretat. Monet’s garden, immortalised in his most famous painting Water Lilies, is one of the most popular day trips from Paris, and welcomes around 400,000 visitors annually. Giverny is pretty and the entry fee reasonable, but the crowds detract from the experience in what is a comparatively small space (one hectare of flower gardens).
Worth-a-visit rating: 4/10
Swap it: Lyon’s botanical garden is eight hectares, with 15,000 plant species, a rose garden and an alpine garden. Entry is free. Plan a visit with our Lyon travel guide.
France’s most popular ski resort sees around four million visitors descend on the slopes during the winter season. The cost of a ski pass rises each year and is currently at  €71 per day, meaning a family trip rapidly mounts up. Skiing in Val d’Isère is fantastic, but it can quickly blow your holiday budget for the whole year. France has plenty of less frequented ski resorts.
Worth-a-visit rating: 7/10
Swap it: The highest peak at Le Lioran in the Auvergne may sit at only 1,855m, but the resort still enjoyed a decent run last winter, staying open from late-December to late-March, although snowfall was extremely low in February. There are 44 pistes (five black, 15 red, 14 blue and 10 green) and a day pass costs just €39.30, almost half that of Val d’Isère, making it great for families on a budget.
It may be France’s cleanest lake, but in the summer months the narrow streets and canals of Annecy town become a sweaty throng of slow-moving bodies, grizzling children and stag groups. Annecy’s saving grace is its size, and you can quickly escape the crowds by heading to one of the other lakeside communes (Doussard, Talloires-Montmin or Menthon-Saint-Bernard) rather than staying in Annecy town. Here, it’s peaceful enough to enjoy the reflections of surrounding mountains on the glacial water.
Worth-a-visit rating: 6/10
Swap it: Lac du Bourget, just 35 km from Annecy, is almost twice the size and much less touristy. A plot to pitch a small tent can cost as little as €10. 
Rocky limestone inlets formed from compressed fishbones over millions of years, the Calanques of Cassis stretch for 20 km along the coast between Cassis, a former fishing town and France’s second city, Marseille. A protected area, in 2022 they reduced visitor numbers to the most popular calanques to 400 per day in high season. Commentators on board glass-bottomed tour boats may pierce the silence of swims through the inlets, but the Calanques are nonetheless spectacular. Hire a kayak to explore the smaller bays, and skip Instagram favourite Calanque d’En-vau, which draws the biggest crowds.
Worth-a-visit rating: 10/10
Swap it: They’re not exactly under-the-radar, but Corsica’s Calanques of Piana, formed from red granite and dotted with 17th century Genoese towers, are extremely striking. Due to their inaccessibility, it rarely gets too busy. 
Around 1.5 million people visit Notre-Dame de Chartres each year, and the excess of visitors has taken its toll. The 13th-century cathedral is undergoing extensive repair work inside and out, due to finish in the summer of 2025, at the earliest. Many visitors are attracted by the elaborate stained glass windows, but while they’re undoubtedly impressive and well-preserved, this cathedral isn’t the only example of beautiful Gothic architecture and stained glass in France. At the end of the day, it’s a cathedral, and there are more cathedrals in France than there were Louis’ in their royal family.
Worth-a-visit rating: 4/10
Swap it: La Cathédrale de la Major, Marseille, is pinstriped like green and yellow pyjamas, and was the only cathedral to be built in France during the 19th century. Inside, it’s a mesmerising mix of gold, marble and painted ceilings. Plan a visit with our Marseille travel guide.
This article was first published in June 2023, and has been revised and updated.
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Escorted tours to France
France | Europe
From the lavender fields of Provence to the French Riviera, and from iconic Paris to the wines of Bordeaux, France has something for everyone.