Paris
+8%€65median tour
€43middle half of tours€100
- 38% under €50
- #30 cheapest of 50
Europe · 16 cities
Things to Do in France
Sixteen French destinations in one place: which museums close on which day, how far the TGV really gets you before lunch, and what a guided day costs in Paris and beyond.
11,268 tours listed by Viator 16 cities we cover Median tour €65–€65 Free cancellation
Where to go
Cities of France
In the order Viator’s own catalogue puts them — most-booked first, not alphabetical.
Full list
All cities, by region
Grouped by region using Viator’s own map of the country. The first block is the places it files directly under France.
What it costs
What tours cost in France
From our own price index — 2,400 tours across 50 cities, collected August 2026. Medians, not averages: a couple of multi-day packages drag an average into fiction.
Vertical line is the global median, €60. Full table for all 50 cities in the Tour Price Index.
Food & drink
Street food, markets and tasting walks with a local guide.
ExplorePhotography
Guided shoots at the right hour, and photographers for hire.
ExploreBoats & cruises
Harbour cruises, catamarans, kayaks and sunset sailings.
ExploreWine & breweries
Vineyards, cellars, breweries and distilleries.
ExploreWalking tours
Small groups, old streets, two hours on foot.
ExploreMuseums
Skip-the-line entry and guided visits to major collections.
ExploreCycling
City rides, e-bikes and countryside routes.
ExploreDay trips
Out of the city and back the same day.
ExplorePractical info
Know before you book
The things that change a decision — not a retelling of the guidebook.
Learn the closing days before you build the week
The Louvre closes on Tuesdays, the Musée d’Orsay and Versailles on Mondays. Getting this wrong is the commonest way a Paris itinerary loses a morning, and it is entirely avoidable. Versailles is also worst at midday on Tuesdays and Sundays, when Paris museums are shut and the crowds move there.
The Eiffel Tower summit books out weeks ahead
Lift tickets to the top go first and go early; the second floor is easier and the stairs up to it almost never sell out. If the date is fixed and the tickets are gone, the stairs are a genuine fallback rather than a consolation.
The TGV makes day trips absurdly easy
Paris to Reims is about forty-five minutes, to Lille an hour, to Lyon two. Champagne, Loire châteaux and Normandy all work as days out. Normandy is the exception to the speed: the D-Day beaches are a twelve-hour day by coach, because the sites are spread along eighty kilometres of coast.
August is when France closes
Parisians leave and family-run restaurants shut for two or three weeks. Museums and tours run normally; the neighbourhood you wanted to eat in may not. In wine regions the opposite applies — August and September are harvest and estates get busy.
Lunch is a window, not a concept
Kitchens serve roughly noon to two and from half past seven in the evening. Outside those hours you get a café, not a meal. Food tours are built around the window, which is why they start at odd-looking times.
Wine regions need a driver
Burgundy, Bordeaux and Champagne have their estates spread across villages with almost no public transport, and the entire point is tasting. The tour here is the designated driver, and that is worth more than the commentary.
When to visit
France through the seasons
What is open, how busy it gets, and when to book ahead.
Spring
Apr–May
- Best for
- Paris and the Loire at their best; gardens open, terraces back.
- Crowds
- Booking tip
- May has several public holidays — museums and estates close on them, sometimes in a run.
Summer
Jun–Aug
- Best for
- Provence, the Riviera, lavender in early July, long light evenings everywhere.
- Crowds
- Booking tip
- Book Versailles and the Eiffel Tower well ahead; expect neighbourhood restaurants to be shut in August.
Autumn
Sep–Oct
- Best for
- Harvest in the wine regions, Paris without the queues, the sea still warm in the south.
- Crowds
- Booking tip
- September is the best month in the country — everything open, nobody on holiday.
Winter
Nov–Mar
- Best for
- Museums with room to breathe, Alsace Christmas markets, Alpine skiing.
- Crowds
- Booking tip
- Loire châteaux and rural estates cut their hours sharply — confirm opening before you travel.
Frequently asked
France: common questions
How many days do you need in France?
Four days for Paris, five with a day trip. A week adds either the Loire or Normandy; ten days gets you Paris and Provence with the TGV doing the work. Trying to add the Riviera and Normandy to a one-week Paris trip is how these itineraries go wrong.
What does a tour in France cost?
Paris sits at a median of €65 in our index of 50 cities, against a global median of €60 — very close to the world average, which surprises people who expect Paris to be expensive. The premium in Paris is the hotel, not the guiding.
Do I need to book the Louvre in advance?
Yes — entry is by timed slot and the museum is the most visited in the world. Book the first slot of the day if the Mona Lisa matters to you; by midday that room is a crowd rather than a painting. And not on a Tuesday, when the museum is closed.
Is the D-Day landing beaches trip worth doing from Paris?
It is a twelve-hour day for perhaps five hours on the ground, and people still rate it among the best things they did. If it is the reason you came to France, give Normandy a night instead — Bayeux is an easy base and turns one rushed day into two unhurried ones.
When is the best time to visit?
May, June and September. April is lovely and unreliable; August is hot in the south, empty of Parisians in Paris, and at its most expensive on the coast. September gives you everything open with none of the holiday crowding.
Are tours run in English?
In Paris, always, and in the main regions routinely. In smaller wine villages the English-language departure is worth confirming rather than assuming — a small-group tour is the dependable way to get a guide rather than a printed sheet.