"Welcome to our curated list of recommendations for traveling and dining in France. These suggestions have been gathered from our personal networks. While these recommendations are not personally vetted by us, they come highly recommended by those within our network. Please feel free to add your own favourite spots or share any updates in the comments section below. If you come across any information that may have changed, such as closures or updated details, we would greatly appreciate your feedback. Let's build a community-sourced guide to ensure that everyone can enjoy the best of what France has to offer." Marco van Embden, Cape Town
1. Travel Agent & Guide Recommendations
- Private Guide: Sarah Valentin
Téléphone : +33 (0) 231.060.015
Email : contact@acsm-tours.com
“We have used a great private guide in Normandy for a day tour of the Beaches (must see) and are using her again in June for Mt St Michel. She also recommended the hotel where we stayed and was very informative/helpful with all details.” - The Thinking Traveller
“If you are looking for a villa in Italy, France and Greece, I can highly recommend. We rented already twice from them and enjoyed great houses and wonderful service. You can use my referral code RF1SCHW4V5GCK.”
Index
2. Dining Recommendations
In Champagne:
- Les Crayères if you are going to Reims.
- L'Assiette Champenoise
In Cannes:
- Al Charq - Lebanese
- Armani/Caffe - Lunch
- Le Baoli - French Rest + Bar / Party
- Carlton Terrace - Intercon H. - Lunch
- Ciro - Italian
- Da Laura - Authentic Italian (The Best)
- La Guerite - Is amazing
- La Pontiniere - Italian / Pizzeria (Lunch)
- Le 72 Croisette - Cafe
- Le Caveau - French
- Le Jardin de Bambou - Chinese
- Martínez Bar
- Restaurant La Palme d’Or at Martínez 2m*
- Vesuvio - Pizzeria / Italian
- VIP room Cannes at JW Marriott
In Lyon:
- Le Burgundy - 1 Michelin star
- La Mere Brazier
- L'éponyme at Grand Hôtel Dieu and have a drink before at Le Dôme (unique place in the same hotel)
In Nice:
- Le Safari (local cuisine)
- La Petite Maison (An institution in Nice)
- Le Chantecler (French cuisine in Nice's most famous hotel)
- Le Boccaccio (Mediterranean cuisine)
- Olive&Artichaut (local cuisine)
In Saint Tropez:
- Bagatelle – “Younger crowd, great music, dancing on the tables, good food, same deal with the beach chairs for lunch.”
- Beach Clubs – “All can be really expensive but boils down to what you drink. We lived on Domaines Ott Rose since was the best priced on the menu. You pay for beach chairs if you want to sit on the beach and then drinks etc on top of that. It's really a St Tropez experience that you must try once.”
- Club 55 – “if you love artichokes, worth going just for lunch and just for the artichoke.”
- Chateau Saint Martin, has a beautiful view
- Le Dit Vin – “Best food in town, amazing waiter Jonathan, great wines, delicious 1 kg burrata with incredible tomatoes…”
- Gaia, trendy greek restaurant
- La Chèvre d’Or
- l’Opera – “Truly really worth going to just to get the full St Tropez experience. Get a late booking (10.30), ask to sit outside. Just order one course and a bottle or two of champagne, the food is VERY average. But the buzz, the music, the people, the show more than make up for the food. A fun night out.”
- Le Girolier – “on the waterfront - we really enjoyed the fish in salt crust and the french fries.”
- Les Palmiers – “My personal fave. All white, quite classy without being over the top. You can go at 12 and (make sure you reserve) sit on the lounges on the beach and then head up to the restaurant for a late lunch at 3.30, or just go straight for lunch. Nice food, great music, excellent vibe, not so many really young people (which we liked)”
- Nikki Beach – “People may tell you not to go, but we loved it. It has a pool not a beach and is a really cool place. We just sat on our own lounge chairs in the back corner of the huge area and then did the lunch thing at 3.30. Brilliant music, nice food, really good vibe with amazing saxophone player who plays with the DJ. Younger crowd generally but all ages definitely there. We went twice and really enjoyed it.”
- Villa Maria – “it is a really beautiful French garden restaurant and very romantic”
- The Japanese restaurant @ the Hotel Metropole is Michelin starred
In Paris:
- Cafe Marly – “reservations are a must. It’s located just outside of the Louvre pyramid. Beautiful restaurant with a great view, but that’s about it.”
- Café Stern – “in the Passage de Panoramas - which is worthy visiting - nice at night - lots of other restaurants there”
- L'Avenue
- L’ami Louis
- La Reserve Paris - "Try the tart aux tomates"
- Le Dome - for good fish
- Le Petit Pergolese - "in the 16th a little out of the way but the nice arty place and good food"
3. Activities Recommendations
Don’t miss the visit to the stunning Chateau de Chambord
In Champagne:
- The tour through the Veuve Clicquot caves is really amazing
- Taking a canal cruise for a few days is amazing, beautiful and low key. And relatively reasonably priced once you compare to what you would pay for several hotel rooms. Multiple locations to choose from including not far from Nancy. Visit this website
- Go to the Belgian Ardennes, Durbuy which is only a 2.30h drive, Eastern France.
Recommended by Els Thermote, YPO Brussels. This is one of the most spectacular places our family has ever been outside of Le Mans in a small village we took our one year old son, sixteen year old son and teenage niece. Visit this website
In Paris:
4. Accommodation Recommendations
In Antibes:
- Royal Antibes - "Everything is in driving distance, parking is easy to find. Pick a hotel and drive around to the smaller towns like Eze and St Paul De Vence and Monte Carlo"
In Cannes:
- Hotel Martinez - Unbound collection
- Carlton Regent Hotel is a landmark to experience.
In Loire Valley Region:
- We stayed at the Sources de Cheverny, very nice.
- Hotel Louise de la Vallière is very charming
In Saint Tropez:
- Airelles
- The Byblos Hotel - "Service is wonderful, great position in the middle of town and poolside lunches are delicious"
- Paloma Beach - has excellent views
- Hotel Mètropole in Monte Carlo
In Nice:
- Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat, A Four Seasons Hotel - About 2 hours from St Tropez
- Le Meridien - beautiful view of the Côte d’Azur and better located on the Promenade
In Reims:
- Domaine Les Crayeres – Amazing experience.
In Paris: