Once upon a time, when were able to travel, I visited 5 French cities in a row of 7 days. France is much more than just Paris, it has many amazing cities and villages all across the country. Each place has different history and architecture, and don’t forget the many many castles that there are in France, sometimes in the middle of a city or in the countryside.
I wanted to discover a little of all of that during my short holidays in the summer of 2019. So, I planned a solo trip to visit Bordeaux, La Rochelle, Nantes, Angers and Tour, starting from Issoire, a tiny village 30 min away of Clermont Ferrand. I booked the hostels / Airbnb in advance, as well as the ticket bus to all the cities. My budget was around 70 euro per city all included, ending up with around 400 euro for the whole trip. I think that it would be difficult to spend less than that, but it can go as high as you want depending on the comfort you are looking for.
Bordeaux, the first city I visited, has stunning views during the day and the night. It has a youthful energy, with many restaurants, bars, and shops, and of course, as a well-known winery city, you have all the types of wines for any kind of tastes. Sadly, with so much to see in Bordeaux and so short time, I did not have time to go to the beach, but if you happen to visit Bordeaux, it is a must to do.
From Bordeaux, I traveled to La Rochelle, a small but wonderful city with music, dancers, singers and many artisanal sellers in the heart of the city, that make you stay until late night. It does not take more than 2 days to visit La Rochelle, one just need to set aside time to visit the 3 towers, the most emblematic and historical places in this city.
Nantes was my next destination. It is a much modern city compared to Bordeaux and La Rochelle, but there is an amazing Castle in the middle of the city, next to many restaurants and bars to relax after a long day of walking and taste some sweet crepes, a typical dessert in this region. To my surprise, Nantes has also a lot of history, as many places in France, but mostly related to slavery, which is sad but important to know. It is such an important part of its history that there is a monument with the name of all the boats and the year that they crossed by this city.
In the last 3 cities I stayed in a hostel common in France called “Auberge de jeunesse”, which I strongly recommend for Bordeaux and La Rochelle, but it was rather scary in Nantes.
The next city was something that I did not expect at all. Foreign people do not know about it and even a lot of French people have never been there. However, I was in love with this city called Angers, a calm place but with so much to see and visit and, I cannot forget the stunning view of the city from the top of castle. I stayed in an Airbnb with two welcoming people, just a 5 minute walk to the castle. I was lucky to get to the main cathedral of the city right on time without knowing for the guide tour, that showed us places that normally are closed for public visits. It was sad to leave this city, but I had to continue my journey, with Tours as my next and last destination.
After walking on average 25km per day for 6 days consecutively, I was completely exhausted. When I reached on Saturday morning my next Airbnb I felt so happy because I had a private and really comfortable room just for me, and as a plus, there was a play station. The main attraction in Tours is the downtown, which has an architecture from XVI to XVIII centuries. There are many traditional restaurants, which combined with the ambience makes incomparable experience. Next day I came back to home, exhausted but with a renovated mind and a new perspective of France.
I did not describe many details about my visit in every city, but there are so much to tell, see and know that I would rather let you plan your next trip to discover these amazing places.
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