Mont-Saint-Michel

The Renaissance quarter below Fourvière hill, a dense grid of cobbled lanes, courtyards and covered traboule passages between the Saône and the slope.

The nineteenth-century basilica on the hill above Vieux Lyon, reached by funicular, with a terrace view over the city to the Alps on clear days.

The indoor market hall of Lyon, with cheese, charcuterie, seafood and wine counters where you can eat on the spot.

The Verdon river has cut a 25-kilometre canyon up to 700 metres deep through the limestone of upper Provence, ending in the reservoir of Lac de Sainte-Croix. Rim roads on both sides link a chain of viewpoints, while the floor is reached on foot by the Sentier Blanc-Martel or by kayak from the lake. Villages like Moustiers-Sainte-Marie make practical bases.

Chamonix sits directly under the Mont Blanc massif, with cable cars lifting straight from the valley floor to glacier level. In summer it is a hiking and climbing base with the Tour du Mont Blanc passing through; in winter it is a ski town with steep, serious terrain. The valley is walkable and reachable by bus from Geneva.

A 3,842-metre rock needle reached by cable car from Chamonix, with terraces and a glass box looking across the Mont Blanc glaciers.