Tourism in France directly contributed 79.8 billion euros to gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013, 30% of which comes from international visitors and 70% from domestic tourism spending. As of 2025, France is the world's leading tourist destination, with international tourism contributing approximately $88.91 billion in revenue, an increase of 9% over 2024. The total contribution of travel and tourism represents 9.7% of GDP and supports 2.9 million jobs (10.9% of employment) in the country. Tourism contributes significantly to the balance of payments.

France was visited by 102 million foreign tourists in 2025, making it the most visited country in the world. However, France ranks fifth in terms of hotel stays, with 147 million nights, behind the United States, Spain, Italy, China and Turkey: this is because France performs as a transit country, and many international visitors do not stay in hotels. It ranks third (after the United States and Spain) in terms of international tourism receipts.

France has 53 sites inscribed in the UNESCO's World Heritage List and features cities or sites of high cultural interest (Paris being the foremost, but also Loire Valley, Toulouse, Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Lyon and others), beaches and seaside resorts, ski resorts, as well as rural regions that many enjoy for their beauty and tranquility (green tourism). Small and picturesque French villages of quality heritage (such as Collonges-la-Rouge, Locronan, or Montsoreau) are promoted through the association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (literally "The Most Beautiful Villages of France"). The "Remarkable Gardens" label is a list of the over two hundred gardens classified by the Ministry of Culture. This label is intended to protect and promote remarkable gardens and parks.

Statistics

+Yearly tourist arrivals in millions Most tourists arriving to France in 2018 came from the following countries or territories:Visiteurs internationaux en France en 2018 Rank Country or territory Number of tourists1 13,000,0002 12,300,0003 11,600,0004 7,000,0005 6,800,0006 6,700,0007 4,700,0008 4,500,000 Total 89,300,000

Number of stays

Rank Country Stays 1 18,300,000 2 17,200,000 3 16,800,000 4 10,400,000 5 8,800,000 6 6,900,000 7 6,100,000 8 5,900,000 9 Oceania 910,000 10 1,400,000 11 1,100,000 12 Scandinavia 2,400,000 13 Asia 2,200,000 14 Africa 1,500,000 15 800,000 Other countries 27,700,000 Total 146,800,000

Most visited cities by tourist arrivals and overnight stays Data for 2022–2023.Rounded figures. Rank City Region Arrivals Overnight stays 1 Paris Île-de-France 36,900,000 68,700,000 2 Nice Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur 5,900,000 12,000,000 3 Marseille 4,300,000 8,000,000 4 Lyon Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 3,200,000 6,000,000 5 Toulouse Occitanie 2,800,000 5,400,000 6 Bordeaux Nouvelle-Aquitaine 2,600,000 4,900,000 7 Strasbourg Grand Est 2,400,000 4,500,000 8 Montpellier Occitanie 1,800,000 3,200,000 9 Nantes Pays de la Loire 1,700,000 3,000,000 10 Annecy Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 1,500,000 3,000,000 11 Rennes Brittany 1,300,000 2,400,000 12 Reims Grand Est 1,200,000 2,100,000 13 Avignon Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur 1,100,000 2,000,000 14 Dijon Bourgogne-Franche-Comté 1,000,000 1,900,000 15 Arles Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur 900,000 1,800,000 16 Lille Hauts-de-France 1,700,000 17 Aix-en-Provence Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur 18 Cannes 19 Saint-Étienne Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 850,000 1,700,000 20 Grenoble 800,000 1,600,000 21 La Rochelle Nouvelle-Aquitaine 800,000 1,600,000 22 Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 750,000 1,500,000 23 Tours Centre-Val de Loire 750,000 1,400,000 24 Orléans 700,000 1,300,000 25 Rouen Normandy 700,000 1,500,000 26 Caen 650,000 1,300,000 27 Le Havre 650,000 1,300,000 28 Colmar Grand Est 625,000 1,230,000 29 Metz 600,000 1,200,000 30 Nancy 600,000 1,200,000

Tourist stays by region The following table shows the most visited regions by number of tourist stays in 2023. Region Non-residents Residents Total stays Île-de-France 48,103,742 34,912,658 83,016,400 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur 22,458,611 34,786,219 57,244,830 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 15,231,904 36,504,992 51,736,896 Occitanie 12,946,387 39,828,447 52,774,834 Nouvelle-Aquitaine 10,854,903 38,605,194 49,460,097 Grand Est 10,207,115 18,427,660 28,634,775 Brittany 4,842,663 20,516,288 25,358,951 Normandy 4,201,976 16,342,198 20,544,174 Pays de la Loire 4,118,552 19,273,841 23,392,393 Corsica 3,982,447 8,593,114 1,257,5561 Hauts-de-France 3,611,248 16,119,055 19,730,303 Centre-Val de Loire 3,544,809 10,872,911 14,417,720 Bourgogne-Franche-Comté 2,713,590 11,258,469 1,397,2059 Total 146,817,947 315,346,796 460,271,796

Most visited tourist sites in France The following ranking lists the 30 most visited cultural sites in France in 2023. Notre-Dame de Paris is not included. Rank Site Location Visitors 1 Disneyland Paris Marne-la-Vallée 15,000,000 2 Sacré-Cœur Basilica Paris 13,500,000 3 Louvre Paris 8,900,000 4 Palace of Versailles Versailles 8,100,000 5 Eiffel Tower Paris 6,300,000 6 Vieux Lyon Lyon 6,000,000 7 Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes Lourdes 4,700,000 8 Muséum national d'histoire naturelle Paris 3,500,000 9 Honfleur (harbour) Honfleur 3,500,000 10 Musée d'Orsay Paris 3,000,000 11 Strasbourg Cathedral Strasbourg 3,000,000 12 Rouen (historic centre) Rouen 3,000,000 13 Parc Astérix Plailly 2,800,000 14 Centre Pompidou Paris 2,600,000 15 Puy du Fou Les Epesses 2,500,000 16 Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière Lyon 2,500,000 17 Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie Paris 2,300,000 18 ZooParc de Beauval Beauval 2,000,000 19 Futuroscope Poitiers 2,000,000 20 Saint-Malo (ramparts) Saint-Malo 2,000,000 21 Arc de Triomphe Paris 2,000,000 22 Mont-Saint-Michel Normandy 1,500,000 23 Étretat (cliffs) Étretat 1,500,000 24 Château de Chambord Chambord 1,500,000 25 Fondation Louis Vuitton Paris 1,500,000 26 Reims Cathedral Reims 1,500,000 27 Sainte-Chapelle Paris 1,400,000 28 Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac Paris 1,300,000 29 Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations Marseille 1,300,000 30 Chartres Cathedral Chartres 1,300,000

Touristic regions Paris

Paris, the capital city of France, is the third most visited city in the world.

It has some of the world's largest and renowned museums, including the Louvre, which is the most visited art museum in the world, but also the Musée d'Orsay which, like the nearby Musée de l'Orangerie, is mostly devoted to impressionism, and Centre Georges Pompidou, dedicated to Contemporary art.

Paris hosts some of the world's most recognizable landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower, which is the most-visited paid monument in the world, the Arc de Triomphe, the cathedral of Notre-Dame, or the Sacré-Cœur on Montmartre. The Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie, located in Parc de la Villette, is the biggest science museum in Europe. Near Paris are located the Palace of Versailles, the former palace of the Kings of France, now a museum, and the medieval village of Provins. Both attractions are protected as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

French Riviera

With more than 10 million tourists a year, the French Riviera (French: Côte d'Azur), in Southeastern France, is the second leading tourist destination in the country, after the Parisian region.

According to the Côte d'Azur Economic Development Agency, it benefits from 300 days of sunshine per year, of coastline and beaches, 18 golf courses and 3,000 restaurants.Côte d'Azur Economic Development Agency. p. 31 CRDP-Nice.net Each year the Côte d'Azur hosts 50% of the world's superyacht fleet, with 90% of all superyachts visiting the region's coast at least once in their lifetime.Côte d'Azur Economic Development Agency, p. 66

Main cities on the French Riviera include Nice, Antibes and Cannes; Cap Ferrat is also a popular destination. Cannes hosts the annual Cannes Film Festival. Tourists often visit Port-Cros National Park, east of Toulon, as well as the city-state of Monaco, famous for its Monte Carlo Casino, near the Italian border.

Provence

A large part of Provence, with Marseille as its leading city, was designed as the 2013 European Capital of Culture. Numerous famous natural sites can be found in the region, as the Gorges du Verdon, the Camargue, the Calanques National Park and the typical landscape of Luberon. Provence hosts dozens of renowned historical sites like the Pont du Gard, the Arles' Roman Monuments or the Palais des Papes in Avignon. Several smaller cities also attracts a lot of tourists, like Aix-en-Provence, La Ciotat or Cassis, on the Mediterranean Sea coastline.

Loire Valley

Another major destination are the Châteaux (castles) of the Loire Valley. The French Revolution saw a number of the great French châteaux destroyed and many ransacked, their treasures stolen. The overnight impoverishment of many of the deposed nobility, usually after one of its members lost his or her head to the guillotine, saw many châteaux demolished.

During World War I and World War II, some chateaux were commandeered as military headquarters. Some of these continued to be used this way after the end of the Second World War.

This World Heritage Site is known for its architectural heritage, in its historic towns such as Amboise, Angers, Blois, Chinon, Orléans, and Saumur, and for its castles, such as the Châteaux d'Amboise, de Chambord, d'Ussé, de Villandry, de Chenonceau and de Montsoreau, which illustrate the ideals of the French Renaissance.

French Alps

The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such as the Mont Blanc massif, are shared with Switzerland and Italy.

More than 20 skiing resorts make it a popular destination among Europeans in the winter.

Corsica

Corsica is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea after Sicily, Sardinia and Cyprus. It is a popular attraction for tourists with both cultural aspects (with its main cities Ajaccio and Bastia and smaller towns like Porto-Vecchio and Sartène) and geographical features (Parc naturel régional de Corse).

The Calanques de Piana and Scandola Nature Reserve are listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The island is long at longest, wide at widest, has of coastline, more than 200 beaches, and is very mountainous, with Monte Cinto as the highest peak at and around 120 other summits of more than .

Mountains comprise two-thirds of the island, forming a single chain. Forests make up 20% of the island.

Other tourist attractions

Panthéon Sacré-Coeur Palais des Tuileries Cimetière du Père-Lachaise Palais du Luxembourg Centre Georges-Pompidou Place de la Concorde

Notable places Cities

France has many cities of cultural interest, some of them are classified as "Town of Art and History" by the French Ministry of Culture. All major cities in France are worth seeing since they all have cultural and historic attributes.

Villages

Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (English: "The most beautiful villages of France") is an independent association, created in 1982, that aims to promote small and picturesque French villages of quality heritage. As of 2008, 152 villages in France have been labelled as the "Plus Beaux Villages de France".

There are a few criteria before entering the association: the population of the village must not exceed 2,000 inhabitants, there must be at least two protected areas (picturesque or legendary sites, or sites of scientific, artistic or historic interest), and the decision to apply must be taken by the municipal council.

Specific destinations Religious sites