20 highlights from this year's road trip in France

Few holidays offer as much variety and adventure as a road trip. New cities and destinations every few days, with the chance to experience everything from castles to cottages, mountains to the sea, and vineyards to beaches. This year marked our third time piling into the family car and hitting the road across Europe. Unlike previous trips, the whole family agreed on the destination: a French road trip—from Alsace in the east to Brittany in the west. Add Burgundy, the Loire Valley, and Normandy to the itinerary, and you have a 500-kilometer journey filled with family, adventure, and even the dog tagging along.

The trip was a whirlwind of highlights, blending both new discoveries and beloved favorites. Here’s a curated selection of the twenty best, biggest, and most unforgettable experiences!

1. Biggest surprise – The Vosges

On the border between Alsace and Brittany lies the mountain range The Vosges, with mountain peaks that reach up to 1500 meters above sea level. It is a verdant landscape with beautiful valleys, ski resorts, hiking trails and grazing cows. It feels very much like an untouched Alps, with very few tourists.

We drove across the mountain range and among other things hiked up to the highest peak Le Grand Ballon and the large radar facility. An incredibly beautiful area!

2. Most beautiful city – Dijon

We mainly went to Dijon to buy mustard of all kinds from any of the four remaining mustard producers, but we were greeted by a city that charmed us all. We stayed centrally in a hotel in an old monastery and had time to both visit Dijon's large food market, shop for truffles, eat at one of the many restaurants and buy an exorbitant number of different kinds of mustard. Dijon leaves you wanting more, I want to go back here for a weekend just to enjoy it.

3. Coolest castle – Chateau de Chambord

It does not matter if you have previously been to the castles of Versailles, Neuschwanstein or Pena Palace. Chateau de Chambord in the Loire Valley is the castle of all castles. With its 400 rooms, this is one of the world's largest boasting buildings ever. In total, it is said that the castle was only inhabited for 7 weeks, a completely unreasonably short time for a castle that cost a small country's fortune.

4. Sweetest village – Eguisheím

Alsace has some of Europe's most beautiful villages and the region has become a favorite with us. This year we stayed in Eguisheim, which was a stroke of luck. The village is sweeter than sugar and the houses are built in circles around the center, a clever way of using the back of the residential buildings as protective walls. If you have not yet traveled along the Alsace wine route, it is a hot tip.

5. Best wine tasting – Domaine Borgnat

Just west of Burgundy’s Chablis region lies the charming wine estate, Domaine Borgnat. This small castle and its XNUMXth-century wine cellar offer both accommodations and dining. During the wine tasting, you’re led through the historic underground passages, sampling a range of the estate’s excellent and surprisingly affordable wines.

We stayed in a medieval tower spanning three floors, with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a kitchen. Staying in a tower became extra thrilling when the thunderstorm of the century rolled in—but that’s a story for another time.

6. Best Wine Festival – Eguisheim

We were lucky enough to catch a wine festival in Eguisheim, and it was an absolute blast! For just €9, you received a wine glass to keep and could sample any of the more than 100 local wines listed in the festival guide. It was the perfect chance to explore the region’s different grape varieties, discover wineries worth visiting, and experience the subtle differences in sweetness between wines.

7. Largest tidal difference - Brittany

In previous years, we’ve marveled at the dramatic tides of Mont Saint-Michel in Brittany, but this year we got to witness the tide’s impact on the villages up close. Rivers that flow backward when the tide comes in, and houses that become completely isolated on islands at high tide. If anyone can explain why the sailboats don’t tip over during low tide (pictured below), I’m all ears!

8. Most tourists – Concarneau

Sure, I had read that Concarneau was a popular town to visit in southern Brittany, but I didn’t expect to spend 45 minutes hunting for parking or to find the streets packed with tourists. Apparently, we Swedes are the last to discover Brittany—everyone else in Europe seems to have arrived long before us!

9. Coolest caves – Loire Valley troglodytes

The Loire Valley is full of fascinating caves, a byproduct of the thousands of castles built in the region. Castles needed stone, which had to be carved directly from the bedrock, creating an underground world. Over the years, people built homes and wine cellars here—known as troglodytes. In Swedish, “troglodytes” translates to “cave people,” but in the Loire Valley, it’s so much more. These caves allowed for food storage, mushroom cultivation, and naturally cool, even temperatures inside homes year-round—a beautifully simple way of life.

10. Most Poignant Contemporary History – The D-Day Beaches

We first visited the D-Day beaches and war cemeteries in Normandy two years ago. This year, we returned to explore the places we hadn’t seen before. Every time I visit, I am deeply moved by this recent history that shaped today’s Europe and the world—a region that challenges the mind and leaves a lasting impression.

11. Most beautiful local festival – Fête Bretonne

By chance, we managed to slip into the very popular and delightfully local Fête Bretonne in Le Pouliguen, Brittany. Under large tents with long tables and benches, local dishes and wine were served. Mussels were cooked nonstop in gigantic pans, while the steam from crepe irons hung thickly over the bustling food stalls. A glass of wine, cider, or beer cost just €XNUMX, and a generous plate of mussels was only €XNUMX. All of this came with the lively soundtrack of Breton folk music, with Celtic bagpipes and fiddles filling the air. An absolutely unforgettable experience!

12. Best local dish – Galettes with dry cider

I have a soft spot for a truly excellent galette or crêpe paired with a glass of local dry cider. Both Normandy and Brittany excel at their galettes (savory buckwheat “food crepes”) and crêpes (sweet wheat flour versions). Few things beat a galette loaded with local cheeses and charcuterie, or a crêpe flambéed with calvados, filled with apple cider jelly and topped with vanilla ice cream. Pure happiness on a plate!

13. Most beautiful accommodation – Château Golf des Sept Tours

There are probably few places in the world where it’s as easy to find an affordable castle hotel as in the Loire Valley. We stayed at Château Golf des Sept Tours, a golf castle with an XNUMX-hole course set in the heart of the Loire countryside. The surroundings were breathtaking, and the rooms were beautifully appointed—but oddly, we were almost the only guests. Not that we minded—it’s not every day you get to feel like lords of the castle!

14. Most beautiful castle garden – Château de Villandry

We discovered the most beautiful garden on this trip—and one of the most stunning I’ve seen in years—at Château de Villandry. Every year, XNUMX new plants are added alongside the perennials and trees that endure season after season. The garden is a vibrant display of color and symmetry, dotted with benches where you can pause and soak in the beauty. It’s a place that impresses every visitor, no matter their level of gardening interest.

15. The craziest museum – Le Musée du Champignons

One spot that required a bit of persuasion from the family was the Mushroom Museum, Le Musée du Champignon. Set in a large cave in the Loire Valley, the museum teaches you everything about mushrooms and mushroom cultivation—and if you’re a child, you even get to take home your own little mushroom farm. You can see how a commercial mushroom farm operates and watch XNUMX different varieties being grown. I found it absolutely fascinating—though interest levels varied across the family…

16. Most mysterious place – Carnac rocks in Brittany

Just outside the town of Morbihan in Brittany lies the Carnac Stones—Europe’s largest collection of standing stones. Erected some XNUMX years ago, the area around Carnac boasts more than XNUMX stones arranged in mysterious straight lines that stretch across a vast landscape. Who built them and why remains a mystery, though countless theories abound, adding to the fascination of this ancient site.

(A completely irrelevant fact in the context for those of you who have read the Asterix series: Obelix was a stone supplier)

17. Coziest seaside resort – Le Pouliguen

We stayed a few nights at the western end of the long beautiful beach The Baule in Brittany. La Baule is one of Europe's longest beaches and the 9 kilometers of fine-grained sand are lined with luxury villas and hotels. The nearest center for us was Pouliguen, a very cozy little town with many restaurants and a large port. Le Pouliguen is a very French seaside resort and 95% of all tourists are returning French looking for peace and quiet. Genuine and simply nice.

18. Most beautiful stop on the road – Hildesheim

No European road trip is complete without at least one stop in Germany! This year, we spent a night in Hildesheim, a city listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its stunning half-timbered houses. A true gem that I would happily return to again and again.

19. Most unexpected lunch companion – A goat

It’s not often that locals disturb you at a restaurant, but this time, one got a little too close. We were having lunch in the Vosges at a ferme-auberge—a farm with both accommodations and meals—when a goat decided to join us. Slowly, it crept up to our table and nearly snatched a slice of bread from the plate before Anders managed to grab its horns and lead it away. Lesson learned: never mess with goats—they’re stubborn creatures with surprisingly formidable horns!

20. Best repeat favorite – Honfleur

We wrapped up our France trip with a few nights in one of our favorite towns in Normandy. Honfleur never fails to charm, and the restaurant scene here is exceptional. We indulged in a few pans of clams, several plates of oysters, and sampled some of the region’s incredible cheeses. A perfect ending to an unforgettable road trip through France!