After 6 years of living in Paris and skimming the whole country of France for real secret spots casual tourists who can’t see past the Eiffel Tower or the Riviera usually miss, I realized some of the best gems are right under our noses.
You truly don’t need to hop on a Homeric train journey across France to see medieval walls in Carcassonne, nor spend upwards of $400 on a private guided tour to Mont Saint-Michel, if you have a penchant for fairytale locations that look spit out by AI.
4 of France’s most historic cities, so unbelievably beautiful you’ll wonder if you’re actually just daydreaming, all have stunning Gothic cathedrals, affordable hotels starting from only $60 a night, and no Eiffel Tower petition scammers in sight.
Oh, and the best part? They all lie roughly 1 hour by train from Paris, so if you’re staying in the city for a week and fancy escaping the capital for the day, here are a few places well worth having on your radar:
Reims
France’s most famous cathedral is tucked away in the heart of Paris, on a river island plagued by scammers, pickpockets, and petty thefts, but did you have any idea the most historically consequential religious edifice in the country is a whole 90 miles outside the capital, in the Champagne city of Reims?
The cathedral where French kings used to be crowned, Notre-Dame de Reims, can easily make a play for the title of France’s prettiest Gothic masterpiece, with its imposing twin towers, monumental main portal, intricately carved with biblical figures and saints, and enormous stone-traced rose windows.
And I’m not exaggerating the royal bit, either: 32 French kings were crowned in Reims.
Reims’ cultural and historical importance can’t be understated, either. Before Paris ever rose up to be a powerhouse on the banks of the Seine, this former Roman settlement was once one of the land’s most important, sprawling provincial capitals.
Known as Durocortorum, it became the capital of Gallia Belgica and ranked among the largest cities in Roman Gaul… the precursor to modern-day France.
To this day, you can still find a handful of Roman landmarks scattered around town, like the colossal Porte de Mars, a monumental Roman arch stretching over 100 feet across that once marked an entrance into ancient Durocortorum, and the Cryptoporticus, an underground gallery that once formed part of the city’s enormous Roman forum.
I’ve been to Reims twice now, though, and I’ll be the first to admit the Roman lore isn’t what keeps bringing me back.
If you ever get the chance to, swing by Louise, this cozy little crêperie in central Reims, and order their Crêpe Tatin: caramelized apples piled over a thin crêpe, finished with apple-cider sorbet and salted-butter caramel.
It’s the kind of shit that makes half the overpriced desserts back in Paris taste dull afterwards.
Average Prices In Reims
- Takeaway bakery snack (like a quiche, croque, or filled baguette): $4–7
- Main dish at a casual, local-frequented restaurant: around $20
- 3-course meal at a mid-range restaurant: around $38 per person
- Budget B&B or guesthouse: around $65–90 per night
- Comfortable 3-star hotel: around $120–125 per night
- Single public transport ticket: around $2.30
- Taxi: around $2.05 per mile
How To Get To Reims From Paris
- Take a direct TGV INOUI from Paris Gare de l’Est to Reims Centre
- The fastest trains take just 46 minutes
- Tickets start from around $17 one-way when booked ahead
Reims Centre station is within short walking distance of the main sights, so you won’t need a rental car or taxi once you arrive, but you’ll want to make sure you book to Reims Centre rather than Champagne-Ardenne TGV if you want to arrive directly in town.
Some trains stop at Champagne-Ardenne TGV, requiring a short regional train connection into central Reims, so keep that in mind.
Rouen
Reads a bit like Reims, but sounds entirely different. Paste both onto your favorite translation app and have fun practicing it, as you’ll need to keep that elementary-level French of yours sharp if you’re going here.
No beret-clad tourists, petition scammers, or €6 coffees:
Just winding lanes curving seemingly with no end in sight, lined with colorful half-timbered buildings perfectly preserved from the Middle Ages, leafy squares bordered by crêperies and petits cafés with secluded backyards, and a monumental Gothic beaut of a cathedral towering above it all.
I’m not sure why everyone gushes over the Duomo di Milano when Notre-Dame de Rouen is sitting right under their very noses: topped with two strikingly mismatched bell towers, and preceded by an insanely ornate, stone-lace façade.
Rue du Gros-Horloge has to be the prettiest high street in France, with a cobbled pedestrian lane running right underneath a Renaissance Astronomical Clock, with golden detailing, moon phases, and rows of leaning timbered houses framing it, leading straight to the cathedral.
And if you wanna photograph something truly picturesque, head over to Rue Eau-de-Robec to find a tiny little stream trickling alongside curved-in, centuries-old medieval townhouses, with restaurants and local shops tucked into their ground floors.
I promised the editorial team I’d keep the History buff in me firmly locked in his chains for this one, but I should probably mention that Place du Vieux-Marché is the exact spot where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake on May 30, 1431.
And not to be cheeky, but history really went from burning saints to grilling beef around here, ’cause Coquillette, right on the square, serves a fire bacon cheeseburger. Sorry, I’ll see myself out.
Average Prices In Rouen
- Takeaway bakery snack (crêpe, quiche, or a baguette): $4–7
- Main dish at a casual, local-frequented restaurant: around $17–20
- 3-course meal at a mid-range restaurant: around $35 per person
- Budget B&B or guesthouse: around $65–90 per night
- Comfortable 3-star hotel: around $120 per night
- Single public transport ticket: around $2.10
- Taxi: around $2.05 per mile
How To Get To Rouen From Paris
- Take a direct TER or NOMAD train from Paris Saint-Lazare to Rouen Rive Droite
- The fastest trains take around 1 hour 15 minutes
- Tickets can start from around $12 one-way when booked ahead
There are numerous direct trains throughout the day, so you don’t need to worry about changing somewhere along the way, and Rouen Rive Droite station is right by the Historic Center, roughly a 10-minute walk from the Astronomical Clock.
You absolutely don’t need to worry about transportation once you’re there: virtually all of the main sights in the Old Town are within 10 to 15 minutes of each other on foot.
Check The New Travel Rules Before Flying To Europe This Fall
Going to Europe in the near future?
You’ll want to make sure you’re up to speed with the continent’s new border and travel regulations.
Americans visiting for a short stay are now required to register their fingerprints and facial image when crossing an external border into the Schengen Area, a passport-free travel zone comprising 29 countries, including France.
This is designed in part to ensure tourists comply with the Schengen Area’s rules, specifically the (infamous) 90-day limit.
Head over to the Entry Requirement Checker, type in your destination, and check what entry rules apply as a U.S. passport holder.
Chartres
Now, if you’re yearning for the small-town vibe, rather than the bustle of a mid-size French city, Chartres is your best bet for a storybook getaway from Paris without the complicated logistics.
With around 38,000 residents, awash in pastel-tone, half-timbered townhouses dotted around a compact, cobbled Old Town, and straddling the fast-flowing Eure river, Chartres’ pride and joy is its UNESCO-listed central cathedral, one of the earliest, in fact, to have attained that coveted title.
Actually, Notre-Dame de Chartres was the first cathedral in France to make UNESCO’s World Heritage List, all the way back in 1979.
Before, you know, the badge seemingly started getting slapped onto any and all crumbling medieval ruins or half-standing fortifications UNESCO could be persuaded to sponsor.
Notre-Dame de Chartres is your archetypal, soaring Gothic ensemble that encapsulates France’s medieval history… except there’s a twist. You might have noticed the towers aren’t exactly twins, and that’s because they were finished centuries apart.
The southern tower, completed around 1170, is the older of the two, crowned by a comparatively austere Romanesque spire, while its northern sister was rebuilt in the flamboyant Gothic style between 1506 and 1513 following a fire.
This gives the local cathedral a lopsided look, as if the south-facing tower was a stern stone needle reaching straight for the heavens, whereas its taller, far more flamboyant northern sister decided subtlety was for the townfolk below.
As for the interior? Expect a cavernous nave housing one of the world’s greatest surviving collections of medieval stained glass: 176 windows in total, with that famous deep-blue hue they literally call Chartres Blue.
Chartres itself is the kind of place that looks like somebody prompted Claude with ‘France, 1421, but make it aggressively adorable’, except it’s actually real, and the shocking part is, there’s only a trickle of tourists taking the easy train ride here from Paris—even French locals seem to be sleeping on it.
Average Prices In Chartres
- Takeaway bakery snack (croissants, quiches, artisanal cakes): $4–7
- Main dish at a casual, local-frequented restaurant: around $16–18
- 3-course meal at a mid-range restaurant: around $29 per person
- Budget B&B or guesthouse: around $65–80 per night
- Comfortable 3-star hotel: around $105 per night
- Single public transport ticket: around $1.75
- Taxi: around $2.40 per mile, plus an initial meter charge of up to roughly $5
How To Get To Chartres From Paris
- Take a direct train from Paris Montparnasse to Chartres
- The fastest trains take just under 1 hour
- Tickets start from around $12 one-way, with plenty of direct departures throughout the day
Chartres station is right by the Historic Center, roughly a 10-minute walk from the Historic Center. The cathedral, the riverfront, and main sights are all easily explored on foot.
Amiens
You might be familiar with this one if you were glued to your phone catching up with Candace Owens’ Becoming Brigitte series, but other than alleged secret identities and increasingly bonkers internet conspiracy lore, Amiens is originally known for its colossal cathedral and river-traversed Historic Center.
Notre-Dame d’Amiens is the largest Gothic building in France, its spire rising a whopping 370 feet above the town’s gabled roofs and crooked alleys. It’s huge, it’s stunning, it’s UNESCO-listed, and it’s so dominant you can basically see it from what feels like miles across the city.
Oh, and don’t miss the 43-foot rose window, redesigned in the 1500s, with flamboyant stone tracery and swirling curves that make the Parisian Notre-Dame’s look like child’s play.
Down from the cathedral quarter, the lower-lying Quartier Saint-Leu is where you’ll find some of the oldest houses in Amiens, with tiny footbridges and little waterways branching off the Somme cutting straight through the neighborhood.
To my fellow sweet fiends, make a speedy beeline to Jean Trogneux and get yourself one of Amiens’ famous macarons d’Amiens.
If you don’t love this town for the winding canals, the picture-perfect medieval buildings, or the absolutely wild presidential-couple lore, then you’ll love it for the almond pastries and the wonderfully unhurried feel.
Average Prices In Amiens
- Takeaway bakery snack (ham-filled baguettes, crêpes, or pains au chocolat): $4–7
- Main dish at a casual, local-frequented restaurant: around $17–18
- 3-course meal at a mid-range restaurant: around $35 per person
- Budget B&B or guesthouse: around $80–100 per night
- Comfortable 3-star hotel: around $115 per night
- Single public transport ticket: around $1.90
- Taxi: around $2.40 per mile, plus the initial meter charge
How To Get To Amiens From Paris
- Take a direct TER from Paris Gare du Nord to Amiens
- The fastest trains take around 1 hour 5 minutes
- Tickets start from around $12 one-way when booked ahead
Numerous train departures are scheduled every day, so there’s no need to change along the way. Similarly to the other entries on this list, Amiens station is right by the city center, some 10 minutes walking from the cathedral and Quartier Saint-Leu.
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