France is Europe's second-largest country, bounded by the North Sea and the English Channel to the north, and the Mediterranean Sea on France's southern border. The island of Corsica also forms part of France.
France offers a wide choice of activities to holidaymakers - the world-famous monuments, historic buildings and museums of France's capital Paris and other of France's main cities; skiing in the French Alps; fabulous beaches on France's southern Riviera; world-renowned French cuisine and, of course, who could forget France's fabulous wines?
France experiences three types of climate: continental, Mediterranean and oceanic.
Continental-type weather is found over eastern and central France and is characterised by colder winters and warmer summers than the other two climate types found in France, with a fair amount of rainfall.
France's Mediterranean climate is found in France's south and is characterised by hot summers, cool winters and not much rainfall.
Western areas of France experience an oceanic climate, where temperature variation is small, there is plenty of rain, the summers are cool and winters clement.
Favourite destination for romantics and honeymoon couples is France's capital Paris. For families and fun-lovers of all ages, Paris also boasts a Disneyland.
A cultural colossus, a visitor to France is regaled with France's long lineage of writers, painters, architects and artists of all genres - all a further incentive to visit French shores.
For lovers of fine wines and champagne, look no further than France's rolling vineyards in the Loire, the Champagne area, the Rhone Valley, Bordeaux, to name but a few of France's world-class wine regions.
However, if it's sun, beach and sand that you're after, France does not disappoint. On the south coast are the beaches of the French Riviera - Nice, Cannes, Marseille- favourites also of film-lovers snatching a moment of relaxation during France's annual Cannes Film Festival. On France's north western shores, Brittany's beaches are also popular.
France is also a favourite get-away venue for holiday-makers seeking rolling hills, sun-drenched fields and a chance to enjoy France's beautiful countryside, for instance France's wonderful Dordogne region.
Ski resorts in the French Alps, along the Rhône and in France's Midi-Pyrenees offer some of the best skiing in the world.
