Where is the best area in France to visit for cathedrals?

Question

My girlfriend and I are looking to go to France in April to view the cathedrals, and generally have a good time. We're students, so we'd be looking to be away for a week at most, and obviously would like to do a bit more than see the cathedrals.

Art is her passion however, and that's priority. I need to know where would be the best place, ie. Where are the most cathedrals located? Expenses are also an issue, I had a look for tours through google, but couldn't come up with much.

Any suggestions/advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Answer 1

the "oldest" church in its' "original" condition is in poitiers... just a few hours outside of paris about halfway between paris & bordeaux.   small compared to  chartes(right outside of paris) or notre dame, but very interesting & should not be missed.....very simple to take the train for a day or overnight to see the town.....

you don't really need to pay for a tour --  get a good guidebook or go online to get your info.

Answer 2

most beautiful cathedrals are in north of France. you should stay in paris, and then take rail tickets to visit :

- in paris : Notre-Dame de Paris

- in Saint-Denis (north of paris, very close, 15 min by subway) : 1st gothic cathedral of the world, royal tumbs

- in chartres ( 50 min from paris by railway)

- in amiens (1 h from paris by railway)

- in beauvais (1 h from paris by railway) : highest vault in europe.

- in reims (1 h 30 from paris by railway)

- strasbourg is far (2h30)

so you can visit other cities and then come back in paris to have very good time.

Answer 3

Don't take a tour, unless you can find one that is mostly churches.

Remember, there is never more than one cathedral in any city, it's the central church, the Cardinal's seat, so don't expect to be able to stay in one town and see three or four Cathedrals right there.

Notre Dame is the Cathedral of Paris, and it's right in the center of town.  I stayed in the Quartier Latin and walked to ND in about five minutes.  The Cathedrals in Riems, and Mont St., Michel are very beautiful and very historic.  but there is a Cathedral in every major city.

Answer 4

There are cathedrals all over France, but if she is into Gothic architecture, the largest concentration of gothic cathedrals and other buildings is in the region north of Paris: Val d'Oise and Oise. Further north, the cathedral of Amiens is one of the most beautiful. The Reims Cathedral in the Champagne region (north east of Paris) is worth a trip too.

As you may have noticed, there is a bug on Yahoo Answers these days and it is impossible to insert links. But enter "office tourisme " + the names I mentioned above and you will find the tourist office websites. You will find info on the Château of Chantilly, whis also has a great art collection. However, apart from gothic and religious architecture, this region is not the most touristic or the most fun for young people.

If you go to Wikipedia and enter "List of cathedrals in France" you will see that it is hard to miss a cathedral wherever you are in France. Some are more beautiful or famous than others of course.

If you decide to stay in Paris, you will have Notre Dame (my favorite, actually), the Saint-Chapelle and many beautiful gothic churches in every district. And more fun! From there you can also take a train to a lot of other towns for day or overnight trips.

Don't go on tours, just plan your tour yourself and take the train. It is cheap. If you stay in a region outside Paris accomodation is very cheap too (especially Bed & Breakfasts). By cheap I mean under 50 € / night for 2, including breakfast. In Paris it is more difficult to find cheap accomodation in April, one of the busiest months but it is possible too. Check the following sites:

- homelidays.fr

- abritel.fr

- eurocheapo.com (on the left, select "hotels by price")

- voyages-sncf.com (the railway website. If you book 30 to 90 days ahead you get the best deals)

Answer 5

Probably Paris.  Throughout time, Paris has been the main place to be in France.   As of now, about 20 percent of the enitre population rests in this one city.  

I know it may seem a bit cliche to just be in Paris, but you can look at traveling to places like the Cote d'Ivoire, Nice, Avignon.

Those seem to be other hot spots for tourists.

Answer 6

France's best cathedrals are in Notre-Dame (Paris), Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres, Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rouen, Cathédrale Notre-Dame d'Amiens (Amiens) and Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims. we can also mention the cathedrals in Strasbourg, Nice, or LOurdes.

So the best option would be a small tours , the TGV is not that expensive and you can find great small hotels at up to 50 euros a night. IF not, the best option would be to stay in Paris and try reaching the small villages in l'Ile-de-france. See http://gofrance.about.com/od/cathedrals/...

Answer 7

You mean where "are"; right? Cause there are a lot of cathedrals in France:

Strasbourg

Chartres

Paris

Reims

Beauvais

Bourges

Rouen

Amiens

are the cities where you will find the most beautiful cathedrals in France.

Answer 8

Of course there's the obvious cathedral Notre Dame in Paris- DON'T MISS THAT ONE.  But I have a suggestion.  My husband and I went to France last Year and went to the most amazing place I've ever been called Le Mont St Michel.  It's a tiny island located about 3 hours by train from Paris in the Normandy region of France.  It houses an abbey (cathedral) that was built in the 800's by Benedictine Monks.  It's incredible!!!!!!!!!!