With summer approaching its end, it’s time to switch gears to fall travel planning, and if you happen to be dreaming of an off-season escapade to France once the crowds will have dwindled, you may be wondering where in the country you’ll still get pleasant temps in September.
You may still get the occasional 77°F in Paris, but truth is, if you’re craving that balmy weather that lingered on from the peak of summer, you’ll want to head all the way south.
Here are 5 amazing French destinations where you can continue sporting short shorts, enjoying that sneaky pre-lunch lemon sorbet, and driving convertibles with the top down without catching a cold:
Nice
The jewel of the French Riviera, Nice is a sprawling city best known for its high life, grande cuisine, and UNESCO-listed historic center: known in French as ‘Old Nice’, the latter is a maze of narrow pedestrianized alleys lined with narrow pastel buildings.
Nice can get unpleasantly hot in summer, so much so you’d have a hard time staying away from the nearest AC unit for long, but once temperatures drop a little starting in September, it turns into the perfect seaside getaway. We’re talking lows of 60°F in the evening and highs of 73°F.
In those conditions, the perfect day here can be summarized in exploring the historic center, strolling down Promenade des Anglais, the elegant ocean boardwalk lining the turquoise Mediterranean, gorging on local seafood at La Mère Germaine, and catching the sunset up Castle Hill.
Aix-en-Provence
An inland Southern French city best known for its picture-perfect historic center, criss-crossed by narrow streets and dotted with Italian-style ocher-colored townhouses, Aix-en-Provence is the perfect weekend getaway if you’re hoping to beat the Paris crowds.
Points of interest include the childhood home of Paul Cézanne, the famous Post-Impressionist painter, the leafy Cours Mirabeau, flanked by elegant 18th-century mansions and cafés, and the ancient Saint-Sauveur Cathedral, home to an early-Christian, 5th-century baptistery.
Whether you’re strolling Aix’s maze-like urban layout, or eating alfresco in a local restaurant like Les Galinas (arguably the best Mediterranean fish stew in town!), you can count on the sun to keep shining most days, and on an average 73°F (dropping to a moderately chilly 57°F at nightfall).
Montpellier
Dubbed by some ‘Paris of the South’, Montpellier is a charming French villerevolving around a beautifully-built Belle Époque downtown, heavily influenced by the capital’s grandiose architecture and wide boulevards.
19th century buildings and opulent cafes flank the main square, Place de la Comedie, whereas the monumental Saint-Pierre Cathedral, a fortress-like church dating back to 1364, features a distinct pair of conical towers, guarding the main entrance, and ethereal rose windows.
Notre-Dame wishes. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, given that it’s only some 6 miles inland from the Mediterranean Sea, Montpellier enjoys pleasant, summer-like weather well into early October: in practical terms, it drops to 59°F minimum, and reaches 77°F max.
Aigues-Mortes
Yep, places like this do exist in real life: a medieval city lining the banks of a bubblegum pink saline lake—due to a pink algae that resides in it—Aigues-Mortes is one of the most underrated destinations in France, with smaller crowds year-round, and warm-enough temperatures come fall.
Its Old Town, built mainly in the Middle Ages, is almost entirely preserved, and still fenced by imposing walls, while Salin d’Aigues-Mortes, a renowned salt manufacturer lying outside the fortifications, offerstours of the Roman-era salt flats that surround the city on petit trains.
Due to its proximity to the Mediterranean, about 5 miles inland only, Aigues-Mortes enjoys a prolonged summer-like climate, and it is one of the warmest French spots heading into September, with average lows of 60.8°F, and highs of 78,8°F.
Ajaccio
The capital of Corsica, an underrated island off the coast of Southern France, Ajaccio is a bustling port city boasting luxurious Italianate mansions dating back centuries, picture-perfect piazzas, and ocher-colored buildings that seem to emanate a golden glow under the sun.
The main draw for tourists here is the mix of culture and coastal relaxation: for the history buffs, Ajaccio is the birthplace of none other than Napoléon Bonaparte, and the local Notre-Dame Cathedral, a richly decorated Baroque gem, is where he was baptized.
If you’re here for beaches, you’ll find a serene stretch of golden sand in Sant-François Beach, beneath the Miollis Citadel, and crystal-clear waters at Trottel, a short 15-minute walk from downtown. With daytime highs near 79°F, and a nighttime average of 62°F, it’s just the perfect sunbathing weather.
Bonifacio
Corsica is a big island, and it has no shortage of amazing seaside getaways to pick from. Ajaccio may be the capital, but if you’re keen on beating the crowds, soaking up all that Old World allure, and add in a little bit of swimming, Bonifacio is where it’s at.
The island’s most emblematic town, it has medieval stone houses perched atop vertiginous cliffs, cobblestone-paved pathways, and a selection of paradisaical beaches, from Rondinara, a crescent-shaped bay hugged by turquoise seas, to the white-sanded Santa Giulia.
Better even, it’s still shorts weather in Bonifacio even when most of France, particularly its northern provinces, are being battered by that autumnal rain. It can get as warm as 83°F during the day, cooling down to 64°F in the evenings.
Vinicius Costa
Vini, our senior lead writer at Travel Off Path, has over 60+ countries under his belt (and currently weaving tales from Paris!), and a knack for turning off-the-beaten-path experiences into informative stories that will have you packing your bags.
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