Regions of France – Easily Explained

Regions of France - Easily Explained

France is a country of extraordinary diverse landscapes, cuisine, architecture, and accents of character. That diversity has been organised, since 2016, into 18 regions. 13 regions are in metropolitan France and 5 are overseas regions. Our post will easily explain why the regions changed in 2016 and how each region is different and what makes them so adored by their inhabitants and also by the millions of tourists that visit France each year. 

While the regions are organised into administrative areas, the regions themselves are distinctive and wonderfully different. Each region is a world unto itself, and for the traveller who wants to go beyond postcard France, and understand and experience the country more deeply, knowing a bit about the regions is the best possible starting point.

Why Did the Regions of France Change

On 1 January 2016, France woke up to a fundamentally different administrative map. The change in the number of administrative regions in France took effect on 1 January 2016. The territorial reform was proposed by President François Hollande and voted by the French Parliament in 2014. Prior to this date, metropolitan France had been divided into 22 regions since the early 1970s and it had become administratively complex.

Six regions retained their existing boundaries: Brittany, Île-de-France, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Pays de la Loire, Corsica, and Centre (renamed Centre-Val de Loire).

Seven new large-scale territorial entities were created by merging existing regions. The names of the new merged regions are mostly combinations of the former names — Bourgogne and Franche-Comté became Bourgogne-Franche-Comté; Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne, and Lorraine became Grand Est; Aquitaine, Limousin, and Poitou-Charentes became the vast Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The five overseas regions were unchanged by the reform.

Here's the 13 Metropolitan Regions of France

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

This region was created by the merger of Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes, and it's one of the largest and most geographically dramatic regions in France stretching from the volcanic peaks of the Massif Central and the Auvergne plateau in the west to the soaring summits of the French Alps in the east. The stunning Rhône Valley runs through the heart of it.

Lyon's the regional capital, and considered France’s gastronomic capital. It's the home of the bouchon tradition and of Paul Bocuse’s extraordinary legacy. The region also encompasses Grenoble, the ski resorts of Chamonix and Courchevel, and the beautiful medieval town of Annecy beside its deep blue green lake.

Bourgogne-Franche-Comté

Formed by the union of Burgundy (Bourgogne in French) and Franche-Comté, here you'll find vineyards, Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune and dramatic limestone landscapes of the Jura plateau. Burgundy-Franche-Comté is home to the Comté cheese, vin jaune, and unspoiled natural scenery. 

Dijon, the regional capital, is one of the finest historic cities in France, its medieval streets and exceptional mustard tradition making it worth a visit alone. The Route des Grands Crus through the vineyards of Burgundy is one of the great wine journeys in the world. Our post The Best of Burgundy-Franche-Comté shares the highlights of this region.

Bretagne (Brittany)

One of the six regions that retained its boundaries unchanged in 2016, Brittany occupies the great westward-pointing peninsula at the north-western tip of France, surrounded on three sides by the Atlantic Ocean and the English Channel. It's a region of dramatic coastline, ancient megalithic monuments, Celtic cultural identity, and a cuisine built on outstanding seafood, salted butter, buckwheat galettes, and Breton cider. And it's the region I live in.

Rennes is the regional capital, and the region contains a remarkable concentration of medieval towns, beautiful ports, and the extraordinary island landscapes of the Gulf of Morbihan. Brittany is a wonderful holiday destination.

Centre-Val de Loire

Stretching across the broad agricultural plains of central France and encompassing the middle section of the Loire Valley, this region is defined above all by the Loire, the longest river in France, and by the vast concentration of royal châteaux along its banks.

Chambord, Chenonceau, Amboise, Azay-le-Rideau: the Loire Valley châteaux are among the supreme achievements of French Renaissance architecture, and the valley as a whole has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000. The region also produces some of the finest wines in the Loire appellation, and its capital Orléans is inseparable from the story of Joan of Arc.

Corse (Corsica)

The island of Corsica, which has been French since 1768, when Genoa sold it to France,  just a year before Napoleon Bonaparte was born there, is a region entirely unlike any other in France. It's mountainous, wild, intensely aromatic with the scent of the maquis scrubland, and has a cultural identity all of its own.

The island's interior has a landscape of granite peaks, chestnut forests, and fast-flowing rivers, while the coastline is some of the finest in the Mediterranean boasting clear water. Ajaccio, Napoléon Bonaparte's birthplace, is the regional capital.

Grand Est

The largest of the newly created regions by geographical area is Grand Est. It was formed from the merger of Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne, and Lorraine. Alsace, along the Rhine border with Germany, is storybook cute with half-timbered villages. Riesling and Gewürztraminer vineyards, its choucroute and Christmas markets in Strasbourg and Colmar attract many visitors for their fairytale images.

Champagne, to the west, produces the drink we all love, the world’s most celebrated sparkling wine from the chalky soils around Reims and Épernay. Lorraine is the birthplace of, you guessed it, the Quiche Lorraine. Visit Metz cathedral for some of the finest stained glass in Europe.

Hauts-de-France

The northernmost region of metropolitan France, Hauts-de-France was formed from the merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy and stretches from the Channel coast and the ferry ports of Calais and Dunkirk south through the plains of Flanders and Artois to the cathedral city of Amiens. It's easy to reach from the UK via the Channel ferries. Lille is the regional capital and is a foodies delight. The region is also home to the Somme battlefields and many memorials of WWI and WWII, and also the white cliffs of the Opal Coast.

Île-de-France

The smallest of the metropolitan regions in area but by far the most densely populated, Île-de-France is the region that contains Paris — and is therefore, in population and economic terms, the beating heart of France. It is home to show stoppers like the Louvre, Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe. The region extends well beyond the Péripherique to encompass the great royal palaces of Versailles, and Vaux-le-Vicomte.

Normandie (Normandy)

Normandy occupies the northwestern coast of France between Brittany and the Hauts-de-France. Its dramatic Alabaster Coast cliffs, apple orchards, dairy farms, and half-timbered villages make it a gorgeous region to explore. Normandy has so much to offer, and it's easy to access via the Eurotunnel.

Rouen is the regional capital — the city of the Gothic cathedral, of Joan of Arc, and of Monet’s series of cathedral paintings. Normandy is also the region of the D-Day beaches, of the Bayeux Tapestry, of Mont Saint-Michel rising from its tidal bay, and of the cidre and Calvados that make its gastronomic tradition so distinctive.

Nouvelle-Aquitaine

The largest region in metropolitan France by area, Nouvelle-Aquitaine was created by the merger of Aquitaine, Limousin, and Poitou-Charentes and stretches from the Atlantic coast south to the Pyrenees and east to the edge of the Massif Central. It is a region of extraordinary diversity: the vineyards of Bordeaux and the Médoc in the north-west; the surfing beaches of the Landes coast; the Dordogne Valley with its prehistoric cave paintings and medieval bastide towns; the Basque Country in the south with its entirely distinct language, culture, and cuisine; and the gentle hills of Limousin with their famous cattle. Bordeaux, the regional capital, is one of the great wine cities of the world.

Occitanie

Stretching from the Atlantic Pyrenees in the west to the Mediterranean coast in the east, Occitanie was formed from the merger of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées. You'll find the incredible medieval city of Carcassonne with its double-walled ramparts; the extraordinary Roman monuments of Nîmes; the Pont du Gard aqueduct bridge; the Cathar castles of the Corbières; the pilgrim routes to Santiago de Compostela; and the beautiful town of Uzès. Toulouse is the regional capital, known as the Pink City for its brick-built architecture and as the home of Airbus.

Pays de la Loire

Pays de la Loire occupies the lower reaches of the Loire River as it broadens toward the Atlantic, taking in the city of Nantes.  The wine regions of Muscadet and Anjou, the coastal resort of La Baule, and Le Mans famous for its car racing are all in this region. Nantes is the regional capital, and its extraordinary mechanical elephant on the Île de Nantes (a steampunk mechanical park) is really amazing to see.

Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (PACA)

The most immediately iconic of all the French regions is Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur - its name alone conjures lavender fields, terracotta rooftops, olive groves, and the glittering Mediterranean. Nice is a major city of the French Riviera and Marseille is the regional capital. Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur also encompasses Aix-en-Provence, the Lubéron villages, the calanques of the Marseille coast, and the extraordinary Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild on the Cap Ferrat.

Guide Books to help you plan your trip to France

The 5 Overseas Regions of France

France’s five overseas regions (which also function as overseas departments) — the Régions et Départements d’Outre-Mer, or DROM — are a legacy of France’s colonial history, scattered across three oceans. They elect deputies and senators to the French Parliament, use the euro as their currency, and are full members of the European Union. They were not affected by the 2016 reform.

Guadeloupe

An archipelago of islands in the Caribbean Sea forming the shape of a butterfly, Guadeloupe has been French since 1635 and is one of the most beautiful island groups in the Caribbean.

Martinique

The birthplace of Joséphine de Beauharnais, the wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, Martinique is a volcanic island of great natural beauty in the Lesser Antilles, famous for its rhum agricole — considered by connoisseurs to be among the finest rum in the world.

Guyane (French Guiana)

The only region of France located on the South American mainland, French Guiana is a vast territory of Amazonian rainforest on the northeastern coast of South America, bordering Brazil and Suriname.

La Réunion

A volcanic island in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar, La Réunion is one of the most geographically dramatic of the overseas regions.

Mayotte

The most recently created of the overseas regions, Mayotte is located in the Mozambique Channel between Madagascar and the coast of Africa, it is one of the world’s largest lagoons and a Marine Natural Park.

So now we've looked at all the regions of France and what each region is famous for. I hope you love discovering your favourite region as you travel around this wonderful country. 

Pin Regions of France to read again or share with friends

Related Posts