Discover France's hidden countryside gems

Between hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games, reopening the doors to Notre-Dame and marking 80 years since the Normandy landings, 2024 was a banner year for tourism in France. More than 100 million travelers visited the country, spending a record €71 billion ($81 billion)-12% more than in 2023. And the bulk of them, unsurprisingly, spent considerable time in Paris.

There’s reason to visit the capital this summer too-from the David Hockney retrospective at the Louis Vuitton Foundation to the Centre Pompidou’s final exhibitions before a five-year renovation begins in September. But there are always reasons to tack on a stay outside the city limits, either within the Ile-de-France region that surrounds Paris or slightly farther afield.

"We’ve seen a clear rise in interest for countryside or coastal escapes as add-ons to Paris, especially among seasoned travelers who’ve already ‘done’ the capital before," says Joan Roca, founder and chief executive officer of Essentialist, a luxury members-only travel planning service. It’s part of a broader shift toward slower, more intentional travel, he explains. "Our members are increasingly looking to balance the energy and culture of the city with somewhere more restorative. In fact, around 45% of members planning a Paris trip now ask to combine it with a countryside getaway."

Here are five countryside and seaside properties that can be easily added to any Parisian sojourn, chosen either for their fresh appeal or for flying under the radar.

Le Doyenné

Travel time from Paris: 45-60 minutes by car or 35 minutes by train from Gare d’Austerlitz

If you only have a night to skip town, use it wisely and take the train 25 miles south of Paris to the village of Saint-Vrain. The star Australian chefs James Henry and Shaun Kelly, who were instrumental in propelling the neo-bistro boom in Paris, planted roots here in 2017, working to turn a 19th century château estate that belonged to the Borghese family into a destination for modern luxury. It opened to the public in 2022 with a farm-to-table restaurant, regenerative vegetable garden, an orchard with all sorts of heirloom fruiting trees and an 11-room inn.

The tasting menus at lunch and dinner-which almost exclusively use ingredients grown and raised on-site-have drawn food and wine industry pros and in-the-know travelers from all over the world. Meals almost always begin with seasonal barbajuan-a ricotta-stuffed fritter that’s common throughout the Riviera-and might follow with a vibrant crudités course and pork chops from the duo’s forest-raised pigs.

As for the rooms, they’re spread across two floors and keep with the country house spirit-each is minimally appointed but comfortable, with handmade ceramic side tables, wooden headboards, original floor tiles and preserved wooden beams.

Make no mistake, this is a restaurant where you sleep for one night versus a traditional hotel: You won’t find a reception desk, nor a minibar or a television in your room. But you won’t miss them, either. Especially not if you follow your meal with an evening stroll in the gardens and a nightcap in front of a crackling fire. From $320 per night

Hotel Bellevigne

Travel time from Paris: 3 hours 15 minutes by car or 1 hour 40 minutes by train to Dijon station

In the months since it opened last fall, Bellevigne has quickly established itself as an affordable weekend escape for Parisians. Its 37 inviting rooms-many kitted out with velvet drapes and claw foot tubs-occupy a former 18th century manor house set among 100-year-old trees, all located halfway between Dijon and Beaune in the small wine village of Chambolle-Musigny. But you’re here to sample the region’s top Chardonnays and pinot noirs, either via wine tastings in the property’s vaulted cellar, on bike excursions along La Route des Grands Crus (which connects 37 different wine villages), at local winemaker dinners and jazz nights, or even on hot-air balloon rides. The wine theme carries through to the hotel’s amenities. There’s an on-site wine bar to complement the main restaurant, an outdoor heated pool for leisurely laps and red vine leaf footbaths at the spa-the rare treatment that you can enjoy while imbibing. From $133 per night

Loire Valley Lodges

Travel time from Paris: 1 hour 30 minutes by train from Gare Montparnasse to Tours, followed by a 30-minute taxi ride

If you’ve ever fantasized about sleeping in a glammed-up tree house, Loire Valley Lodges in Touraine takes the concept to dramatic new heights. There’s no Wi-Fi or TV in any of the 18 tree houses, each perched on 13-foot-high stilts and designed by a different artist-though they do have Jacuzzis and binoculars for bird-watching or boar scouting. All of the accommodations are scattered about 750 forested acres that double as an outdoor art gallery, with winding paths cutting through dense woodland to reveal contemporary sculptures and installations by big French names such as Aurèle Ricard and Jacques Bosser

The art-in-the-wild concept extends to all manner of amenities, such as the arboretum, the "bee lodge" that overlooks a series of hives-intended as a space for quiet contemplation-and Philippe Pasqua’s massive bronze vanity skull adorned with butterfly wings that sits by the 20-meter (66-foot) outdoor pool.

Despite laying claim to such supersized delights, the hotel takes great care with the smaller details too. Take breakfast as an example: It arrives in a basket attached to a pulley at the foot of each tree house, so you don’t have to leave your robe and leafy views to dig into fresh pastries, yogurt and breads. From $430 per night

Les Roches Rouges

Travel time from Paris: 1 hour and 25 minutes by plane from Orly to Nice Côte d’Azur airport, followed by an hour drive to the property

Immediately after it opened in 2017, this small-town oasis on the French Riviera became one of the most Instagrammed sea-facing properties in the world, thanks in part to its dramatic saltwater pool carved directly into volcanic rocks that jut out into the Mediterranean. That meant it was impossible to book into its 42 rooms, each done up in a cool 1950s modernist style inspired by the legendary architect Eileen Gray’s villa E-1027 and Le Corbusier’s Cabanon.

Filling a new extension along the coastline, 25 additional rooms make it easier to tap into Les Roches Rouges’ retro Slim Aarons vibes. With an azure blue, white and ochre color palette and Provençal design touches like rattan furniture, terra-cotta sconces and Med-inspired paintings, the new rooms uphold the light-and-breezy aesthetic travelers have loved for years, with a few distinct tweaks like Moorish lattice panels to divide the rooms and bathrooms. And they all link back to the main building-along with its three restaurants-via a botanical garden.

But as with any Riviera escape, you’re here for the water activities, which in this case include paddleboarding, kayaking and jet skiing. Or you can do as most of the guests do and lay out on the jetty, slipping directly into the open sea when you need to cool down. From $616 per night

Villa La Coste & Auberge La Coste

Travel time from Paris: 3 hours on the high-speed train to Aix-en-Provence, followed by a 30-minute taxi ride

In the small Provençal village of Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade near Aix-en-Provence, the 500-acre Château La Coste has for decades punched above its weight. Ever since its owner, the hotelier and art collector Paddy McKillen, turned it into an outdoor installation space in 2002, it’s grown to accommodate projects by a formidable list of talents that includes architect Tadao Ando and sculptor Prune Nourry, plus five restaurants by chefs like Francis Mallmann and Hélène Darroze.

Until this year, the only way to visit was to stay in the estate’s resolutely modern 28-room hotel. But now guests can find an even more rarefied experience by booking into one of three 1,600-square-foot suites designed by André Fu, the Hong Kong — based design icon. Each spans two floors and has two bedrooms, soaring ceilings and windows that look out onto the hills of the Luberon, midcentury-modern-inspired furnishings and ivory walls decorated with art from McKillen’s personal collection.

And if the $3,900-per-night price tag is a bit much, McKillen has also added a more affordable and charming Provençal inn: Auberge La Coste. Its 76 luminous, whitewashed rooms come with their own spate of amenities, like a rotisserie and bar for simple family-style meals served morning, noon and night. From $330 per night