Visit These Underrated French Cities

France is the world's most visited country. While roughly the size of Texas, with a wealth of diverse regions, languages, and cheeses (one for every day of the year), many of those visitors venture little further than Paris and neighboring Versailles.

As France reopens to American travelers, opportunity exists to see the country without the normal tourist crush, and that will be even more pronounced in some of the country's fantastic cities outside of the capital. Without the normal inflow of travelers, they're as French as they've ever been, and they're waiting to be discovered.

Foreigners have flocked to Nice for its fantastic climate for centuries (it was so popular with English sunseekers the city's main waterfront was named Promenade des Anglais in the 1930s), but with just over 4 million annual visitors, it still sees a fraction of the visitor traffic of Paris. The visitors that do come are here for sunshine. mild weather, sea breezes, sparkling azure coastlines, and a distinctly Mediterannean languor that makes a day spend sunbathing at once invigorating and curiously exhausting.

Visitors will also enjoy sumptuous seafood meals with a distinctly regional flair with dishes like socca, a chickpea pancake. Art lovers will revel in museums dedicated to Matisse and Chagall, or the chic fashions adorning French vacationers up and down the wide swath of beach during the summer months.

Travelers wanting to swap the sprawl of Paris for the more intimate Bordeaux can take a short two hour train ride from the capital. The region's eponymous wine is a top draw (the greater region is home to some 7000 winemakers), but there's more to this charming city, which has the most protected historic buildings of any city in France outside Paris.

As a coastal city, Bordeaux has long been a center for shipping, evident in the city's maritime museum. Visitors can also check out contemporary art exhibits at a museum repurposed from a German U Boat base. Travelers who tire of the historic architecture in the city center can check out the revitalized post-industrial Bacalan neighborhood has recently revitalized to include an interactive wine center, La Cité du Vin, and a sprawling food hall.

Known as the "Pink City" for the prevalence of pink brickwork on the buildings, Toulouse is also a draw for aviation enthusiasts as home to the aircraft manufacturer and a noteworthy space museum (don't miss the replica of the MIR Space Station). The city is also famous for the Instagram-worthy Place du Capitole (yes, also in pink brick), and for numerous walkable spaces including the riverfront and an abundant selection of gardens.

When it's time to dine, the region is famous throughout France as the home of cassoulet. a braised stew of white beans, wine, and duck or pork confit.

Heritage tourists will enjoy Le Havre, a coastal town on the English Channel ("La Manche" in French) at the mouth of the Seine, for it was a major embarkation point for continental emigrants to the United States in the late 19th and 20th centuries. However, the city looks very different now, for much of it was destroyed during the Second World War and rebuilt afterwards with a midcentury modern ethos. The city is also notably where Monet painted Impressionist Sunrise, so there's understandably also a lovely Impressionist Museum.

Generally known as a large industrial port city, Marseille has plenty of hidden gems to entertain visitors. It's the birthplace of bouillabaise, the famous fish stew, and once a major manufacturing point for rope and tobacco products. The tobacco factory shuttered in 1970 and the area La Frice de la Belle de Mai repurposed into a multi-use district with arts, entertainment, shopping, and events.

Otherwise, Marseille is an utterly walkable city. Le Canabiere (a nod to the hemp ropemakers of the district) is a broad avenue with abundant green space, dotted with shops, restaurants, and hotels. Lovers of natural beauty can visit the spectacular Calanques coves just outside town.Lyon

Lyon is known as the gastronomic capital of France, with no fewer than 14 Michelin-starred restaurants. Throughout the rest of the country, many restaurants specialize in Lyonnaise cuisine, marked by hearty meat dishes fragranced with tomatoes, for which the region is famous. Once a center for river commerce, the waterfront area is now a spot for leisurely walks and good food. Visitors to the Old City can peer into the hidden passageways dating back to the Renaissance that were also used by the Resistance during the Occupation.

Strasbourg, the seat of the Grand Est region of France is also the cultural capital of the region of Alsace. Traded between France and Germany five times since 1681, the region's cultural coloring is as much German as it is French. Visitors are even likely to overhear conversations in Alsatian, a regional German dialect.

Visitors should check out the magnificent Gothic cathedral in the city center, which dates back to the 11th century, and stroll among the half-timbered canal houses of Petite France, which has grown to become emblematic of the city and region. Perhaps the most famous Alsatian dish is flammekueche, a flatbread with creme fraiche or mild cream cheese, onions, and bacon.

Cherbourg is another coastal city nearly born of the sea itself. A shipping alternative to Le Havre with a better deepwater port for large vessels, Cherbourg is most famous for being the ill-fated Titanic's only call outside the British Isles. Today, there's an exhibition dedicated to Titanic and other Transatlantic shipping at the city's Cité de la Mer in the historic art deco ocean liner terminal. Visitors can also tour a retired French nuclear submarine, which is the largest submarine open to the public in the world.