France is a hugely popular tourist destination, but a holiday here doesn’t have to break the bank. From amazing museums and dazzling sound and light shows to stunning natural parks and poignant World War II sites, there are plenty of places to visit that won’t cost you a cent. Our well-travelled team have rounded up some of the best and ranked them, starting at number 25.

Click through this gallery to discover which amazing attraction made our number one spot...

While most people come to Bayeux for a glimpse of the famous Bayeux Tapestry, visitors in July and August can enjoy a spectacular sound and light show as an added bonus. From dusk until midnight, a 360-degree film touching on themes of peace and freedom is projected onto the Liberty Tree in the Place de la Liberté, with Bayeux Cathedral providing an impressive backdrop.

Liberty Trees were planted all across France in the aftermath of the French Revolution, but many were later destroyed. Bayeux’s tree, which dates from 1797, is one of only a handful to survive.

Situated in the Parc des Célestins in Vichy, the Source des Célestins is the natural source of the famous bottled water that bears the city’s name. The reputedly healing water gushes out of aragonite rock protected by a glass bell and flows into an elaborate pink stone balustrade with a number of taps around its edge.

Visitors are free to sample as much as they please. It’s best to bring your own container, but if you forget it’s possible to purchase plastic cups from a nearby vending machine.

The Cascade de Sillans is widely considered one of the most beautiful waterfalls in France, and it’s not hard to see why. Its 138-foot (42m) twin falls plunge into a glistening emerald pool surrounded by lush green vegetation. For a delightful day out, spend the morning touring the village of Sillans-la-Cascade, with its charming streets and castle, and then make the 20-minute walk through grassland and forest to the waterfall.

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With a history stretching back to Roman times, the picturesque city of Tours on the banks of the Loire isn’t short of historic buildings, and one of the most impressive is the stately Hôtel Goüin. Once the home of wealthy merchants and silk manufacturers, this grand private mansion was built in the 15th century, with its magnificent Renaissance-style façade added sometime later.

The house is now home to the collection of the Touraine Archaeological Society, offering visitors a sweep of local history. Entrance is free, though some temporary exhibitions involve a modest fee.

In a suburb of Paris you'll find the Arboretum de la Vallée-aux-Loups ('Arboretum of the Valley of Wolves') – nearly 30 acres of botanical gardens containing almost 500 species of trees and shrubs. There’s also a greenhouse with a vast collection of climbing and creeping plants.

Its English-style landscaped gardens, complete with cave, waterfall, mill and gazebo, are a delightfully romantic space for a stroll. Literature and history fans may also want to visit the home of the writer and diplomat François-René de Chateaubriand, which can be found nearby. It’s free to visit on the first Sunday of every month.

The D-Day Landings on 6 June 1944 were the largest and most complicated airborne and amphibious military operation ever attempted. It was a pivotal moment in human history that turned the course of World War II at the cost of thousands of lives.

The Landing Beaches extend over 44 miles (70km) from Sainte-Marie-du-Mont to Ouistreham, via Colleville-sur-Mer and Arromanches-les-Bains, and have since become a symbol of the price of peace across the world. There are many remembrance sites to visit but the beaches themselves are perhaps the best places to quietly reflect.

A visit to the ruined remains of the village of Oradour-sur-Glane is a deeply moving experience. Only four days after D-Day on 10 June 1944, German troops rounded up the residents and falsely accused them of hiding weapons and ammunition. They then massacred 642 men, women and children and burnt the village to the ground. Only 10 villagers survived by feigning death.

After the war, President Charles de Gaulle decreed that the site be preserved, with the ruins becoming a national memorial. They stand as a haunting reminder of Nazi brutality and a heart-breaking testament to the hundreds of people who needlessly lost their lives.

The Parc National des Pyrénées is an outstanding area of natural beauty filled with diverse animal and plant life. Hiking is the best way to discover the park, which is set in the mountains beside the Spanish border, and there are lots of routes, many of them family-friendly.

Try the five-mile (8km) loop trail near Cauterets, which begins with the Pont d'Espagne and its lovely waterfalls. You’ll head on to Lac de Gaube, one of the most charming lakes in the valley, from where you can see the highest mountain in the French Pyrenees, the Vignemale.

More than just a cemetery, Père Lachaise is an enduring testament to the French capital’s importance as a centre of art, literature, science and philosophy. The final resting place of writers Oscar Wilde, Marcel Proust and Honoré de Balzac, singers Edith Piaf and Jim Morrison, and composer Frédéric Chopin (to name just a few of its 70,000 residents), this vast necropolis attracts more than three million visitors a year.

Avoiding the crowds isn’t too difficult, though, especially if you’re happy to skip the famous names and stroll at leisure through its romantic tree-lined cobblestoned paths.

One of the most beautiful spots in a beautiful city, the Parc du Palais Longchamp was inaugurated in 1869 to celebrate the completion of the Canal de Marseille, which brought vital clean drinking water to the populace after a major cholera outbreak.

Listed by the Ministry of Culture as one of the 'remarkable gardens' of France, its picturesque waterfalls, fountains and winding alleys offer a perfect setting for long walks, picnics and pony rides. There’s even a botanical garden to explore, along with the pavilions and ornamental cages which once housed the city zoo.

Bordeaux’s spectacular Miroir d'Eau, which can be found on the quayside opposite the imposing Palais de la Bourse, is the world’s largest reflecting pool. Its refilling cycle is a mesmerising spectacle which has turned it into one the city’s main attractions.

For around three minutes, the gigantic black granite slabs that form the mirror's base are gradually filled to the point where the surrounding buildings are perfectly reflected in a thin slick of water. This then slowly disperses and a dense fog-like vapour appears, before the whole process begins again. Note that the mirror is only open during the spring and summer.

Created in 1593 on the orders of Henri IV, the Jardin des Plantes in Montpellier is France’s oldest botanical garden. An innovative space for botanical study in the 16th century, today the gardens are attached to the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Montpellier and still attract researchers from all over the world.

Protected as a Historic Monument since 1992, the gardens' beautiful buildings and greenhouses are (almost) as much of an attraction as the 2,679 species of plants, trees and flowers on view. Opening hours change from summer to winter so check before visiting.

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One of the oldest and largest museums in France, Dijon’s Musée des Beaux-Arts first opened in 1799. Housed in the city’s former ducal palace, it's famed for collections relating to the Dukes of Burgundy (including several of their tombs), but these are just the tip of the iceberg.

The museum houses everything from ancient Egyptian mummy portraits, Roman art from Germany and pre-Columbian ceramics to African ceremonial masks, Japanese porcelain and Tibetan sculptures. That's not to mention some magnificent paintings by Rogier van der Weyden, Georges de la Tour, Titian, Claude Monet and many others.

Every year, from April to January, a series of vibrant illuminations brings the history and culture of Chartres to life. From dusk until 1am, more than 20 monuments in the historic centre, from the city's famous cathedral (pictured) to bridges and medieval city gates, are lit up in a magical display of colour and sound. The largest festival of its kind in the world, Chartres en Lumières attracts more than a million visitors every season, with Christmas-themed illuminations at year’s end and even a nocturnal 6.2-mile (10km) race around the monuments in spring.

The Parc de l’Orangerie has been a favourite place of relaxation for the people of Strasbourg since the 18th century. Spread over 64 acres, the park presents a delightful mix of formally landscaped gardens, artfully untamed planting schemes and even an artificial lake with a waterfall.

There's also a number of remarkable buildings, including the elegant, Classical-style Joséphine Pavilion, originally constructed to house the valuable collection of orange trees that gave the park its name. Families with children may appreciate the three playgrounds and the opportunity to take boat rides on the lake during the warmer months.

Avignon is most associated with its iconic Papal Palace and the Pont d’Avignon, but an added bonus comes in the form of the stunning medieval ramparts that surround the entire old city. Dating from the 14th century, they were built to protect the city from mercenaries, and today a stroll around their 2.7-mile (4.3km) perimeter offers spectacular views over the River Rhȏne and the rest of the town.

Access to the ramparts is free, with a convenient entrance point at the Pont d’Avignon not far from the palace.

Towering high above the city’s historic centre, Reims Cathedral is one of the most outstanding examples of Gothic architecture in Europe, its beauty matched only by its history. The traditional coronation site for kings of France, it was here that Joan of Arc brought the Dauphin Charles to be crowned (as Charles VII) after liberating Reims from the English in 1429.

Badly damaged during World War I, the cathedral was later restored to its former glory. The famous statue of the Smiling Angel, broken by wartime bombing, again greets visitors by the entrance on the breathtaking west façade.

The largest and most popular park in Lyon, the beautiful Parc de la Tête d'Or has been an institution since it opened in 1857. Covering 260 acres, it encompasses one of the largest botanical gardens in France along with a vast lake, three rose gardens and even a zoo with a seven-acre 'African plain', where giraffes, zebras and other animals wander in semi-liberty.

And yes, almost all the attractions are free, with the exception of boat rentals, puppet shows (featuring the traditional Lyon favourite, Guignol), and the colourful little train which takes visitors on a ride around the park.

Dating from 1612, the Jardin du Luxembourg is one of Europe’s most beautiful gardens, attracting 6.2 million visitors in 2022. It's almost 68 acres include formal English and French gardens, 3,000 trees, 54,000 square feet (5,000sqm) of flower beds, an orchard, a pond, tennis courts, 102 statues and monuments and, of course, the Senate building, one of the two chambers of the French government.

An oasis of green in the heart of Paris, the Jardin du Luxembourg attracts a broad mix of tourists and locals, who come to relax on its famous 'Sénat seats', jog around its perimeter or take in an exhibition at the Musée du Luxembourg.

Although less famous than the Standing Stones of Carnac, the Neolithic megaliths of Saint-Just in Brittany are similarly impressive. Set in a wild moorland landscape of gorse and heather, the various groupings of stones were erected between 5000 and 2000 BC. Together they comprise one of the largest religious sites of Breton prehistory.

Access to the stones is free (although the nearby museum has an entrance fee), and visitors can explore the entire area via a 4.3-mile (7km) trail which is one of the loveliest walks in the region.

When Louis XIV embarked on his plans to turn Louis XIII’s old hunting lodge into a spectacular seat of power, he considered the gardens to be just as important as the palace itself. Creating them was an immense project that took more than 40 years and the results are undoubtedly spectacular, featuring elaborate landscaping embellished with statues, two large lakes, fountains and woodland.

Although the idea would no doubt have horrified the haughty Louis, they can now be enjoyed for free by the masses every day of the year, except on days with musical garden events and fountain shows.

The spectacular Petit Palais, originally built for the 1900 Paris Exposition, is home to an impressive collection of paintings, sculptures, furniture and objets d'art dating from antiquity to 1914. There’s a particularly notable collection of French paintings from the 18th and 19th centuries featuring works by Monet, Cézanne, Courbet, Pissarro, Sisley, David, Vuillard and more.

Other highlights include Rembrandt’s only standing self-portrait (complete with an adorable dog), glassware by Gallé, jewellery by Fouquet and Lalique and an exceptional collection of Greek vases. The permanent collections can be enjoyed for free, although there is a charge for temporary exhibitions.

Rouen’s glorious Gothic cathedral is one of the most famous in the world, helped in no small part by the series of 30-plus paintings the Impressionist master Claude Monet made of it between 1892 and 1893. Truly a sight to behold, its beautifully asymmetric main façade – embellished with more than 70 figures sculpted between 1362 and 1421 – is a testament to 700 years of architectural development.

Visit in the summer months and you can experience the spectacular Cathedral of Light sound and light show, which, like entry to the cathedral itself, is totally free.

Regional art museums can sometimes be disappointing, but that’s certainly not the case with the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rouen. Boasting an exceptional collection of paintings, sculptures and objets d’art from the 15th century up to the present day, it's also home to a world-famous collection of over 8,000 drawings, many of which have been exhibited around the globe.

The museum's collection of Impressionist paintings has been called the most comprehensive outside Paris, and includes masterpieces by Monet, Pissaro and Renoir. Other highlight artists include Caravaggio, Veronese, Velázquez and Rubens, along with modern masters like Modigliani and Dubuffet.

It had to be Notre-Dame at number one. Among the most iconic landmarks in Europe, there has probably never been a better time to visit the cathedral. After a terrible fire almost destroyed it in 2019, Notre-Dame has undergone a miraculous five-year restoration that has returned it to its former glory and then some.

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