Frankrike

The 'mouths-of-the-Rhône', where one of Europe's great rivers splits before spilling its Swiss-Alpine snowmelt into the Mediterranean, is Provence's most populous département. Its palpitating heart is Marseille, a gritty former Greek colony, France's second-largest city, and a place of real cultural energy. Centred on the bristling masts and bluff forts of the Vieux Port, it has a strong Maghrebian flavour – imported from nearby Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco – and the idiosyncratic pride of a long-established seafaring city, which runs counterpoint to the restless energy of its arts, dining and cultural scenes. Spreading out from Marseille's concrete margins are pine-swaddled coastal uplands cut by ravishingly beautiful calanques (coves), while inland is the still-thriving Roman spa town of Aix-en-Provence, reposing handsomely in the Pays d’Aix (Aix Country) so beloved of Cézanne.

En stad full av världsarvsklassade byggnader, med nära avständ till både berömda vindistrikt och stränder. Vi ger dig tipsen för en perfekt vistelse i franska Bordeaux!

Where the Petit Rhône and Grand Rhône meet the Mediterranean, the Camargue arises: 930 sq km of sansouires (salt flats), étangs (small saltwater lakes) and marshlands, interspersed with farmland.

In the crook of Brittany's southern coastline, the Golfe du Morbihan (Morbihan Coast; www.morbihan.com) is a haven of around 40 islands, plus beaches, oyster beds and bird life. Its shallow waters form a breathtakingly beautiful inland sea that's easily accessible from Vannes. Some islands are barely sandy specks of land, while others harbour communities of fishermen, farmers and artistic types seduced by the island lifestyle.

Grit and grandeur coexist seamlessly in Marseille, an exuberantly multicultural port city with a pedigree stretching back to classical Greece.

The Calvados département (www.calvados-tourisme.com) stretches from Honfleur in the east to Isigny-sur-Mer in the west and includes Caen, Bayeux and the D-Day beaches. The area is famed for its rich pastures and farm products, including butter, cheese, cider and an eponymous apple brandy.

Många välbärgade fransmän har semesterhus på Ile de Ré men för svenskar är ön på den franska Atlantkusten okänd. Hit kommer man för att cykla runt i vacker natur, bada på fina stränder – och äta delikata ostron.

Champagne arouses the senses: the eyes feast on vines parading up hillsides and vertical processions of tiny, sparkling bubbles; the nose breathes in damp soil and the heavenly bouquet of fermentation; the ears rejoice at the clink of glasses and the barely audible fizz; and the palate tingles with every sip. The imagination and the intellect are engaged as Champagne cellar visits reveal the magical processes – governed by the strictest of rules – that transform the world’s most pampered pinot noir, pinot meunier and chardonnay grapes into this Unesco World Heritage–listed region’s most fabled wines.

Från tyska Moseldalen till Atlantkustens stränder och Paris gator. Vagabonds chefredaktör tog med vänner och familj på en somrig tågluff genom Västeuropa.

I sommar lanserar Ving charterresor till "Skönhetens ö", eller Korsika, som ön också är känd som. I utbudet finns tre resmål – Bastia, Calvi och L'Île-Rousse.