The Most Beautiful Villages in France

One of Bob and my first stops in Souillac was the tourist office to learn about some of the sights to see in the area. The employee was very helpful, providing a good map of the Lot region and highlighting areas of interest. Bob noted later that many were categorized as being among the “most beautiful villages in France.” Per the website beyond.fr, as of 2013 there were 161 villages with this rating from the Plus Beaux Villages de France Association. The basic requirements for receiving the designation are — population less than 2000, at least 2 village sites or buildings classified as “protected,” and a request from the municipality for consideration.

Although this isn’t the most discerning criteria, we couldn’t let our stay pass without seeing some of these villages. We were not disappointed. In reality, the drive alone to these places was gorgeous and worth the trek out. We visited the Most Beautiful Villages listed below over a couple of days. These were primarily photo-taking walkabouts, as the villages are very small and there is not a lot open during the off season. We always had some company (other visitors) on our explorations.

Autoire — This village is set in a valley and surrounded by cliffs. Many of the buildings are from the 16th and 17th century and are made with local honey-colored stone. The village had posted a handy walking map, so we used that as our guide for our tour.

Local houses with the cliffs in the background

Fall foliage with the Rock of Autoire in the cliffs in the background

An example of the honey-colored stone and period architecture

Loubressac — We stopped at this village after Autoire, as they are very close. This village is known for its flowers, but it also had lovely views of the surrounding countryside.

Some of the lovely flowers throughout the village

A view of the countryside from the village

Carennac — This village had a lovely courtyard with a pretty church, castle, and local buildings.

Collognes-la-Rouge — This may have been our favorite village. We loved the red brick which was so different from the other villages. It also had the most interesting buildings in a very compact space (or so we thought) including lots of food shops, restaurants, and a distillery. This village definitely had the most foot traffic as well.