France in December, away from Paris

Pleasant in December

Average high closest to 18–26 °C and fewest rain days (1991–2020 normals).

6h39 Coast · Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Menton The last town on the Riviera before Italy: a Baroque old quarter in ochre and pink, lemon groves, subtropical gardens and Cocteau. High 14 °C · Low 7 °C · 6 rain days 6h18 Coast · Occitanie Collioure A Catalan fishing port where the Pyrenees meet the Mediterranean, with a sea-washed church tower and the light that gave birth to Fauvism. High 13 °C · Low 5 °C · 5 rain days ✈ / ⛴ Coast · Corsica Bonifacio A Genoese citadel perched on white limestone cliffs at the southern tip of Corsica, staring across the strait at Sardinia. High 14 °C · Low 10 °C · 9 rain days 3h36 Town · Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Arles A Roman city on the Rhône where Van Gogh painted his brightest year, with an arena still in use and the Camargue at its gates. High 12 °C · Low 4 °C · 5 rain days ✈ / ⛴ Mountains · Corsica Corte The mountain capital of Corsica’s short-lived independent republic: an eagle’s-nest citadel, a student town, and wild gorges at its door. High 13 °C · Low 2 °C · 9 rain days 5h15 Mountains · Nouvelle-Aquitaine Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port A walled Basque town of red sandstone on the river Nive, where pilgrims to Santiago set off over the Pyrenees. High 13 °C · Low 4 °C · 13 rain days 5h24 Town · Occitanie Carcassonne A medieval fortress city with two rings of walls and dozens of towers on a hill above the Aude, rescued from demolition in the 1850s. High 11 °C · Low 4 °C · 8 rain days 6h02 City · Occitanie Albi A red-brick episcopal city on the Tarn: a fortress-cathedral painted inside from floor to vault, and the world’s largest Toulouse-Lautrec collection. High 10 °C · Low 2 °C · 11 rain days

Signature festivals

• Fête des Lumières — Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. For four nights around 8 December, Lyon’s façades, squares and hills are turned into light installations, while many residents still put candles in their windows. The tradition began in 1852 with the inauguration of the Virgin’s statue on Fourvière; the modern festival dates from 1999.
• Christkindelsmärik (marché de Noël de Strasbourg) — Strasbourg, Grand Est. Strasbourg’s Christmas market, held since 1570 and long the only one in France, fills the squares around the cathedral with wooden chalets, mulled wine and bredele biscuits. It usually opens in late November and closes on 24 December, so most of it falls in December.

Check dates on the official site.

All forty places in December

Wettest in December: Annecy (196 mm), Quimper (153 mm), Conques (116 mm), Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (114 mm).