Your France vacation will be safe and fun with this great travel Guide.

Provence and the French Riviera make an intoxicating bouillabaisse of enjoyable cities, warm stone villages, Roman ruins, contemporary art, and breathtaking coastlines — steaming with sunshine and stirred by the wind. There's something about the play of light in this region, where natural and manmade beauty mingle to dazzle the senses and nourish the soul. It all adds up to un formidable vacation.

Rick Steves' Provence & the French Riviera covers the predictable biggies and mixes in a healthy dose of Back Door intimacy — from jet-setting beach resorts to lost canyons. Along with the Pont du Gard, Nice, and Avignon, we'll introduce you to our favorite villages, wineries, beach walks, and untouristy

Roman ruins. You'll marvel at ancient monuments, settle into a shaded café on a small square, take a canoe trip down the lazy Sorgue River, dive headfirst into a Provençal sunset from a magnifique hill-town perch, and discover the ideal beach to call home for a day. You'll feast on a healthy cuisine, heavy on olives, tomatoes, spices, and tasty-yet-affordable wines. Just as importantly, you’ll meet the intriguing people who run your hotel, bed-and-breakfast, or bistro.

• Heart of Provence: Arles, Avignon, Nimes, Pont du Gard Roman aqueduct, hill town of Les Baux, villages of St. Rémy and Uzés, and the wild Camargue
• Hill towns of the Côtes du Rhône and Luberon: wine villages such as Chateauneuf du Pape and Gigondas, towns with Roman sites such as Orange and Vaison la Romaine, hill towns (Roussillon and Lourmarin), and the outdoor market town of Isle-sur-la-Sorgue
• Coastal towns of Provence: Marseille, Cassis, Aix-en-Provence
• Heart of the French Riviera: Nice, Villefranche-sur-Mer, The Three Corniches, Monaco, Antibes, Cannes and St-Tropez
• Best of the Inland Riviera: Hill towns (Vence and St-Paul-de-Vence), the perfume capital of Grasse and the dramatic Grand Canyon du Verdon

If you will be driving in the Provence region, take along the Michelin Motoring Atlas. It covers all of France, comes spiral bound so it lies flat, and is up-to-date. This is the perfect driving companion!