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Step 1
Get a good guidebook and figure out where you want to go. Particularly good guides are published by Lonely Planet.
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Step 2
Decide how long a trip you wish to make. For a country such as France, with so much to see and do, the longer you can extend your trip the better.
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Step 3
Decide how you wish to travel. This is one of your most important decisions, as it will determine how great a distance you will be able to cover. Renting a car is a good option, as are trains. France is not particularly cyclist-friendly so it is best to avoid this option unless experienced.
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Step 4
Determine what areas you wish to cover. It is without doubt better to pick one area of France and explore it thoroughly with ample time, rather than try to cover too large an area in too little time. Alternately you may wish to plan a route based around cities. Guide books will help you with this decision.
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Step 5
Purchase a good map for each of your chosen areas. This will not only be an invaluable purchase throughout your trip, but will also help you plan a route in advance.
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Step 6
Decide upon a start point for your route. Paris is of course a centre for all travel links, but determine a start point in accordance with what area you wish to travel in, rather than on where is simplest to get to initially.
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Step 7
Decide where you will end your trip. While a circular route may be simplest, the best way to explore as much of France as possible is to designate a distant finish point that you can work towards on your route.
