What to Eat and Drink in France in 2027: Regional Dishes, Wines and Markets for Winter and Summer

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Quick Answer

What to eat in France depends on the region, so follow the local specialities. For example, try onion soup in Paris, quenelles in a Lyon bouchon, socca in Nice and choucroute with Riesling in Alsace.

Then travel between these food regions by train with SNCF Connect, and time your trip for the season’s specialities. Download the SNCF Connect app to easily plan train routes and access your mobile tickets on the go.

The Sunset Weekly Connection Reality: Exploring France through its regional culinary specialities offers an authentic journey across local food cultures. Connecting these gastronomic hubs by train using SNCF Connect makes traveling between cities seamless and convenient for food enthusiasts.

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France’s Food Regions at a Glance

Region	Must-try food and drink	Where to shop
Paris	Onion soup and croissants, plus Parisian craft beer	Marché Bastille, although only on Thursday and Sunday mornings
Loire Valley	Rillettes and Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine, then a glass of Vouvray	Les Halles de Tours, open every morning
Lyon	Quenelles and tarte à la praline, plus a trip to the Beaujolais countryside	Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse, with 55 traders
Provence	Bouillabaisse in Marseille, plus Provence rosé	Les Halles d’Avignon, except on Mondays
Riviera	Socca and pan bagnat, then Bellet, Nice’s own wine	Restaurants with the Cuisine Nissarde label
Alsace	Choucroute and flammekueche, with Riesling	Winstubs, Alsace’s traditional taverns

Sources: official tourism offices, producer bodies and SNCF Connect, checked 14 October 2026.

How I Chose These Dishes

When I plan a food trip, I want to know what locals actually protect and celebrate. So for this guide, I used the official tourist offices of Paris, Tours, Lyon, Avignon, Marseille and Nice. I also checked France’s official tourism website and the French cheese protection records.

Then I checked each market’s latest status, which matters more than you might think. For example, the City of Paris describes the Marché des Enfants Rouges as the city’s oldest covered food market, dating from 1615. However, it also reports that a fire ravaged the market overnight on 12 October 2026. So before you build a day around any market, check its latest status.

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To fit these meals around sightseeing, our 7, 11 and 14-day France itineraries map out each day in winter and summer.

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Paris: Bistro Classics and Bakeries

Paris’s tourist office lists ten local specialities, so start there. First, for breakfast, try a croissant, which it says was inherited from Austrian bakeries that opened in Paris in the 1830s. Then, for lunch, order a croque-monsieur or an entrecôte with chips.

Then, on a cold evening, onion soup is the classic choice. In fact, the tourist office says it was once served in the old market halls to revive the handlers and night revellers. Plus, for something lighter, look for Paris-region cheeses such as brie, rooftop honey and Parisian craft beer.

Where to shop: meanwhile, Marché Bastille runs on Thursdays from 7am to 1:30pm and on Sundays from 7am to 2:30pm, according to the City of Paris.

The Loire Valley: Rillettes, Goat’s Cheese and Vouvray

First, the Tours tourist office recommends rillettes and rillons, Sainte-Maure cheese and nougat from Tours. Also, two goat’s cheeses here carry protected status (AOP):

• Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine: a log of raw goat’s milk cheese, with a rye straw running through the middle so that it doesn’t break.
• Crottin de Chavignol: a small, flat raw goat’s milk cheese, made mainly around the Sancerre area.

Next, for wine, the tourist office names Vouvray and Chinon among the region’s well-known appellations. Moreover, Loire Valley Wines says its wine route runs for 800 km.

Where to shop: in Tours, Les Halles has nearly forty artisans and opens every morning, including Sundays and public holidays. Better still, Amboise’s market brings together 200 stallholders, according to the Tours tourist office.

Lyon: Bouchons, Quenelles and Praline Tart

In Lyon, eat in a bouchon, because that’s where the local cooking lives. In fact, the Les Bouchons Lyonnais association describes one as a restaurant with a counter, a picturesque, warm setting and simple dishes made on site from fresh, regional produce.

Its typical dishes include quenelles, cochonnaille (pork charcuterie), tablier de sapeur, chicken liver cake, cervelle de canut and tarte à la praline. However, “bouchon lyonnais” isn’t a registered trademark, so the association was founded in 2012 to vouch for the real thing.

Where to shop: for picnic supplies, Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse has 55 traders under one roof. Meanwhile, the Lyon tourist office suggests the Beaujolais countryside as an easy escape from the city.

Provence: Bouillabaisse, Markets and Rosé

First of all, Marseille’s bouillabaisse has its own rulebook. In fact, the city’s tourist office says the Charte de la Bouillabaisse was created in 1980 to protect the dish. As a result, under the charter, the fish must be carved in front of you, and the rouille comes with croutons.

Next, for wine, the Vins de Provence body lists three appellations: Côtes de Provence, Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence and Coteaux Varois en Provence. Also, its recipe pages pair rosé with dishes such as grilled meats with ratatouille.

Where to shop: in Avignon, Les Halles has about 40 traders, although it’s closed on Mondays on its current timetable. Marseille, meanwhile, is just 50 minutes from Avignon by train.

The French Riviera: Cuisine Nissarde

Nice, meanwhile, protects its own cooking with the Cuisine Nissarde label. According to the Nice Côte d’Azur Tourist Office, the label launched in 1998, and 27 restaurants held it for 2025 to 2026.

So here’s what to order:

• Socca: a chickpea flatbread cooked on a large griddle and served with plenty of pepper.
• Pan bagnat: a round bread soaked in olive oil and filled with niçoise salad ingredients.
• Salade niçoise: the official recipe uses tomatoes, radishes, artichokes, peppers, broad beans, tuna, anchovies, eggs, black olives and basil.
• Farcis: stuffed vegetables, often with meat, although meatless versions are common.

To drink, try Bellet, which the tourist office says became one of France’s first protected wines in 1941. Better still, its vineyards sit entirely within Nice.

Alsace: Choucroute, Flammekueche and Riesling

First, France’s official tourism website lists choucroute, flammekueche and baeckeoffe among Alsace’s classics. It also recommends kouglof, a raisin brioche, and Munster, the star of the Alsatian cheese board.

Then, for a full meal, head to a winstub, which France.fr calls the ancestor of the tavern and wine bar. Then pair your choucroute with a local Riesling, as it suggests. Similarly, SNCF Connect’s own guide to Alsatian food adds coq au Riesling, chicken slowly cooked in the local white wine.

Wine route: the Alsace Wine Route is more than 170 km long, according to France.fr.

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To link these food regions into one trip, our guide to planning a France trip by train suggests four routes, with costs.

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What Changes Between Winter and Summer?

Region	Winter (January to March)	Summer (July to September)
Paris	Onion soup, especially on cold evenings	Picnics with a baguette and Paris-region cheese instead
Loire Valley	Rillettes and rillons from Les Halles de Tours	The Amboise market, with 200 stallholders as well
Lyon	Bouchon dishes, such as quenelles and praline tart	Beaujolais trips, too
Provence	Bouillabaisse in Marseille, just 50 minutes from Avignon	Rosé with grilled meats and ratatouille
Riviera	The Fête du Citron in Menton, 13 to 28 February 2027	Salade niçoise, a spring and summer recipe
Alsace	Choucroute and baeckeoffe in a winstub	Wine Route visits instead

Sources: parisjetaime.com, tours-tourisme.fr, lesbouchonslyonnais.org, marseille-tourisme.com, vinsdeprovence.com, fete-du-citron.com, the Nice Côte d’Azur Tourist Office and france.fr, checked 14 October 2026.

Sunset Weekly tip: bredele, Alsace’s small Christmas cakes, are baked during Advent. So if you visit from January to March, look for choucroute and baeckeoffe instead.

Food Labels to Look For

Labels help you find the real thing, especially in busy tourist areas.

Label	Where	What it means
Les Bouchons Lyonnais	Lyon	Member restaurants of an association that vouches for their quality, since the name itself isn’t protected
Cuisine Nissarde	Nice	Restaurants that preserve authentic Niçoise recipes, as judged each year
Charte de la Bouillabaisse	Marseille	Restaurants following the 1980 bouillabaisse charter
AOP	Across France	Protected origin, for example Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine

Getting Between France’s Food Regions by Train

From Paris to	Journey and food highlight
Tours	24 trains a day, averaging 1h33, for rillettes and goat’s cheese
Lyon	From 1h41, for bouchons and Les Halles
Avignon	From 2h33, for Les Halles d’Avignon
Marseille	From 3h04, for bouillabaisse
Nice	From 5h42, for socca and Cuisine Nissarde
Strasbourg	From 1h44, for choucroute and Riesling

Source: SNCF Connect route pages, checked 13 and 14 October 2026.

Coming From the UK, US, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany or Within France

Starting from	Fastest way to the food
UK	Eurostar from London to Paris, in as little as 2h22
US	Fly to Paris-CDG, where the airport TGV station serves more than 50 French cities
Belgium	Brussels to Lyon in as little as 3h47, with direct trains
Switzerland	Geneva to Lyon in as little as 1h54
Germany	Frankfurt to Strasbourg in as little as 1h50, straight into Alsace
France	Start anywhere, especially with a Carte Avantage for TGV INOUI

Source: SNCF Connect route and station pages, checked 14 October 2026.

The Most Common Food Mistakes in France

1. Relying on old market lists. For example, the Marché des Enfants Rouges was ravaged by fire on 12 October 2026.
2. Arriving at markets in the afternoon. Marché Bastille, for instance, closes at 1:30pm on Thursdays.
3. Visiting Les Halles d’Avignon on a Monday. On its current timetable, it’s closed that day.
4. Trusting any sign that says “bouchon”. Instead, look for the Les Bouchons Lyonnais label.
5. Looking for bredele in spring. After all, they’re an Advent tradition.
6. Ordering salade niçoise with potatoes. In fact, the official Cuisine Nissarde recipe doesn’t include them.

Why Plan Your Food Trip With SNCF Connect

• Every food region in one search: first, SNCF Connect lists trains to Tours, Lyon, Avignon, Marseille, Nice and Strasbourg.
• Local food ideas, too: in addition, its own guide to Alsatian specialities covers choucroute, baeckeoffe and coq au Riesling.
• Clear timings: also, each route page shows the fastest time and trains a day, so you can plan market mornings.
• Booking alerts: moreover, it can email you when your trains go on sale.

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If you’re flying in, our guide to Air France flights to France explains routes from the UK and US, plus baggage rules.

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Which Food Region Is Right for You?

You love	Head to
Bakeries and bistros	Paris, especially for croissants
Cheese and white wine	The Loire Valley, for Sainte-Maure and Vouvray
Hearty, traditional cooking	Lyon, in a labelled bouchon
Seafood	Marseille, especially for a charter bouillabaisse
Street food	Nice, for socca and pan bagnat
Comfort food in winter	Alsace, in a winstub

Final Verdict

So, what should you eat in France in 2027? In winter, follow the comfort food north and east, for example from Paris onion soup to Alsatian choucroute. In summer, head south instead, for rosé, socca and salade niçoise. Either way, look for the local labels, check market days before you go, and book your trains on SNCF Connect.

FAQs

What food is Paris known for?

Paris’s tourist office lists ten specialities, for example the baguette, croissant, croque-monsieur, macaron, entrecôte with chips and onion soup.

What is a bouchon in Lyon?

According to the Les Bouchons Lyonnais association, it’s above all a restaurant with a counter, a warm setting and simple dishes made on site from fresh, regional produce.

Is the Marché des Enfants Rouges open?

The City of Paris reports that a fire ravaged the market overnight on 12 October 2026. So check its latest status before you visit.

What is socca?

Socca is a chickpea flatbread from Nice, which is cooked on a large griddle and served with plenty of pepper.

How is an authentic salade niçoise made?

The official Cuisine Nissarde recipe uses tomatoes, radishes, artichokes, peppers, broad beans, tuna, anchovies, eggs, black olives and basil, dressed with olive oil.

Which wine goes best with choucroute?

France’s official tourism website suggests a local Alsace Riesling, so look for one on the wine list.

When is the Menton Lemon Festival in 2027?

The Fête du Citron runs from 13 to 28 February 2027, with the theme “Douce France”.

Which Loire Valley cheeses have protected status?

For example, two are Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine and Crottin de Chavignol, both protected (AOP) goat’s milk cheeses.

Editorial & Accuracy Standards

• Expert Review:
  Ammara Azmat,
  Senior Travel Mobility Analyst (12+ years experience)
• Status: Verified for accuracy against official 2026 service data and real-time traveller reports.
• Our Process: This content follows our Fact-Checking Policy.