Plus Beaux Villages de France – origin
Les Plus Beaux Villages de France – means ‘the most beautiful villages in France’.
As you travel in our beautiful French regions, you’ll come across some villages marked with two road signs.
The first is the standard village entrance sign.
The second is inscribed with a sign that represents the stylized grey-ish shadow of a village against a red and white background.
Les Plus Beaux Villages de France is indeed a prestigious label awarded by a private association founded on March 6, 1982 by Charles Ceyrac.
Ceyrac was then the mayor of Collonges la Rouge in the department of Corrèze.
The purpose of his association is to promote and protect the architectural, cultural and historical heritage of our French villages.
Plus Beaux Villages de France, a prestigious label
Indeed, 155 villages located in 21 French regions and 69 departments have so far been granted the label Les Plus Beaux Villages de France.
Some are picturesque mountain villages or charming coastal towns, others are nestled in a green countryside.
Some are perched on the top of rocky promontories.
Most date back to the Middle Ages.
All have in common a wealth of history, architecture and culture.
These beautiful villages are selected on strict criteria.
Indeed, the association wishes to keep the number of adherents below 200 in order to preserve the quality of the label.
These villages must therefore have less than 2000 inhabitants.
They must be located in a rural area.
Finally, they must already possess at least two buildings or sites classified Historical Monuments.
Once selected, the villages have to pay an annual membership fee.
They are then reviewed every 6 years.
The label Plus Beaux Villages de France has obviously a huge impact on local tourism.
It can indeed generate between 10% to 50% of additional visitors.
Some beautiful villages on Travel France Online
Auvergne: Charroux
Occitanie – Aveyron: Belcastel, Brousse-le-Château, La Couvertoirade, Najac
Nouvelle Aquitaine – Dordogne: Beynac et Cazenac, Domme, La Roque-Gageac, Limeuil, Monpazier, St-Léon-sur-Vézère
Nouvelle Aquitaine – Limousin: Collonges-la-Rouge, St-Robert
Pays de la Loire: Montsoreau
Lot: Capdenac-le-Haut, St-Cirq-la-Popie
Normandy: Bec Hellouin
Provence: Baux de Provence, Lourmarin, Menerbes, Roussillon, Venasque
Tarn: Lautrec
