When to visit France, month by month.

Go now because it is the cheapest and emptiest month in Paris, and the skiing is open. Avoid if you want fountains, lavender or daylight: you get 8h 41m and no Versailles fountains.

Go now because Paris is cheap and quiet and the Nice Carnival is on. Avoid if you are skiing on a budget: February is the single most expensive ski month in France, because French and European school holidays land in it.

Go now because Paris is still good value before the season starts. Avoid if Versailles fountains matter, because they do not start until 3 April.

Go now because the Versailles fountains open on 3 April and the Alps still ski. Avoid if you want lavender or a swimmable sea, because neither exists yet.

Avoid: the worst value for substance all year. No lavender yet, the highest rainfall of any month (69mm), Cannes and the Indian school-holiday fare peak both landing, and 1 May closes the Louvre, Orsay and Versailles on the same day. The one upside is that the Versailles fountains run three days a week, which they do in June too.

Go now, but in the SECOND HALF: that is when Valensole actually blooms and Versailles runs fountains three days a week. The first half has peak prices and no lavender. Scores highest of any month across the ten columns.

Go now because it is the only month when everything works at once: lavender at peak, all Chamonix lifts open, fountains and night shows running, warm sea. Accept peak prices, peak crowds and real heat risk.

Avoid: you pay peak prices for a degraded product. The lavender is cut, it is the hottest and most crowded month at the monuments, and independent Paris (restaurants, bakeries, small shops in the residential arrondissements) closes for two to three weeks. The one quirk worth knowing: Parisians leave, so PARIS hotel rates actually dip while the Riviera peaks. The city empties and its sights fill up at the same time.

Go now for warm, settled weather, a 23C sea, and crowds and prices both falling. But the Mer de Glace ice cave SHUTS on 28 September and the Panoramic Mont-Blanc gondola ends the same day, so book the Alps for the first half. No lavender.

Go now because it is the best month for vineyards and for value. Avoid if the Alps matter: the lifts run to 1 November but the Mer de Glace ICE CAVE IS SHUT ALL MONTH, so you can pay for Montenvers and not get into the cave. The fountains end on 1 November.

Avoid because almost everything shuts: Versailles fountains stop on 1 November, the Aiguille du Midi closes on 2 November, and you get 9h of daylight. It is cheap because there is nothing on.

Go only for Christmas markets and for skiing from mid-month. Most of December is genuinely cheap and quiet. It is the last ten days that are brutal: Paris hit 93.3 percent hotel occupancy on 31 December. The Versailles fountains are off and the Alps only open properly from mid-month.