Limousin

With its rolling pastures and little-visited villages, Limousin might be the most overlooked area of southwestern France. It's not nearly as exciting as the Dordogne to the south or the Loire to the north, but it does offer a chance to get off the beaten path, and aficionados will like Limoges for its porcelain and Aubusson for its tapestries.

Technically, Limousin is no longer an official région, as it was subsumed by the larger Nouvelle Aquitaine in 2016. However, regional cultural identity still exists, centred around three départements: Haute-Vienne, in the west, the capital of which is lively Limoges; the rural Creuse, in the northeast; and, in the southeast, perhaps the most interesting area, the Corrèze, home to Brive-la-Gaillarde and the region’s most beautiful villages.