Driving through France is a great way to experience what the country has to offer; the scenery, the history and, of course, the wine (but only once you've agreed on the designated driver!).

Here are ten of the best driving routes through France to get you planning your perfect road trip itinerary.

The distances provided are not direct between the Start and End points, but assume some diversion from the main route, allowing you to explore more of each region.

You can sip Champagne anywhere, but a road trip slips under the skin of Unesco-listed vineyards and by the end of this tour, you could drink enough to last several lifetimes.

Tip: tour the back roads in search of small producers, especially when the aroma of new wine hangs in the air and the vines are golden in autumn.

Feisty and independent, the Basque Country is famous for the glitzy resort of Biarritz. But on this tour you’ll also fall for fishing ports, chocolate-box villages such as Itxassou, and rolling hills.

Driving into the village of Espelette you’ll be struck by how different everything is from other parts of the country.

The houses are dressed up in the red and white of Basque buildings, streamers of chili peppers hang from roof beams, and from open windows comes a language you don’t recognise.

Get out among the purple haze, sniff the heady summer breezes and navigate picturesque hilltop towns, ancient churches and pretty valleys.

This trip takes you to the undoubtedly big-ticket (and exquisitely beautiful) sights but also gets you exploring back roads, sleepy villages, big skies and one stunner of a mountain.

And yes, past fields and fields of glorious purple blooms. Be sure to stop at Abbaye Notre-Dame de Sénanque, Sault and Prieuré de Salagon.