Air France (tel 0820 820 820; www.airfrance.com) controls the lion’s share of France’s domestic airline industry although British budget carrier easyJet has flights linking Paris with Marseille, Nice and Toulouse.

France is eminently easy to cycle around. On train timetables, a bicycle symbol indicates that bicycles are allowed on particular trains. The SNCF baggage service Sernam (tel 0825 84 58 45) will transport your bicycle (or any other luggage) door-to-door or station-to-station for a fee.

Buses are used quite extensively for short-distance travel within départements, especially in rural areas with relatively few train lines (eg, Brittany and Normandy) – but services are often slow and few and far between.

Having your own wheels brings freedom but it’s expensive, and city parking and traffic are frequent headaches. Motorcyclists will find France great for touring: the websites www.viamichelin.com and www.autoroutes.fr both calculate how much you will pay in petrol and tolls for specified journeys. To hire a car in France you’ll generally need to be over 21 years old and hold a valid driver’s licence and an international credit card. Your credit card may cover CDW if you use it to pay for the car rental.

France’s superb rail network reaches almost every part of the country. Many towns and villages not on the SNCF train and bus network are linked by intra-départmental bus lines. France’s most important train lines radiate from Paris like the spokes of a wheel, making train travel between provincial towns situated on different ’spokes’ rather slow. In some cases, you have to transit through Paris.

France’s domestic airlines link most urban centres, and since the long-protected domestic airline industry has been opened up, discounts have made internal air travel an option even for budget travellers.

France has an excellent rail network, operated by the state-owned SCNF (Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer), which reaches almost every part of the country. Thanks to the high-speed TGV (train à grande vitesse), travel between some cities (eg, Paris and Lyon) is faster and easier by rail than by air.

Interregional bus services are limited, but buses are used extensively for short-distance travel within regions, especially in rural areas with relatively few train lines (eg, Brittany and Normandy). On longer trips, buses tend to be much slower but slightly cheaper than trains; on short runs, buses are generally slower and more expensive.

Another relaxing way of seeing France is to cruise its canals and navigable rivers by houseboat. These usually accommodate four to 12 passengers and can be rented for a weekend or several weeks.

Local transport includes the cheap and efficient Metro and RER underground networks in Paris (there are also metro lines in other cities).

Having your own vehicle can be expensive, and is sure to be inconvenient in city centres where parking and traffic are problematic. Be warned that most driving in France is done with the horn, or ‘French Brake Pedal’, as it is often called. As a rule of thumb, don’t be timid or overly respectful once on the road as this technique will often confuse the natives. Renting a car is expensive if you walk into an office and hire a car on the spot, but prebooked and prepaid promotional rates are reasonable.

France is a superb country for motorcycle touring, with winding roads of good quality and lots of stunning scenery.

France is an eminently cyclable country, due largely to its extensive network of secondary and tertiary roads that are relatively lightly trafficked.