France’s 12 best destinations for disconnecting

The right to disconnect isn’t just a nice phrase! To make it a reality, we’ve selected the 15 best destinations in France to disconnect.

Can’t finish a conversation with your partner without having to answer a business call? Do you no longer look your children in the eye, but are absorbed by your cell phone screen? Can’t get through a meal without taking a photo of what you’re eating and posting it on Instagram? Do you get the shakes if you don’t reply to an e-mail, even at the weekend? The symptoms are clear, and the diagnosis is without appeal: you’re overworked and suffering from digital addiction! We prescribe a digital detox of at least three days, to be carried out as a matter of urgency!

Are you ready to try the adventure of disconnection? Good for you! But there’s one thing on your mind. What are the strange and exotic places where it’s still possible, today, to disconnect? If you don’t want to hole up deep in the Amazon rainforest, exile yourself to the remotest corners of the Bolivianaltiplano or turn to asceticism, what options are there? Rest assured, you don’t need to take a fifteen-hour flight or hike for eight days to reconnect with yourself! There are numerous sites all over France, perhaps close to your home, where you can enjoy a digital detox experience.

Ready to put your phone away in your drawer and discover France’s best destinations for disconnecting? There’s something for every taste and price. Pack your bags!

1. Château de la Gravière

When grapes replace screens. What if getting lost among the vines could cure you? Located between Bordeaux and the Atlantic coast, south of the Gironde estuary, in the heart of the Médoc, this guest house is ideal for a digital detox. The program includes coach assessments, board games, walks, tastings, massages and a swimming pool, all in pleasant surroundings and surrounded by a serious, positive team.

Prices: from €210 per person for 3 days and 2 nights, excluding accommodation and catering.

2. The Westin in Paris

Think you can’t get away from it all in Paris? Think again! Since 2014, the famous hotel The Westin Paris-Vendôme has been inviting digital addicts like you to indulge in a window of disconnection. To help you resist temptation, you’re required to deposit all your gadgets and addictive objects in the hotel safe. Don’t worry, everything is designed to make you forget your toys!

Prepare to be pampered! Swap your Skype session for an energizing thirty-minute massage. Throw yourself into the basket of pastries and sweets in your room! Let off steam in the hotel gym, in a full New Balance outfit on loan from the hotel. Forget about your e-mails and read a paper magazine instead.

Rates: from €450 per night.

3. The islands of Morbihan

If you’re going to experience digital detox, don’t do things by halves! Out of Reach offers you the chance to spend a very special day and night aboard a sailing ship. Live on fresh air and salt water for almost forty-eight hours and discover islands such as Grois, Belle-île, Houat and Hoëdic. On the program: fishing, diving, an introduction to sailing, and relaxation! Be careful, you may never want to find your smartphone again, once you’ve had a taste of silence and a life without ties!

Rates: €205 per person in summer.

4. Le Vichy Célestins Spa Hôtel

The Vichy Spa has had a digital detox formula since 2014. The hotel rooms are devoid of screens and offer coaching sessions to help overworked people preserve their health. Want to watch the news or a soccer match? Forget it! Opt instead for a relaxing treatment or a moment of unwinding to Zen music. In order to better target your needs, you will be invited to meet with a doctor and a nutritionist.

Prices: from €1,035 per person, for 3 days and 3 nights. From €786 without accommodation or catering.

5. Mas de la Fouque, in the Camargue

Go and find the sun for your disconnection cure! Take advantage of the superb setting of this exceptional place and let yourself go. On the program: gourmet meals, two treatments, two fitness sessions, and unlimited access to the pool, jacuzzi, fitness room, sauna, ice cascade, etc.

Rates: Low Season: from €1,500 for two people; High Season: from €1,620 for two people.

6. Riell Castle in the Pyrenees

If you’d like to experience your disconnection on your own terms, without programs or supervision, come and spend a weekend at Riell Castle. You won’t be tempted to reach for your phone or computer, as there’s no network in the area! Once you’ve entered this Catalan valley, you’ll be forced to cut out! Relax in this enchanting setting and enjoy a few hours doing something foreign: nothing!

Rates: The « Escapade Spa et Relaxation » package is €502 per person for one night, dinner, breakfast, a 45-minute massage and access to the spa and swimming pool.

7. Les Cabanes des Grands Reflets, Belfort, France

A cabin, a pond, a nature reserve, peace and quiet, nature and you. You, without your screens! That’s the description of what awaits you if you choose to spend a night or a few days in this unusual place, just the thing for a digital detox. A wide range of activities are on offer: massages, yoga classes, hikes, bike or horse rides, cultural outings and more. Copious packed lunches will make you forget your e-mails and posts!

Rates: from €160 for a night in a floating or tree house. Breakfast included. Activities and other services not included.

8. The Rochevilaine estate, Morbihan, France

Located on the east coast of Morbihan, this superb estate combines luxury, calm and character. All the conditions are in place to make your daily life as a digital addict a distant memory: the sea just a few meters away, refined cuisine, a balneotherapy center at your disposal, top-of-the-range comfort, an available team, etc.

Rates: from €1,618 per person for 4 days and 4 nights, full board, including 12 treatments (detox formula). From €273 per person for one night, SPA package not included.

9. Le Moulin de Beltaine, Morbihan, France

Want to cut yourself off from the world and technology? Le Moulin de Beltaine is the ideal place. No hotels, no crowds. You’ll be on your own or with the person of your choice, in a cosy little gîte, and enjoy all the site has to offer. Twenty-five minutes from Guingamp, on the Côte de Granit Rose, the estate is also home to a naturopathic practice offering the very best advice on nutrition and well-being. You can also enjoy massages or follow a detox fast.

Rates: For two people, 455 € per week in low season; 679 € per week in high season. Minimum booking two nights. Naturopathic treatments and consultations not included.

10. The thermal baths of Bagnères de Bigorre, in the Hautes Pyrénées.

Who hasn’t heard of the thermal baths at Bagnères de Bigorre? Who doesn’t? Kill two birds with one stone and come and discover this region on the occasion of a digital detox cure. It’s one of the best destinations in France for disconnecting. The site combines elegant architecture, high-performance facilities, an ideal location and, icing on the cake, the team offers a package entirely dedicated to disconnection. The « hands-free week » will make you forget all about technology! Ten treatments are on the program: relaxation, massage, watsu, gym, thermal bath, creative workshop, psychological interviews, etc.

Prices: The package costs €199 per person, without accommodation. Between €371 and €717 per person, with accommodation.

11. The Relax Oceane center in Morbihan

Don’t feel like experiencing digital detox on your own? Relax Oceane offers disconnection stays in small groups, on the islands of Arz, Berder or the seven islands. If you sign up, you agree to come without a tablet, computer or cell phone. This will enable you to concentrate on your yoga or meditation sessions.

Prices: from €90 per day to €500 for 4 days and 3 nights. From May to August.

12. And many other destinations

If you haven’t yet found what you’re looking for among the eleven destinations listed above, you should know that many private individuals are surfing the wave of disconnection. It’s easy to cut yourself off from this hellish world by booking a chalet in the Cévennes, a cabanon in Corsica, a mill in the Charente, a barn on the Spanish border, or any other accommodation that offers you the ideal conditions to refocus and rediscover what’s essential.

Ready to disconnect? All you have to do is choose one of these destinations!