Miniature France

France Miniature, it's France...in miniature! This miniature replica of the French hexagon extends over 5 hectares, with two hectares of sea. © France Miniature

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It really is possible to visit France in just a couple of hours and without a car! France Miniature, as its name suggests, is a miniature replica of the country. Exploring the park's 12 and a half acres of ground, visitors will encounter the 140 finest and most famous French monuments, nestled at the heart of 150 regional landscapes.

This giant overview is impressive in terms of both its realism and its attention to detail. It is populated with 60,000 figures (including, notably, the 50,000 hand-painted figures which fill the scale model of the Stade de France) and the 17 trains which criss-cross the park on 3 miles of railway. Like a Gulliver set free in the centre of the France, it will take you no more than a minute to travel from the Eiffel Tower to the Château de Chambord! At your feet you will find Vaux-le-Vicomte, the Arc de Triomphe, Versailles, the Stade de France, Saint-Nectaire, the Château de Val, the Château de Chambord, the Gare de Limoges, Chenonceau, the Chapel of Ronchamp, the Place Bellecour, the Haras du Pin national stud farm, La Rochelle, and the Cathedral of Sainte-Cécile in Albi, among other notable sites.

As well as this journey across France, France Miniature also has ten fun attractions for kids, including a 30 foot slide for a crazy six-person carpet ride, a panoramic tower where you can climb up high and quickly whoosh back down, and a boat trip topped off with a plunge into the water. The 'Les Provinces' restaurant, which is also themed along the lines of a journey around France, also offers a wide range of regional dishes. The concept even runs as far as the gift shop, where the emphasis is on regional specialties and flavours and the craftspeople who produce them.

Miniature France:
25, route du Mesnil 78990 Elancourt
Tel.: +33 (0)1 30 16 16 30.
Opening hours: from 1st April to 30th November from 10:00am to 6:00pm.
Price: ?15.50; concessions ?14; children ?10.
Tourism and Handicap label.