If you're plotting a French escape, here's a freebie worth grabbing: The Good Life France Magazine has just published its Autumn 2026 issue, and like everything the site produces, it costs nothing to read. Editor Janine Marsh announced the release in her newsletter, and it's a notably wide-ranging edition — less a single theme, more a whistle-stop sweep of the country.

The destinations on the cover-to-cover menu read like a shortlist of France's greatest hits alongside a few curveballs. Provence and the French Riviera feature, as do the Loire Valley, the Dordogne and Normandy. But there are also some less obvious picks: a hilltop village in the Drôme topped by a castle, a palm-fringed spot in Le Var, medieval Noyers in Burgundy, and Quimper, Brittany's handsome Breton-speaking capital. Paris gets an essentials guide for anyone wanting the basics done properly.

Beyond places to go, the issue leans into culture and practicality. There's a piece on trompe l'oeil — the art of painted illusion that pops up on French building facades — a look at artisans keeping centuries-old crafts alive, and a guide to how the French actually mark Halloween, which has been slowly gaining traction there in its own Gallic way. Wine fans get a look at an emerging scene in the far north of France, well beyond the famous regions, and chefs contribute recipes for anyone who wants to bring a taste of the trip home.

Marsh is also putting her money where the magazine is, so to speak. Her upcoming travels — which she'll document on Instagram — read as a ready-made itinerary: Sancerre and Bourges in the Loire, hunting out quieter corners of the Valley of the Kings, then south to Nice for its food scene, on to Antibes on the Riviera, and finally Cognac, where autumn countryside apparently pairs with yoga and a nip of the local spirit. A returning podcast series is also in the works.

Why care? Because a well-produced, genuinely free magazine covering both the big names and the villages you've never heard of is a rare thing, and it's a low-effort way to build a France shortlist before committing to flights. The featured regions also suit autumn travel well — harvest season in Sancerre, softer light on the Riviera, and crowds long gone from the Loire châteaux. If you've been circling France for a while, this issue is a decent starting point for choosing between Bordeaux-country rivers, Breton streets or Provençal markets.