These car museums to visit on vacation in France

Auto Plus Classiques has selected for you the most unforgettable automobile museums to visit on your holiday route in France.

Whether your summer trip takes you on holiday to the South, Brittany or the East, why not take the opportunity to meet the greatest myths in one of the automobile museums of France ? Auto Plus Classiques has selected the most unforgettable ones for you.

Automobile museums to discover in France

Peugeot Adventure Museum (Sochaux, Burgundy-Franche-Comté)
Apart from the Citroën conservatory, which can only be visited on request, the Musée de l’Aventure Peugeot is the only manufacturer museum open to the public in France. It naturally exhibits the brand’s most iconic cars, but also the other products of this company founded in 1810: motorcycles, bicycles, coffee grinders, tools, saw blades, etc. Enough to fascinate the whole family, who can also enjoy the brewery located on site.
National Museum of the Automobile Collection Schlumpf (Mulhouse, Alsace)
The Schlumpf Museum in Mulhouse is to the automobile what the Louvre is to the arts: probably the most important museum in the world. It is visited first for its Bugatti collection, the most exhaustive ever assembled, but also for its very numerous ancestors allowing to trace the beginnings of the history of the automobile. A little dormant in recent years, it finds its dynamism again thanks to a team of enthusiasts.
Henri-Malartre Automobile Museum (Rochetailed-on-Saone, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes)
A pioneer of automobile collecting even before the Schlumpf brothers, Henri Malartre saved priceless treasures from the scrapyard, such as an authentic Taxi de la Marne, the Gordini T16 Formula 1, and Hitler’s armored Mercedes. He set up his museum in the Château de la Rochetaillée in 1960! Since then, it has been given to the city of Lyon, and gives a special place to the many lost Lyon brands.
Citro Museum (Castellane, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur)
The Mecca of Citroën enthusiasts is in Castellane, where you will find the museum created from scratch by Henri Fradet, an inveterate collector of Citroëns, if possible new and original. If you dream of discovering a 1956 Citroën DS or an… Axel in factory condition, look no further, especially since its collection of post-war examples far exceeds in quality and number that of the manufacturer itself.

The must-see vintage car collections

24 Hours of Le Mans Museum (Le Mans, Pays de la Loire)
It’s hard not to recommend this visit around the greatest car race in the world, which celebrated its centenary in 2023. This summer, an exhibition highlighting the Alpine brand and its history with the Le Mans race will be on display until October 6, 2024. The permanent exhibition also presents some legends: Alpine A442, Matra 670, Ford GT40… Note that a visit to the 24 Hours track is also possible outside of race periods.
National Car Museum (Compiegne, Hauts-de-France)
Located in the majestic setting of the Château de Compiègne, the Musée National de la Voiture is quite simply the first automobile museum in history, created in 1927. It includes several historic examples such as the Jamais Contente, the first (electric!) car to have exceeded the 100 km/h mark. It also houses the most remarkable collection of horse-drawn carriages in France.
Automobile Manor (Lohéac, Brittany)
Founded by the illustrious Michel Hommell, the Manoir de l’Automobile et des Vieux Métiers presents in a rural setting nearly 400 vehicles including a starting grid of 18 Formula 1 and supercars: Ferrari F40, Lamborghini Diablo… The museum also offers staging: reconstruction of a garage and a period service station, a guinguette from the 1930s, and around twenty old-time shops.

Reims-Champagne Automobile Museum (Reims, Grand Est)
This little-known museum is nevertheless worth a visit. Its collections include 160 cars, 90 motorcycles, 170 enamel plates, 80 pedal cars and 7,000 miniatures and continue to be regularly enriched. They include the most famous popular models as well as some models of forgotten local brands and some treasures such as the two Wimille prototypes or the Tour de France truck from the newspaper L’Union.