Founded c. 600 BC by Greek settlers from Phocaea, Marseille is the oldest city in France, as well as one of Europe's oldest continuously inhabited settlements. It was known to the ancient Greeks as Massalia (Greek: ?assa??a, romanized: Massalía) and to Romans as Massilia.

Determining the "oldest" village in France is a matter of archaeological debate, but Béziers in the Occitanie region is widely recognized as the oldest continuously inhabited city in France, dating back to 575 BC when it was settled by the Greeks. However, if looking for the "oldest village" aesthetic, many point to Sainte-Enimie in the Gorges du Tarn or Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, both of which have medieval roots dating back over a thousand years. For a deeper prehistoric connection, the village of Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil in the Dordogne is known as the "World Capital of Prehistory," as it has been a site of human habitation for nearly 40,000 years, including the famous Cro-Magnon shelters. In 2026, visiting these sites offers a grounded "time-travel" experience; while Béziers offers urban history, the smaller "Plus Beaux Villages de France" provide the quintessential stone-walled, cobblestone atmosphere that travelers associate with ancient France. Each of these locations reflects a different layer of the country's multi-millennial human history.