Learn the department capitals of France
The plan: 20 batches of five
How the pieces are shared out, five at a time and by area of the map (in brackets, the capital when its name differs). Each batch starts next to the last one.
- Batch 1: Quimper (Finistère), Saint-Brieuc (Côtes-d'Armor), Vannes (Morbihan), Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine), Nantes (Loire-Atlantique)
- Batch 2: Saint-Lô (Manche), Caen (Calvados), Alençon (Orne), Laval (Mayenne), Le Mans (Sarthe)
- Batch 3: Évreux (Eure), Rouen (Seine-Maritime), Cergy (Val-d'Oise), Versailles (Yvelines), Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine)
- Batch 4: Chartres (Eure-et-Loir), Évry-Courcouronnes (Essonne), Paris, Créteil (Val-de-Marne), Bobigny (Seine-Saint-Denis)
- Batch 5: Blois (Loir-et-Cher), Orléans (Loiret), Bourges (Cher), Châteauroux (Indre), Tours (Indre-et-Loire)
- Batch 6: Nevers (Nièvre), Auxerre (Yonne), Dijon (Côte-d’Or), Troyes (Aube), Chaumont (Haute-Marne)
- Batch 7: Châlons-en-Champagne (Marne), Laon (Aisne), Charleville-Mézières (Ardennes), Bar-le-Duc (Meuse), Melun (Seine-et-Marne)
- Batch 8: Beauvais (Oise), Amiens (Somme), Arras (Pas-de-Calais), Lille (Nord), Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle)
- Batch 9: Metz (Moselle), Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin), Épinal (Vosges), Colmar (Haut-Rhin), Belfort (Territoire de Belfort)
- Batch 10: Vesoul (Haute-Saône), Besançon (Doubs), Lons-le-Saunier (Jura), Annecy (Haute-Savoie), Bourg-en-Bresse (Ain)
- Batch 11: Lyon (Rhône), Saint-Étienne (Loire), Mâcon (Saône-et-Loire), Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme), Moulins (Allier)
- Batch 12: Guéret (Creuse), Limoges (Haute-Vienne), Tulle (Corrèze), Périgueux (Dordogne), Angoulême (Charente)
- Batch 13: La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime), Niort (Deux-Sèvres), La Roche-sur-Yon (Vendée), Poitiers (Vienne), Angers (Maine-et-Loire)
- Batch 14: Bordeaux (Gironde), Agen (Lot-et-Garonne), Mont-de-Marsan (Landes), Auch (Gers), Montauban (Tarn-et-Garonne)
- Batch 15: Tarbes (Hautes-Pyrénées), Pau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), Toulouse (Haute-Garonne), Foix (Ariège), Albi (Tarn)
- Batch 16: Carcassonne (Aude), Perpignan (Pyrénées-Orientales), Montpellier (Hérault), Rodez (Aveyron), Nîmes (Gard)
- Batch 17: Mende (Lozère), Le Puy-en-Velay (Haute-Loire), Privas (Ardèche), Aurillac (Cantal), Valence (Drôme)
- Batch 18: Grenoble (Isère), Chambéry (Savoie), Gap (Hautes-Alpes), Digne-les-Bains (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence), Avignon (Vaucluse)
- Batch 19: Nice (Alpes-Maritimes), Toulon (Var), Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône), Bastia (Haute-Corse), Ajaccio (Corse-du-Sud)
- Batch 20: Cahors (Lot)
Learn the department capitals of France at your own pace: we show you 96 capitals five at a time, each in its place on the map, and you go over the ones you miss until you know them. Free, no sign-up.
Test yourself
What are the department capitals of France?
Ain: Bourg-en-Bresse; Aisne: Laon; Allier: Moulins; Alpes-de-Haute-Provence: Digne-les-Bains; Alpes-Maritimes: Nice; Ardèche: Privas; Ardennes: Charleville-Mézières; Ariège: Foix; Aube: Troyes; Aude: Carcassonne; Aveyron: Rodez; Bas-Rhin: Strasbourg; Bouches-du-Rhône: Marseille; Calvados: Caen; Cantal: Aurillac; Charente: Angoulême; Charente-Maritime: La Rochelle; Cher: Bourges; Corrèze: Tulle; Corse-du-Sud: Ajaccio; Côte-d’Or: Dijon; Côtes-d'Armor: Saint-Brieuc; Creuse: Guéret; Deux-Sèvres: Niort; Dordogne: Périgueux; Doubs: Besançon; Drôme: Valence; Essonne: Évry-Courcouronnes; Eure: Évreux; Eure-et-Loir: Chartres; Finistère: Quimper; Gard: Nîmes; Gers: Auch; Gironde: Bordeaux; Haut-Rhin: Colmar; Haute-Corse: Bastia; Haute-Garonne: Toulouse; Haute-Loire: Le Puy-en-Velay; Haute-Marne: Chaumont; Haute-Saône: Vesoul; Haute-Savoie: Annecy; Haute-Vienne: Limoges; Hautes-Alpes: Gap; Hautes-Pyrénées: Tarbes; Hauts-de-Seine: Nanterre; Hérault: Montpellier; Ille-et-Vilaine: Rennes; Indre: Châteauroux; Indre-et-Loire: Tours; Isère: Grenoble; Jura: Lons-le-Saunier; Landes: Mont-de-Marsan; Loir-et-Cher: Blois; Loire: Saint-Étienne; Loire-Atlantique: Nantes; Loiret: Orléans; Lot: Cahors; Lot-et-Garonne: Agen; Lozère: Mende; Maine-et-Loire: Angers; Manche: Saint-Lô; Marne: Châlons-en-Champagne; Mayenne: Laval; Meurthe-et-Moselle: Nancy; Meuse: Bar-le-Duc; Morbihan: Vannes; Moselle: Metz; Nièvre: Nevers; Nord: Lille; Oise: Beauvais; Orne: Alençon; Paris: Paris; Pas-de-Calais: Arras; Puy-de-Dôme: Clermont-Ferrand; Pyrénées-Atlantiques: Pau; Pyrénées-Orientales: Perpignan; Rhône: Lyon; Saône-et-Loire: Mâcon; Sarthe: Le Mans; Savoie: Chambéry; Seine-et-Marne: Melun; Seine-Maritime: Rouen; Seine-Saint-Denis: Bobigny; Somme: Amiens; Tarn: Albi; Tarn-et-Garonne: Montauban; Territoire de Belfort: Belfort; Val-d'Oise: Cergy; Val-de-Marne: Créteil; Var: Toulon; Vaucluse: Avignon; Vendée: La Roche-sur-Yon; Vienne: Poitiers; Vosges: Épinal; Yonne: Auxerre; Yvelines: Versailles.
What is the easiest way to learn the department capitals of France?
By area and in small groups: learn five neighbouring pieces, find them on the map with no rush, and go over the ones you miss a little later, then the next day. Reviewing just before you would forget is what makes them stick.
How long does it take to learn the department capitals of France?
There are 96 pieces in 20 batches of five: about a minute per batch to see them all, then short reviews over a few days so you don't forget them.