Enrich the cultural focus of your Text and Readers by having students take simulated trips.
Use the Internet as an ideal database for all aspects of a make-believe trip.

Click on Simulated Trips: Lesson Plans and read each section for specific ideas to adapt to your classes. For teachers of other FL, next visit
Simulated Trips: French
Simulated Trips: Spanish
Simulated Trips: German
Simulated Trips: Italian
for specific sites to use with your classes.

First, think about your plan for the year. Identify the focus. At EA, first year French students learn about the French-speaking world in a general way, so we use many of the backround resources on countries (countries by continent/flag/ currency/weather in each season). In MS, they study in more depth about Quebec and France, notably Paris, so we have clustered resources for Trips to French-Speaking countriesand French Trips with an extensive section for a trip to Paris.

Second year level students at EA learn about many regions of France, so we make use of the section French Trips for a simulated trip to one or more regions of France. Each student selects a region, telling about its history and economy, tourist sites not to miss and other reasons for visiting the area. We have found it useful to have each trip depart from Paris by the appropriate train station.

Our Readers for levels One and Two include La Famille Marais and Un Eté Pas Comme les Autres. Students plan a trip to recreate the itinerary and sites described in each Reader.

Third year students extend their cultural horizons to include an in-depth study of the Francophone countries of the world. The French Trip and the General Trip section offer a number of useful clusters of Internet resources in French and English to plan trips to all French-speaking countries.

Visit my Lesson Plans for First Simulated Trips to adapt for your FL classes.

Here are more ideas:

Topics related to regions and countries make excellent themes for inter-class exchanges. Classes each describe their region then compare with partner class for similarities and differences. Each class then suggests local places they know (writing up details of why they seem similar)that might be comparable to the exchange area. Each group shares and compares their impressions. Each class describe their range of favorite vacation spots (whether or not actually visited) to share with other class. Again reactions are interesting.

Go to On-Line school projects and type in Ideas for travel and Tourism to find fine activities related to travel and tourism.