For the driver’s phone, we recommend bringing a magnetic phone mount as you will need to place and remove it frequently.
For instance, this kind of model (Amazon).

Toll & Fuel Cost Estimation

Michelin Route Calculation Planner

🔴🔵 ➡️ Eating Out Tips

➡️ Eating Out Tips in France

🔴🔵 Electric Sockets

Electric sockets are of type E and F or rarely C.

Their voltage is 220-240V.

🔴🔵 Emergency N°

112 (clicable from your phone)

For Police, Ambulance, Fire and Rescue services.

Normally, dialing works even with a locked phone or without a SIM card.

This number is the same in other European Union countries.

🔴⚪ Hike Itineraries📱

Best websites for hiking itineraries in France:

komoot.com

visorando.com/en

📱They also have their own app, check our dedicated apps page, an go to the “Hiking & Biking” section:
Useful Apps for France Trip

🔴🔵 Holidays 2025

There are 11 public holidays in France.

(Text in Italics = valid only for 2025, as it changes annually)

January 1 – Wednesday
New Year’s Day

April 21 – Easter Monday
(The day after Easter Sunday)

May 1 – Thursday
Labor Day (International Workers’ Day)

May 8 – Thursday
Victory Day (WWII)

May 29 – Ascension Thursday
(40 days after Easter Sunday)

June 9 – Whit Monday
(50 days after Easter Sunday)

July 14 – Monday
National Day (also called Bastille Day)

August 15 – Friday
Assumption of Mary

November 1 – Saturday
All Saints’ Day

November 11 – Tuesday
Armistice Day (WWI)

December 25 – Thursday
Christmas Day

🔴🔵 ➡️ Internet Data & Calls

➡️ Getting Internet Data & Calls in France

🔴🔵 Language

If you don’t speak any French, try learning and using these 3 words.

This small effort to use these words will be greatly appreciated by local speakers.

Click on the links, then on the speaker icon to get an idea of how it’s pronounced.

Bonjour = good morning/afternoon

Bonsoir = good evening

Merci = thank you

🔴🔵 Mass

If you want to go to a church during mass, here is the website that lists mass schedules for churches in France:
Messes.info
It’s in French, use your browser’s translate function.

Some churches may have this information on their own website, which are usually in French.

🔴🔵 Money

Card

All stores in France are equipped with a card payment terminal.
(You might find rare exceptions on some outdoor food and flea markets).

They are compatible with Visa and Mastercard (your card must have a chip ; if it only has the magnetic strip, it might not work).

American Express cards are usually accepted but not everywhere.

If your card does not have a PIN code, and you are prompted to enter one, normally, after waiting for a few seconds, the system will recognize this and proceed to validate the payment without requiring a PIN.

Cash

It’s recommended to have some cash for:

Outoor Food Markets
Flea Markets

It’s recommended to have some coins for:

Old Parking Meters
Toilets in Railway Stations and Shopping Malls

If you use cash for everyday expenses, avoid the 200€ and 500€ notes as they are rarely accepted.

Currency Rate

Currency Rate Convertor – xe.com

It is not possible to pay with any currency other than €.

🔴⚪ Parking

You must not park if there is a

Yellow line on the ground
Large yellow cross marked on the ground
No parking sign (image).
Taxi sign

If there is no prohibition, parking can be:

Free
Free with limited time marked by blue dotted lines on the ground or the disc sign (image).
In this case, you must use the plastic disc (usually in the glove compartment of vehicles from rental car companies) and put your arrival time on it and leave it visible on the dashboard. The time limit is 1h30, otherwise, it should be indicated on a board.
Paying with a time limit if there is a parking meter.
On newer machines, you must press the button power and type in the number plate of the vehicle before paying.
On some older machines, payment by credit card may not exist and is therefore only possible by coins (with change).
If you get a receipt, you must leave it on the dashboard.
Sometimes there is no ticket, in the case of new equipment.
The price per hour and the maximum possible time vary according to the street, the district and the city.

🔴⚪ Picnic Spots📱

Best app to find picnic spots in France:

getpicnick.com

📱The website doesn’t give picnic spots, it’s meant to be used via the app, check our dedicated apps page and go to the “Picnic” section:
Useful Apps for France Trip

It’s for small towns, villages and countryside, this app hardly has any information about picnic spots in Paris or other major French cities.

⚪🔵 Safety, Pickpockets

Safety

Paris is a generally safe city, but like other major cities, there are certain areas to avoid, especially in the evening towards the north of the city.

Pickpockets

There are many pickpockets in Paris, especially in public transportation, around major tourist attractions and on bar/restaurant terraces.

Be cautious and wary of people (both adults and children) who distract or approach you without reason, it’s likely a scam.

Being on vacation, you may be unconsciously less vigilant, but try to keep your common sense.

🔴🔵 Strikes

Strikes can occur at any time of the year with varying intensities.
Just be aware of this, but statistically, it’s unlikely to affect your travel dates.

Sectors that may impact tourists include:

A specific attraction
Public transportation (usually, a minimum service is maintained)
Air travel: airport staff or your specific airline
Trains
Taxis (which does not justify any fare increase by drivers who are not on strike)

🔴🔵 Tap Water📱

Drinking it

Tap water is drinkable in France and the majority of French people drink it daily.

You might find some rare exceptions, in which case it will be indicated by a sign or written in French as “non potable”.

Drinking fountains

📱To find public drinking fountains via an app, check our dedicated apps page and go to the “Water” section:
Useful Apps for France Trip

🔴🔵 Taxi & Ride-Hailing (Uber, etc)📱

Regular Taxi

You can take a taxi from the street or through the G7 app (official taxi app).

Ride-Hailing

Examples : Uber or Bolt apps.

App

📱Each has its own app, check our dedicated apps page and go to the “Taxi & Ride-Hailing” section
Useful Apps for France Trip

From Paris Airports

See the Airport section above.

🔴🔵 Time Change

Summertime

1 hour less sun in the morning and 1 hour more in the evening.

The last weekend of March, during the night from Saturday to Sunday.

Sun 30 Mar 2025, at 2am it will be 3am.

Wintertime

1 hour more sun in the morning and 1 hour less sun in the evening.

The last weekend of October, during the night from Saturday to Sunday.

Sun 26 Oct 2025, at 3am it will be 2am.

🔴🔵 Tipping

Restaurant

For more info about tipping in restaurants, refer to “Eating Out Tips” section above.

Other places

It is not customary to leave a tip for a service (driver, hotel, etc). 99% of French people don’t tip for any kind of service in their country.

In some high-end services with a significant foreign clientele, staff may have become accustomed to receiving tips, as their foreign customers replicate the custom from their home countries of leaving one. However, this in no way justifies that you must leave a tip, nor should the staff feel aggrieved if you do not.

🔴🔵 Toilet📱

Types of locations

You can find toilets in various types of locations:

Public toilets located in streets or parks, which are free of charge.
In shopping malls, where they may be available for free or for a fee (usually requiring coins)
At railway stations, where they are often paid facilities (usually requiring coins).
In bars/restaurants, you’ll need to purchase at least one drink/food to use them.

Finidng toilets

📱To find toilets via an app, check our dedicated apps page and go to the “Toilet” section:
Useful Apps for France Trip

🔴⚪ Tourist Offices

When you arrive in a city, it might be worthwhile to make a quick stop at the tourist office (if you arrive during its opening hours) to:

Get a physical map
Ask any questions you might have
Find out if there is a special event happening that day
Know if there are any places that are exceptionally closed that day
See if there is a city pass (in the case of a large or medium-sized city) and if it would be beneficial for you based on what you’ve planned

Click on this Google Maps search and add the name of the place to find out:

If there is a tourist office where you are going
Where it is located (in small towns, the office may not have its own building but be situated in another public building like the town hall, for example)
If it is open that day (in small towns, the office may close during the off-season)
Its opening hours

🔴🔵 Tourist Seasons

Low season

January, February, March and November

Mid season

April, May and October

High season

June, July, August, September.

And the last 10 days of December in Paris and the Alsace Region.

🔴🔵 Train📱

Train routes

Websites to find train routes between French cities (and to neighboring countries as well):

sncf-connect.com (official website of the French train service)

omio.com

trainline.com

📱They also have their own app, check our dedicated apps page and go to the “Train” section:
Useful Apps for France Trip

Other website:

rome2rio.com

Names

TGV (also called InOui) = High speed National train (speed depends of the track)

Ouigo = Low-cost TGV

Intercité = National train

TER = Regional Train
(in the Ile-de-France region – the Paris Region, the regional trains are called Transiliens, see the Transportation section)

Luggage

There are not any real luggage restrictions.

🔴🔵 Translate a Page

While doing your research, if you come across a link that is only in French, you have the option to translate the page using a feature in your browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc.).

Depending on which one you are using, this is usually accessible via right-click or next to the search bar.

The translation may not be perfect, but it should be more than sufficient.

⚪🔵➡️ Transportation in Paris

➡️ Paris Public Transportation Guide

🔴🔵 Vaccine

For visa-exempt travelers, no vaccinations are mandatory to enter France.

If you require a visa, check the requirements list for any necessary vaccinations.

🔴🔵 Visa & Passport

Non-Schengen (image) Passport holders :

Whether you are visa-exempt or have a tourist visa, the maximum duration of stay in the Schengen Area is 90 days within a period of 180 days. Your passport must be valid for at least 90 days after the date of exit from the Schengen area.

If you have heard of ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorization System), it will be a pre-travel authorization system for visa-exempt visitors to the Schengen Area. It will require travelers to complete an online application before their trip.

It’s scheduled to be implemented from mid-2025.