Planning your first trip to France? This France travel guide is perfect for anyone visiting France and wanting stress-free, smart travel tips. It covers public transport, driving tips, budget travel hacks, and the best places to visit across the country. Whether it’s your first time or not, this guide helps you make the most of your French adventure.
France Travel Guide
How to get around in France
The best ways to travel in France are by train, car, or bus, depending on your trip.
The TGV high-speed trains are the fastest and most convenient for city-to-city travel.
If you want to explore smaller towns, villages, or scenic regions like the French Riviera, Mont Blanc or Provence, renting a car gives you the most flexibility and you can stop at all the beautiful little villages along the way.
For budget travelers, long-distance buses like FlixBus and BlaBlaCar Bus offer cheap fares, though they take longer than trains.
We book all our tickets on Omio because it helps us find the best price and travel times for trains, buses, and flights, based on our preferences. And the great thing about it is you’ll have all your tickets saved in one place. We highly recommend it!
Road trips are usually more budget-friendly than flying, but like everything, there are pros and cons. We actually have a whole video comparing the two. That said, when it comes to price, road trips let you see so much more (you can stop in all the cute little towns along the way) but don’t forget to factor in tolls and petrol (or gas, if you’re in the US). We recommend using the Waze app for navigation. It not only warns you about traffic and speed cameras, but also shows you how much tolls will cost and other super useful information.
Tips for driving in France
- Getrentacar is a super easy-to-use car rental app that helps you compare prices and book rental cars across Europe. It offers a wide selection of cars from top rental agencies, letting you filter by price, car type, and pick-up location. With instant booking, secure payment options, and the ability to modify or cancel reservations, they also offer special deals. We highly recommend using them if you’re planning on taking a road trip on long drives during your trip.
- When renting a car, go for the smallest one that still has enough space for you and your luggage. There are lots of narrow roads and tight parking spots all over France (and Europe in general), so having a smaller car makes things way easier.
- France has a lot of tolls, and many travelers forget about them. We recommend downloading Waze, since it tells you how much you can expect to pay on tolls, but if you prefer using another navigation app, you can try TollGuru—it’s a road trip cost calculator that helps you find the cheapest and fastest routes by comparing toll costs, fuel expenses, and alternate routes across Europe. It’s super useful for road trippers and budget travelers since it shows you exactly how much you’ll spend on tolls before you even start driving. We cover this app and many others in our video (linked in the description). Also, no need to carry cash—all tolls in France have contactless card readers.
- If you’re not familiar with European or French road signs, check out this website. It’ll help you understand them, drive with confidence, and avoid any fines.
- Another way to get a ticket is by speeding. France is super strict about speed limits and has radars everywhere to enforce them. You can only go 4 km/h over the limit before getting fined. A great way to get alerts for upcoming speed cameras is by using Waze.
Do French people speak English?
Not everywhere! In big cities or touristy areas like Paris, Bordeaux or Étretat in Normandy, a lot of people do and you can communicate freely, but in more rural areas and small towns, you might not be that lucky.
In most places, however, If they spot you’re a tourist, they’ll probably switch to English (which is super helpful if you’re just visiting, but kind of a bummer if you’re trying to practice your French).
But here’s the thing: they’ll be way more willing to help you out and go the extra mile if they see you making an effort with the language. Trust me, they appreciate it, and it usually pays off! So, learning a couple of common phrases couldn’t hurt.
Budget Travel Hacks
Tipping Etiquette
Tipping in France isn’t a thing, you don’t have to tip, and it’s not expected. If you really enjoyed the service, you can leave a small tip (1-2 euros), but service charges are already included in workers’ salaries.
That said, watch out for tipping scams! Some restaurants, especially in touristy areas, sneak a tip onto the bill without telling you, knowing that many tourists (especially Americans) are used to tipping.
Another sneaky trick? If they think you don’t speak French, they might give you an English menu with higher prices than the regular French one. Honestly, it’s best to avoid super touristy restaurants anyway—they’re overpriced and usually not that great.
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Avoid high conversion fees
Revolut is a great tool for saving money while travelling for multiple reasons. Revolut can help you avoid many exchange rate fees, but it’s not entirely fee-free. With a Standard account, you can exchange up to $1,000 per month without extra charges.
Get a physical or digital travel card that will allow you to pay and draw money from ATMs while reducing the high foreign conversion fees that banks usually add. If you prefer a physical card, request it before your trip and it should arrive in a few business days, so definitely don’t leave it for the last minute.
Revolut also has budgeting tools for those who really want to track their expenses while travelling or during the planning phase.
Book attractions and make reservations in advance
France is one of the most visited cities in the world—which means crowds. Lots and lots of crowds. That’s why we highly recommend getting skip-the-line tickets in advance for any attractions on your list.
We did this for the Louvre and were so glad we did because the line to buy tickets was ridiculously long. With skip-the-line tickets, we got in super quickly, and trust me, those extra couple of euros are so worth it. You’ll save time, get to actually enjoy the attraction without rushing, and see more of the city overall.
Same goes for restaurants—whenever possible, make a reservation ahead of time. Popular spots fill up fast, and you don’t want to waste time wandering around looking for a table!
We book our activities with GetYourGuide whenever we can. GetYourGuide is a travel booking platform. Think of it as an online marketplace for skip-the-line tickets, guided tours, day trips, and unique local experiences—all in one place. This is a great app to have before your trip but also during your trip, and here is why:
GetYourGuide offers fast-track tickets so you can walk right into popular attractions like the Eiffel Tower.
You can make last-minute bookings easily and if your plans change it’s not a problem because many (if not most) activities offer free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
Top places to visit for first time visitors and what you can expect
If you’ve never been to France before, or if you’ve only been to popular places like Paris or Disneyland, then you might be unsure where to go and which are the best places to visit. Here’s a breakdown of our favourite areas and what you can expect, this might help you choose depending on the vibe you’re looking for.
French Riviera
The French Riviera coastline stretches from Saint-Tropez to Menton, and it’s well known for its luxury yachts and stunning beaches. The French Riviera is just a really easy place to enjoy. Even simple things, like a picnic by the water or a walk through an old village, feel fancy without needing to spend a lot of money.
Paris
Paris is one of those cities that just feels good to be in. You can walk around for hours, see something beautiful on almost every corner, and always find a nice spot to sit with a coffee or a pastry. It’s full of history and famous sights, but it’s also fun just to wander and eat good food. And if you think you need a big budget and a long trip to enjoy Paris, check out this post to see why that’s not true.
Paris is known for its Haussmann architecture. But if you’ve already been, or just feel like trying something different, check out Lille. It’s like a mini Paris with the same beautiful Haussmann-style buildings. We love it there, and we talk all about it in this blog post!
Normandy & Brittany
Two neighbouring regions in the North of France, you have to add to your bucket list if you like savoury crepes, cider, and moules frites (mussels and fries). There are many little coastal towns (like Dinard, Granville, Honfleur and Étretat), places full of history (like Omaha beach) and medieval charm (like Vitré, Dinan, St Malo…).
Provence
Provence is where you will find that classic French countryside vibe full of lavender fields, vineyards and small old towns. If you love good weather, slow days and wine tasting, Provence is where to be.
Alsace
The Alsace region is known for the Alsace Wine Route and its strong German influence, reflected in its architecture, cuisine, and even language. While French is the primary language, locals also speak Alsatian—a regional dialect that shares many similarities with German.
Alsace is truly beautiful, but it really comes alive at Christmas. The most important cities to visit are Colmar and Strasbourg, but if you are planning to visit during Christmas, we have a post about the Christmas markets if you want to check it out!
If you want more specific Chrsitmas contenct for Alsace, check out our posts about the most fairytale villages like Eguisheim, Kaysersberg and Riquewihr.
Bordeaux
Bordeaux, a city in southwestern France, is one of our favourite cities. We usually do a stop over here for the night since it’s about halfway between most places in France and Madrid, where we live. We’ve already talked about things to do here, so check out this post for more ideas.
By the way, we’ve put together a FREE download for you with the most beautiful French villages, in our opinion, separated by regions. We also added our top 3 must-do activities for each one.
More French Getaways, Road Trip Inspo & Budget Hacks You’ll Love
If you’re looking for more ideas on where to go in France, make sure to check out our blog post “8 Top French Holiday Destinations” for some seriously beautiful spots. And if the south of France is on your list, don’t miss our full French Riviera Road Trip — it’s packed with dreamy stops and practical tips. Traveling on a budget? We’ve got you covered. Head over to our Top Budget Travel Hacks to learn how to plan the trip of your dreams without spending a fortune.
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