France international travel guide in 2023

France 🇫🇷

Last updated: March 10, 2023

France is part of Europe with main city at Paris. It's usually 🌤️ 6.77 °C in France with a rainfall of 🌧 62.76 mm. Tipping is quite common in France and it's good etiquette to leave one. Internet speed in France is on average 8.9 Mbps. In France you drive on the right side. Its Developed country with a population of 67M people. The main currency is Euro. The languages spoken are French. Automatic teller machines (local names: distributeur or distributeurs automatiques de billets (DAB)) are very common in France. Current travel safety advice is Exercise a high degree of caution. Get other useful information like socket plugs, SIM cards and emergency numbers.

👍 Developed 🌤️ ~6.77 °C 🌧 ~62.76 mm 👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 67M people

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Advice

🛡️ Travel safety

Exercise a high degree of caution

On 10 May 2022, the French Minister of the Interior announced increased security measures were to be put in place around Jewish places of gathering and worship following threats from the Islamic State group. Continue to exercise a high degree of caution around these areas and more generally in France. Authorities have extra counter-terrorism powers and may restrict your access to some places or search you. Take official warnings seriously. For more, see ‘Safety’ COVID-19 requirements have eased. Mask wearing and presenting a health pass (pass sanitaire) are only required in limited circumstances. Masks are required on public transport. If you're vaccinated against COVID-19, you're no longer required to provide evidence of a negative COVID-19 test for entry into France. See ‘Travel.’ We advise: Exercise a high degree of caution in France due to the high risk of a terrorist attack.

Issue date: May 11, 2022

Weather

🌤️ Temperature

🌧 Rainfall

General

🔌 Sockets

France uses 230V, 50Hz with sockets and plugs Type C and Type E.

🌐 Languages

The languages that are typically spoken are French

Money

💱 Currencies Used

France uses the euro (symbol: €), code EUR.Banknotes come in denominations of 500, 200, 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5 euros. Euro is subdivided into 100 cents. Coins come in denominations of 2 and 1 euros and 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 cents.

💳 Cards

Widely accepted Credit cards are widely accepted within France (at hotels, shops, and restaurants, travel agencies, car-rental agencies etc.). Visa, MasterCard and Maestro are the most widely accepted. American Express is less common. Diners Club is pretty rare. Discover, JCB, UnionPay and RuPay are unknown.

🏧 ATMs

Automatic teller machines (local names: distributeur or distributeurs automatiques de billets (DAB)) are very common in France. You can find them in both large & small cities, tourist areas etc.You do not need a chip & PIN card to use an ATM — your standard magnetic card will work fine.

💁‍♂️ Tipping

Expected to tip Tipping is quite common in France and it's good etiquette to leave one. How much money you leave depends on the service and how happy you were with it. Receipts always include a service charge.

Calling

📡 Internet

Internet speed in France is on average 8.9 Mbps. WiFi coverage in France is very high. Most hotels, hostels, cafes, restaurants and bars have it.

📱 Phones

You can buy a SIM card for about €11.27, which includes 2 GB of data plan. You can choose from 4 telecoms: Bouygues Télécom, Free, Orange or SFR. France uses GSM mobile networks GSM 900 and GSM 1800. If you don't want to buy SIM card in France upon arrival, make sure to check the roaming charges with your telecom provider before your departure so there are no surprises when you return home.

📞 Calling

To call France, dial +, then 33 (the country code for France), then the area code (without the initial 0) and the local number. For local calls within France, start with the area code (with the initial 0). In the case above area code is 1 .

Driving

🛣️ Road rules

In France you drive on the right side. Most cars have manual transmission (stick). Unless otherwise posted, the speed limits for cars and motorcycles are as follows: 110 km/h (68 mph) on expressways, 130 km/h (80 mph) on motorways, 30 km/h (18 mph) in residential areas, 50 km/h (31 mph) in all built-up areas and 90 km/h (55 mph) on undivided highways. Right turn on red lights is strictly forbidden unless an additional green semaphore arrow allows it. It is illegal to drive with blood alcohol content higher than 0.05%.

🚦 On the road

Road assistance is available at 112 (Autoreoutes.fr). For general news on France's traffic use Autoroute Info or Autoroutes.fr. For news on France’s motorways and tolls use ASFA. Most popular petrol stations in France are Shell, Avia, Intermarché, Carrefour, Total, AS24, Esso, Système U and Leclerc. Petrol (unleaded) gas options are called Sans plomb (SP) (95/98), essence or carburant. Petrol costs about €1.25 per liter.Diesel options are called Gazole or Diesel.

🆘 Emergency

Police

112

Ambulance

119

Fire department

119

France travel details

It's important to consider getting travel medical insurance to ensure you're covered in case of unexpected medical emergencies. For just $42, you can get coverage for 4 weeks, providing peace of mind and financial protection while you're away from home.

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