I first visited France 15 years ago when I went to Paris with my family and grandparents. I have been to a few times since on school trips and have recently re-visited Paris again in the summer of 2019 with my parents. It was so lovely to see all the sights again and explore the city some more. We had the most perfect weather and stayed in a really lovely hotel not far from all the main attractions.
Intro & Culture
France, in Western Europe, encompasses medieval cities, alpine villages and Mediterranean beaches. Paris, its capital, is famed for its fashion houses, classical art museums including the Louvre and monuments like the Eiffel Tower. The country is also renowned for its wines and sophisticated cuisine. Lascaux’s ancient cave drawings, Lyon’s Roman theatre and the vast Palace of Versailles attest to its rich history.
CURRENCY
In France, the main currency is Euros. I didn’t get any Euros out before I went and instead I used my Monzo card when purchasing things. It was a lot easier to keep track of how much I was spending – as Paris isn’t cheap! I use Monzo which is an app based bank account and contactless card (there are lots of similar ones to choose from though). It also alerts you once you’ve used the card and gives you the current exchange rate on purchases too.
Download the app “Currency Plus” to get currency conversions on the go. It updates daily and when connected to WiFi or Network to give you the latest conversion and you can have multiple currencies shown in one go.
Download here: Apple App Store // Google Play Store
LANGUAGE
In France, they speak French but also speak English… If you know a little French, it really does go a long way. Even knowing Hello, Thank you and Please – it really does help. Below are a few phrases to remember and help you get by.
- Hello/Good Morning – Bonjour
- Goodbye – Au revoir
- Good Afternoon – Bon soir
- Good Night – Bon nuit
- Thank you – Merci
- Thank you so much – Merci beaucoup
- Have a good day – Bon journee
- Yes – Oui
- No – Non
TIMEZONE
France actually has 12 time zones which spread across to their islands and territories. But their main time zone is Central European Summer Time (GMT+02:00).
CUISINE
Food and eating out in France is amazing. There are so many different restaurants across France which cater for different cuisines and tastes everything from Indian, Italian and American etc. The delicacies from France that you need to try are crepes, french onion soup and if you fancy it muscles and snails – although that wasn’t very high on my list. It is also quite hard to find a cooked breakfast, most of the breakfasts in France are typically continental.
Budget Tips
Suggested Daily Budget – 50-60 EUR / 52-62 GBP (Note: This is a suggested budget assuming you’re staying in a hostel, eating out a little, cooking most of your meals, and using local transportation. Using the budget tips below, you can always lower this number. However, if you stay in fancier accommodation or eat out more often, expect this to be higher!) During my 4 days in Paris, I spent around £215.71 including meals out, transport and general shopping.
01. Use the Metro were possible before booking taxis and Ubers – Travelling on the Metro is so much cheaper than booking a taxi or Uber, so before you book one – see if it’s easier to travel via the Metro as it’s so much cheaper and can save you some money.
02. Eat breakfast at a cafe – I found wanting a cooked breakfast very hard to find as it’s mainly continental. I found eating something like a croissant at a small cafe much cheaper than ordering a continental breakfast at a restaurant.
03. Eat dinner further away from the tourist attractions – It was our last night but I found having dinner near the Eiffel Tower a complete rip off. The food wasn’t amazing and I could have found it cheaper elsewhere but if you are eating out, try and stay away from restaurants near the main attractions.
04. Jump on an electric scooter for something quick to get around on – There are lots of electric scooters dotted around Paris for you to jump on. Simply scan the barcode on the corresponding app and you can hire it for an hour or for the day. It’s cheaper than getting a taxi or the Metro if you need to get around quickly.
Travel tips
VISAS
You won’t need a visa to visit France no matter where you are travelling from. But you may need to fill in an immigration card, make sure you check your countries local government website for more information.
Check if you need a Visa or other documentation here…
With iVisa, all of your travel document requirements are all in one place. They help give you that piece of mind when checking you have everything you need to enter a country without any hassle.
You can apply for everything from visas, tourist cards, invitation letters and health declaration forms for COVID-19 differently from their website. It’s very quick and easy to use and they are very fast at processing your applications, some things can even be FREE for whichever travel document you need. You can even pay for speedy processing and delivery if you are in a rush.
INJECTIONS
You do not need any injections to visit France.
READ MORE: A Guide to Vaccinations And Visas Around The World
CAPITAL/CITY
The capital of France is Paris. It has lots of smaller cities around France that are worth visiting as well. I have also been to Dunkirk for a school trip. Which is a lovely coastal city in the Northern part of France. It is famous for where WW2 was located, so it’s perfect to visit if you love history.
ACCOMMODATION
There are so many hotels and accommodation across France depending on where you are planning to stay. These can vary from major hotel chains, AirBnB’s, homestays or hostels. Make sure you check out AirBnB and also TripAdvisor for booking your hotel or hostel.
Me and my parents booked a lovely hotel in Paris located in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. I will warn you that accommodation can get quite expensive in Paris at times so watch out for the prices.
ACCOMMODATION I’VE STAYED IN
- • Hotel Les Jardins De La Villa, Paris
EXPLORE FRANCE
DRIVING
It will be quite easy to drive in France and Europe in general. The roads are all similar across Europe so it will be really easy to adjust to driving. Although we didn’t drive in Paris, we mainly walked or used public transport. There are plenty of car hire companies should you wish to hire a car and drive.
FLIGHTS
Flights to France can be from any major city across the world or from having a stopover in a major city if you are coming from somewhere smaller. Be sure to search Skyscanner to find your best time to fly to France from which airport you are flying from. I flew with British Airways to and from London Heathrow via Charles De Gaulle Airport. My flight cost around £161 to fly mid July for a 4 day weekend return.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT
I used quite a bit of public transport while in Paris as it was the main way of getting around the city quickly and easily. I have written a guide on how to get around Paris and the best public transports to use to save you money.
READ MORE: Transport In Paris | How To Get Around
Packing Tips
WHAT TO WEAR
You can wear pretty much anything in France, of course depending on the weather. We were so lucky with the weather we had in Paris, we were hit with a beautiful heatwave across Europe so it was absolutely gorgeous.
WEATHER
The weather in France can be a mixed bag but they can also get some stunning weather during the Spring and Summer. We visited Paris in July and we had the most amazing weather during the heatwave, and only had rain for a few hours on one of the days.
Activities
THINGS TO DO & SEE
There is so much to do in France from exploring the cities to trying all of the yummy food. I definitely recommend visiting the various museums across France, try traditional delicacies, explore the sights and many more.
HIGHLIGHTS OF FRANCE
- • Eiffel Tower, Paris
- • Champs-Élysées, Paris
- • Latin Quarter, Paris
- • Montmartre, Paris
- • Moulin Rouge, Paris
- • Arc de Triomphe, Paris
- • Basilica De Sacre Coeur, Paris
- • Sainte Chapelle, Paris
- • Notre Dame, Paris
- • Dunkirk
SAVE THIS TRAVEL GUIDE FOR FUTURE USE…
Solo Travel / Small Budget / 
This has made me miss Paris so much- I just love it. I agree that a little French goes a long way, I only know what I learned from GCSE but it really helped over there!
Soph – https://sophhearts.com x
Awh I miss it too! I only know a little bit of French from picking it up here and there, I’m more fluent and taken to speaking Spanish aha! xx
I LOVE Paris, I have a post coming up soon about it. Would love to visit the south too!
Kathleen / http://www.madeinthe1990s.com
Me too! I’m so glad I was able to go back and see it again 🙂 Thank you for commenting hun! Oh I can’t wait to check it out. Yes the south of France looks amazing, I’d love to visit Nice and find a nice chalet in a vineyard xx
What a fantastic guide! Thank you for sharing! ♡♡
Thank you, I’m glad you found it helpful x