Roavina

Country guide

France

A photograph of France
Photograph · Pierre Blaché · CC0

France is 18 regions and 632,702 km2, and five of those regions are overseas - French Guiana in South America, the French West Indies, islands in the Indian and Pacific oceans. Metropolitan France alone runs from the Rhine to the Atlantic and from the Mediterranean to the North Sea, so a week here is a choice rather than a circuit. Of the 69.1 million people estimated in 2026, more than 13 million are in the Paris metropolitan area, which is why the capital tends to win the first visit. The corners - Alpine, Atlantic, Mediterranean - are further from one another than the map's familiarity suggests.

Reviewed by Elena Voss · Roavina Travel Editor

Cities

Every city catalogued in this country so far, ranked by how much there is to see.

Practical information
Language spoken
French
French is the language of the Republic under Article 2 of the Constitution
Dialling code
+33
The country code for metropolitan France
Currency
Euro (€, EUR)
France has used the euro as its official currency since 2002
Emergency number
112
One number across the country; 15 reaches an ambulance directly
Plug type
Type E · 220 V
Round-pin sockets use a projecting earth pin
Tap water
Safe to drink
The health ministry says tap water may be consumed safely unless local authorities issue specific advice

Planning a visit

  1. January: seasonal closure recorded
  2. February: seasonal closure recorded
  3. March: seasonal closure recorded
  4. April: seasonal closure recorded
  5. May: seasonal closure recorded
  6. June: seasonal closure recorded
  7. July: seasonal closure recorded
  8. August: seasonal closure recorded
  9. September: no seasonality data recorded — this month
  10. October: seasonal closure recorded
  11. November: seasonal closure recorded
  12. December: seasonal closure recorded

Top things to see

Ranked by importance — sitelinks, pageviews and heritage status, not editor preference.

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38 places match
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Category

Historic monuments 9 Museums 29 Places of worship 0 Nature sites 0 Viewpoints 0 Food and drink 0 Markets and shopping 0 Entertainment 0 Nightlife 0 Family attractions 0 Art and culture 0 Activities 0

Typical visit duration

Up to 1 hour 69 1 to 2 hours 38 Half a day or more 7

Interests

History 38 Art 2 Museums 31 Nature 3 Sea and beach 3 Viewpoints 0
  1. Eiffel Tower Eiffel Tower
    01 2 hours

    Eiffel Tower

    Tour Eiffel

    The Eiffel Tower was built to stand for twenty years and be taken down.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  2. Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery
    02 1 hr 30 min

    Père Lachaise Cemetery

    Cimetière du Père-Lachaise

    Père Lachaise is a working cemetery that became a destination because its managers marketed it.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  3. Palais Garnier Palais Garnier
    03 1 hr 30 min

    Palais Garnier

    Opéra Garnier

    The Palais Garnier is what Napoleon III's Paris looked like when it stopped pretending to be restrained. He commissioned it in 1861, Charles Garnier won the competition, and it was built from 1861 to 1875, opening on 5 January 1875.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  4. Grand Palais Grand Palais
    04 2 hours

    Grand Palais

    Treat the what it is details as provisional when arranging this stop in Paris. Keep enough flexibility to move the visit within the same area if current conditions differ from the plan.

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Paris
  5. Conciergerie Conciergerie
    05 1 hr 15 min

    Conciergerie

    The Conciergerie was a royal palace before it was a prison, and the prison is what everyone remembers.

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Paris
  6. Petit Palais Petit Palais
    06 1 hr 30 min

    Petit Palais

    Petit Palais, Musée des beaux-arts de la Ville de Paris

    The Petit Palais was built for the 1900 World's Fair as an exhibition hall and has held the City of Paris's fine arts museum ever since.

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Paris
  7. Hôtel de la Marine Hôtel de la Marine
    07 2 hours

    Hôtel de la Marine

    Hôtel de la Marine is a paid-ticket monument on Place de la Concorde, one of a matching pair of colonnaded palaces — its twin across the square today houses the Hôtel de Crillon — built between 1758 and 1774 to…

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  8. Centre Georges Pompidou Centre Georges Pompidou
    08 2 hours

    Centre Georges Pompidou

    The Centre Pompidou is a building turned inside out, and it is closed until 2030.

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Paris
  9. National Assembly National Assembly
    09 1 hr 30 min

    National Assembly

    Assemblée nationale

    The Palais Bourbon is where the National Assembly, the lower house of the French parliament, has sat since the Revolution turned a princess's private mansion into the seat of the republic's elected chamber.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  10. Élysée Palace Élysée Palace
    10 1 hr 30 min

    Élysée Palace

    Palais de l'Élysée

    The Élysée Palace is where the President of France lives and works, and it is closed to visitors for all but one weekend a year.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  11. Musée des Arts et Métiers Musée des Arts et Métiers
    11 2 hours

    Musée des Arts et Métiers

    The Musée des Arts et Métiers is Europe's oldest technology museum, founded in 1794 to collect and preserve the machines and instruments of French industry, and it has occupied a former medieval priory ever since.

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Paris
  12. Château de Vincennes Château de Vincennes
    12 1 hr 30 min

    Château de Vincennes

    Château de Vincennes is a medieval fortress on the eastern edge of Paris, beside the Bois de Vincennes.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  13. Musée d'art moderne de Paris Musée d'art moderne de Paris
    13 1 hr 30 min

    Musée d'art moderne de Paris

    Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris

    Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris is the city of Paris's own museum of modern art, occupying the east wing of the Palais de Tokyo on Avenue du Président Wilson.

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Paris
  14. Musée Rodin Musée Rodin
    14 2 hours

    Musée Rodin

    The Musee Rodin occupies the Hotel Biron, an eighteenth-century mansion on Rue de Varenne in the 7th arrondissement that had already passed through use as a convent school before the state let it out cheaply as artists' studios in the…

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Paris
  15. Musée du quai Branly Musée du quai Branly
    15 2 hours

    Musée du quai Branly

    The Musee du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac gathers non-Western art and material culture from Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas under one roof, a collection that had previously been split between the ethnographic Musee de l'Homme and the Musee…

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Paris
  16. Musée de l'Orangerie Musée de l'Orangerie
    16 1 hr 15 min

    Musée de l'Orangerie

    The Musee de l'Orangerie sits at the western end of the Tuileries Garden, in a building put up in 1852 under Napoleon III to overwinter the garden's orange trees, a purely functional greenhouse rather than a building meant to be…

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Paris
  17. Musée Marmottan Monet Musée Marmottan Monet
    17 1 hr 30 min

    Musée Marmottan Monet

    The Musee Marmottan Monet occupies a former hunting lodge built for the Duke of Valmy on the edge of the Bois de Boulogne, bought in the late nineteenth century by the businessman Jules Marmottan and later expanded by his son…

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Paris
  18. Musée Picasso Musée Picasso
    18 1 hr 30 min

    Musée Picasso

    Musée national Picasso-Paris

    The Musee Picasso occupies the Hotel Sale, a seventeenth-century mansion in the Marais built in the 1650s for Pierre Aubert de Fontenay, a salt-tax collector whose unpopular trade gave the building its nickname, sale meaning salted.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Paris
  19. Bourse de commerce Bourse de commerce
    19 1 hr 30 min

    Bourse de commerce

    Bourse de Commerce

    The Bourse de Commerce is a Paris contemporary art museum housed in a historic circular building near Les Halles and the Louvre district.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Paris
  20. Louis Vuitton Foundation Louis Vuitton Foundation
    20 2 hours

    Louis Vuitton Foundation

    Fondation Louis Vuitton

    The Fondation Louis Vuitton is a contemporary art museum in the Bois de Boulogne, commissioned by Bernard Arnault, chairman of the luxury group LVMH, and designed by the American architect Frank Gehry.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Paris
  21. Musée Grévin Musée Grévin
    21 1 hr 30 min

    Musée Grévin

    Musée Grévin is a wax museum on Boulevard Montmartre, opened in 1882.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Paris
  22. Jardin des plantes Jardin des plantes
    22 1 hr 15 min

    Jardin des plantes

    Jardin des Plantes

    The Jardin des plantes is Paris's main botanical garden and the founding site of the Museum national d'Histoire naturelle, on the Left Bank in the 5th arrondissement, between the Seine and the Austerlitz rail yards.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  23. Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume
    23 1 hr 15 min

    Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume

    Jeu de Paume

    The Jeu de Paume is a photography and moving-image gallery in the Tuileries Garden's north-west corner, in a building constructed in 1861 as a court for jeu de paume, the indoor precursor of tennis played by Napoleon III's court.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Paris
  24. Palais Bourbon Palais Bourbon
    24 1 hr 30 min

    Palais Bourbon

    The Palais Bourbon, on the Left Bank facing Place de la Concorde across the Seine, is the seat of the French National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament — a working legislature, not a former palace turned museum.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Paris
  25. Guimet Museum Guimet Museum
    25 2 hours

    Guimet Museum

    Musée Guimet

    The Musee national des Arts asiatiques - Guimet holds the largest collection of Asian art outside Asia itself, spanning Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Tibet, China, Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia in one national museum.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Paris
  26. Palais de Tokyo Palais de Tokyo
    26 1 hr 30 min

    Palais de Tokyo

    The Palais de Tokyo is Paris's largest centre for contemporary art, occupying the eastern wing of a building raised for the 1937 International Exposition by architects Jean-Claude Dondel, Andre Aubert, Paul Viard and Marcel Dastugue.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Paris
  27. Musée Jacquemart-André Musée Jacquemart-André
    27 1 hr 30 min

    Musée Jacquemart-André

    Musée Jacquemart-André is a Paris museum housed in the former private mansion of Édouard André and Nélie Jacquemart.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Paris
  28. Musée Carnavalet Musée Carnavalet
    28 2 hours

    Musée Carnavalet

    Musee Carnavalet is the museum of the history of Paris, occupying two adjoining Marais mansions: the Hotel Carnavalet, built in the 16th century and remodelled by Francois Mansart in 1655, and the neighbouring Hotel Le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau.

    • Notable
    • Museum
    • Paris
  29. Musée de Cluny Musée de Cluny
    29 1 hr 30 min

    Musée de Cluny

    Musée de Cluny, formally the Musée national du Moyen Âge, brings together Roman archaeology, a late-medieval residence and medieval art in one compact Latin Quarter site.

    • Notable
    • Museum
    • Paris
  30. Muséum national d'histoire naturelle Muséum national d'histoire naturelle
    30 2 hours

    Muséum national d'histoire naturelle

    The Museum national d'histoire naturelle is France's national natural history museum, founded in 1793 out of the royal Jardin du Roi, and it occupies several linked sites across the Jardin des Plantes in the 5th arrondissement.

    • Notable
    • Museum
    • Paris
  31. Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme
    31 1 hr 30 min

    Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme

    The Musee d'art et d'histoire du Judaisme, known as the MAHJ, is France's museum of Jewish art and history, opened in 1998 in the Hotel de Saint-Aignan, a 17th-century mansion in the Marais, 3rd arrondissement.

    • Notable
    • Museum
    • Paris
  37. Musée Boleslas Biegas Musée Boleslas Biegas
    37 1 hr 30 min

    Musée Boleslas Biegas

    Musée Bolesław Biegas is an exhibition devoted to the Polish sculptor, painter, playwright and essayist Bolesław Biegas, who lived from 1877 to 1954.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Paris

Source: OpenStreetMap contributors, Wikidata ·

Common questions

How long should a first trip to France be?

Ten to fourteen days supports four or five days in Paris plus one coherent regional direction, such as Lyon, Bordeaux, Strasbourg, or Marseille. Avoid routing every extension back through Paris, because even fast TGV journeys leave local connection time at each end.

What entry documents are needed for France?

France applies Schengen entry rules, but the required passport validity or visa still depends on nationality and route. France-Visas is the official place to verify the exact requirement before booking and again before entering from outside Schengen.

What is the best way to travel around France?

TGV trains join France's largest cities, while TER services handle regional links and many rural areas still favour a car. Long-distance reservations may be mandatory, and each city retains its own urban ticket system rather than accepting one national visitor card.

When is a practical time to visit France?

April to June and September to October suit the Paris-plus-region route described here. Alpine access, Mediterranean heat, Atlantic weather, and rural seasonal services differ enough that the selected second region should determine the final dates.

What money and payment basics apply in France?

France uses the euro (EUR). Bank cards are common, yet a small euro reserve remains useful for markets or local machines; confirm any terminal conversion choice before accepting it because this page does not record changing fees.

What practical safety details should I save for France?

For urgent help anywhere in France, call 112; medical emergencies also use 15 and police matters 17. The electrical standard is 230 V with Type C and E plugs. This dataset has no recorded national tap-water finding, so consult the municipality or lodging for the specific stop.