Mont-Saint-Michel

Currency budget France

Euros, and cards everywhere on the Mont and in the hotels on the mainland. Nothing here needs cash except perhaps a coffee from a stall, and nothing needs changing.

ATMs & cards

There are few machines near the Mont and none worth relying on. Draw cash in Pontorson, Avranches or Rennes from a bank machine if you want any, and refuse the offer to convert into your own currency.

There is little to draw from near the Mont, and almost nothing here needs cash; take any you want from a bank machine in Pontorson or Avranches.

Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.

Safety all of France

The Mont itself is calm; the crowds on the Grande Rue are the only nuisance, and they mean pickpockets on peak days. The real hazard is the bay. The tidal range is among the largest in Europe, the tide comes in across the flats faster than people expect, and the sand has quicksand in it. Never walk out onto the bay without a licensed guide, whatever the people ahead of you are doing.

Our own assessment, not a sourced index.

Entry & visa France visa rules

Health & emergencies all of France

Required to enter

No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.

Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.

Food tip

The famous omelette is famously expensive and is a soufflé more than an omelette; eat it once or not at all. Pré-salé lamb, from sheep that graze the salt marsh around the bay, is the thing to eat, and is better and cheaper on the mainland than on the rock. Cancale oysters are fifty minutes west.

Getting around

• Hire car — the simplest way here, and the only easy way to the villages around the bay; you park on the mainland, never on the Mont
• Le Passeur — the free shuttle from the car parks, which stops about 350 metres short of the gate
• On foot — the causeway from the car parks is about 2.5 km, some 40 minutes, and the better arrival
• Coach — from Rennes in about an hour and a quarter, which is how you do it from a TGV
• Airport: Rennes (RNS), about 70 minutes by road

eSIM

A data eSIM for France, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:Works hereWorks hereRevolutIn the app

Must-see

Nearby day trips

Say a few words

French

• HelloBonjourbon-ZHOOR
• PleaseS'il vous plaîtseel voo PLEH
• Thank youMercimer-SEE
• Yes / NoOui / Nonwee / non

Open with bonjour before anything else. Launching straight into a question without it reads as rude, and explains a lot of reputed French coldness.

Religion

Catholic, and strictly secular

Laïcité is a constitutional principle: religion is kept out of public institutions, and conspicuous religious symbols are banned in state schools. Cover shoulders in cathedrals.

Do's and don'ts

Do

• Say bonjour before anything else, every single time you enter a shop
• Keep your voice down in restaurants and on public transport
• Keep both hands visible on the table while eating, wrists on the edge
• Dress a notch smarter than you would at home — it changes how you are treated

Don't

• Do not ask for a doggy bag or substitutions; the dish arrives as the kitchen intends
• Do not start with English without at least attempting bonjour, parlez-vous anglais
• Do not tip more than rounding up — service is included by law
• Do not eat while walking; it reads as slightly uncivilised