Paris
France
The city of light, love, and croissants
Photo by Léonard Cotte on Unsplash
Photos by Chris Karidis, Anthony DELANOIX, Rodrigo Kugnharski and Gloria Villa on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of France
April to June, September to October
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 63mm in May
Where it is
48.86°N, 2.35°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Weeks of it- Climb the Eiffel Tower
- Visit the Louvre and Musee d Orsay
- Walk through Montmartre
- Cruise the Seine at sunset
- Explore Le Marais district
- Visit Versailles
Paris travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget France
ExpensiveEuro is the currency. Avoid exchanging at airports or tourist traps near the Louvre. Cards are accepted almost everywhere.
ATMs & cards
Use ATMs from BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, or Société Générale. Decline dynamic currency conversion. Independent ATMs charge €3-5 per withdrawal.
Avoid these
- Euronet
- Travelex
- independent ATMs near the Louvre and Montmartre
Use these instead
- BNP Paribas
- Crédit Agricole
- Société Générale
- LCL
Standalone machines in tourist areas charge €3-5 per withdrawal; French bank ATMs generally do not.
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
Stay alertSerious crime is not the visitor’s problem here; organised theft is. Petition and bracelet crews work Sacré-Cœur and the Eiffel Tower, and pickpockets work Line 1, Châtelet and the Gare du Nord. Keep bags closed and in front of you on the metro, and simply walk away from anyone who approaches you with a clipboard or a friendship bracelet.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (8 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- Châtelet–Les Halles — and Gare du Nord, especially the RER B from the airport
- Trocadéro — and the base of the Eiffel Tower, for organised pickpocketing
- Barbès–Rochechouart — and parts of the 18th and 19th at night
- The friendship-bracelet men on the Montmartre steps, who will not let go of your wrist
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa France visa rules
No visa needed
Freedom of movement — no time limit, and no visa. Bring a passport or national ID card.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 90 days
90 days within any 180-day period, counted across the whole Schengen area, not per country. ETIAS, a paid online authorisation, is being introduced for these passports — check the official link for whether it applies to your travel dates.
Visa required in advance€90 (Schengen short-stay visa)
A Schengen short-stay visa is applied for before travel, at the consulate of your main destination.
How to get it: Apply at the consulate or visa centre of the country you will spend most time in, typically 15 working days ahead and no more than six months before travel.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of France
Excellent and cheapRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
Getting treated
EU/EEA and Swiss visitors are treated on the same terms as residents with an EHIC or GHIC card; UK visitors use a GHIC. Everyone else pays, and travel insurance is worth having for the repatriation cover rather than the treatment.
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
OutstandingSkip restaurants directly facing major landmarks. Walk one block away for better food at half the price. Never skip a fresh baguette from a boulangerie.
Nightlife
Wine bars and long terraces rather than a big club night, with a strong live music scene under it.
- Le Marais — bars, and the gay scene
- Oberkampf — and Belleville, for the young crowd
- Canal Saint-Martin — drinking on the quay from May
- Pigalle — clubs and live music
Closing: Bars 02:00, clubs 05:00.
A beer in a bar: €6–8
Getting around
Easy and cheap- UberWorks here
- BoltWorks here
- G7Works here
- FREE NOWWorks here
G7 the taxi fleet, by app
- From the airport
- CDG to central Paris is a flat €62 (Right Bank) or €69 (Left Bank) by taxi
- Against a taxi
- Much the same. The flat airport rate is a taxi rule and the apps price against it.
Time zone and your working day
Europe/Paris — 6 hours ahead of you
2 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–11:00 your time, 15:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 03:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 03:00–11:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Internet speedall of France
What these numbers mean
Home broadband — Fast. Several people on calls at once, large uploads, 4K. Broadband here runs at 1.7× the global median of 130 Mbps.
Mobile data — Fast. Enough to work from a cafe or a beach on a hotspot all day. Mobile runs at 1.9× the global median of 109 Mbps.
A median is the middle of every connection tested there, old copper and new fibre together — so in a country part-way through laying fibre it sits well below what a fibre line actually delivers, and a rental on one can run several times this number. Half of the connections are slower; a fibre flat is rarely one of them. It says what a place can do, not what your rental does, so every listing on Holistay carries its own measured speed and the date it was tested.
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for France, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
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
4 more phrases
- Excuse meExcusez-moiex-koo-zay MWA
- How much is it?C'est combien ?say com-BYEN
- The bill, pleaseL'addition, s'il vous plaîtla-dee-SYON
- Cheers!Santé !son-TAY
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
Where to stay in Paris
No Holistay rentals in Paris yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Paris on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Charles de Gaulle CDG
35 minfrom the airport· 22 km as the crow flies
RER B to Gare du Nord, 35 min.
Also worth pricing: Orly ORY — closer in, and where most low-cost flights land.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
