Things to know before visiting France

Across French-travel creators, the single most repeated cultural rule is to greet everyone with 'Bonjour' upon entering any establishment. Skipping the greeting is considered genuinely rude and can colour the entire interaction — it is not optional social nicety but a baseline expectation.

French restaurant culture is built around lingering at the table; staff will not bring the bill until asked, and rushing the experience signals disrespect. What American tourists often read as bad service is simply different expectations around the pace of eating.

Cafés and restaurants near the Eiffel Tower, Champs-Élysées, and Louvre charge a significant premium. Creators covering Paris on a budget point out that moving one or two streets away from the main tourist drag brings prices down substantially.

France has a strong culture of industrial action and strikes can affect trains, metros, museums, and airports with relatively short notice. Wolters World flags this as a practical reality visitors must factor into their plans, especially for fixed-date connections.

Multiple creators covering Paris itineraries treat the Métro as the default getting-around solution, noting it is extensive, relatively easy to navigate with maps, and far quicker than taxis in traffic. Buying a carnet or multi-trip pass saves money versus single tickets.

Charles de Gaulle airport is well-connected to Paris by the RER B suburban rail line, which is significantly cheaper than a taxi and avoids motorway traffic. The Travelcation airport walking tour confirms the rail connection as a key transport link.

World Travel Guide's Provence guide makes clear that the region's hilltop villages, lavender fields, and scenic drives are fundamentally a road-trip experience; relying on public transport significantly limits what you can see and do.

Travel DayTrip Ideas' Le Havre cruise port guide is frank about the time commitment: getting to Paris from the port involves a shuttle to the train station and then roughly 2.5 hours each way by rail, making it a long but doable day trip for cruise passengers.

Around the Eiffel Tower, Sacré-Cœur, and other high-traffic Paris sites, well-documented scams involve people thrusting clipboards with 'petitions' to sign (then demanding money) or tying a bracelet on your wrist before demanding payment. Creators warn tourists to keep walking and not engage.

Flora and Note describe stumbling upon the Place Monge morning market and finding it one of the trip's highlights — fresh Normandy oysters, macarons, and local produce at prices far below tourist restaurants. Local markets operate on specific days, so checking schedules pays off.

One of the most disorienting cultural moments for Anglo-American tourists is that random smiling at strangers on the street is not a French social habit and can feel odd or suspicious to locals. Wolters World frames this explicitly so visitors do not misread the lack of beaming smiles as hostility.

MultiCityTrips flags Alsace — on the Rhine border with Germany — as a stunning destination that almost never gets crowded, with villages that offer a unique Franco-German cultural mix quite unlike anything else in France.

Paris's headline attractions can be mobbed and tickets sell out weeks ahead, particularly in peak season. Multiple creators covering Paris itineraries stress that pre-booking online is essential to avoid queuing for hours or being turned away entirely.

Your Guides Abroad's Montparnasse day guide singles out the Catacombs as a site where planning ahead is critical — the underground ossuary has strict capacity limits and walk-up access is very difficult to come by.

Brian and Carrie highlight Normandy's Rouen and Honfleur as genuinely underrated alternatives or add-ons to a Paris trip — Rouen is a short train ride from the capital and Honfleur is described as one of the most picturesque harbour towns in Europe, both at a fraction of Paris prices.