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France Travel Guide: Money, eSIM & Culture
Updated 2026-06-11 · By Akif Hazarvi, Editor-in-Chief
Quick answer: France uses the Euro (€, EUR) — as of June 2026, 1 EUR is worth roughly $1.15 USD. Contactless card payment is near-universal, even at bakeries and market stalls, so most visitors barely touch cash. Skip airport bureaux de change entirely: pay by a no-FX-fee card and withdraw small amounts of cash from bank-attached ATMs (never standalone Euronet machines). Restaurant service is included in the bill by law — tipping is a small round-up, not 20%.
- Currency
- Euro (€, EUR)
- Typical daily cost (mid-range)
- $120–$200 USD
- Best time to visit
- April – June & September – October
- Visa (US/UK/EU/AU, 2026)
- Schengen visa-free 90/180 days; ETIAS rolling out
- Power
- 230V / 50Hz, plug types C, E
- Tipping
- Service included; round up €1–5 for good service
France is the world's most-visited country — around 100 million international arrivals a year — and remarkably easy to travel once you understand a few local systems. Paris gets the headlines, but the country rewards spreading out: the lavender plateaus of Provence, the D-Day beaches of Normandy, wine routes in Burgundy and Bordeaux, and the Alps within three hours of the capital by TGV. A croissant runs €1.30–€1.80, a Paris metro ride about €2.50 with a Navigo Easy card, and an excellent three-course lunch menu (the 'formule') can still be found for €18–€25 outside tourist zones.
This guide covers the money mechanics — why you should refuse Euronet ATMs, how the fixed airport taxi fares work, what each euro note looks like — plus eSIM options, cultural etiquette (greeting rituals matter here), and what France actually costs per day in 2026. If you're moving larger sums to or from France, our live comparison shows which providers land the most euros in a French account.
Convert to Euro (€ EUR)
Live mid-market rate. Planning a bigger transfer? Compare money transfer providers for France.
What Euro notes look like
Quick colour reference so you can recognize denominations at a glance. Euro notes are standardized by colour — memorize these before you land and you'll never hand over the wrong note.
€5EUR
5 EUR
Grey
Classical architecture — gateway (obverse), bridge (reverse)
€10EUR
10 EUR
Red
Romanesque architecture — gateway and bridge
€20EUR
20 EUR
Blue
Gothic architecture — windows and bridge
€50EUR
50 EUR
Orange
Renaissance architecture — the workhorse note from ATMs
€100EUR
100 EUR
Green
Baroque and Rococo architecture — small shops may refuse it
€200EUR
200 EUR
Yellow
Art Nouveau architecture — rarely seen; many shops won't accept it
Cash vs card in France
Cash
Cash is accepted everywhere but needed almost nowhere. Outdoor markets, some bakeries with a €5–10 card minimum, and small village cafés are the main cash use-cases. €50 from an ATM lasts most visitors a week. Many Paris businesses are now happily card-only.
Cards
Visa and Mastercard contactless are accepted virtually everywhere, including bakeries, metro ticket machines, taxis, and market stalls. American Express works at hotels and larger stores but is refused by many independent restaurants. Chip-and-PIN is standard; magnetic stripe is effectively dead.
ATMs
Bank-attached ATMs (BNP Paribas, Société Générale, Crédit Agricole, LCL) are everywhere and most charge no local fee for foreign cards. Avoid the bright-blue standalone Euronet machines clustered in tourist areas — they push Dynamic Currency Conversion and poor rates worth 5–12% of your withdrawal. Always choose to be charged in EUR, never your home currency.
Tipping
A 15% service charge ('service compris') is included in every restaurant bill by French law. Locals leave nothing or round up; €1–5 for genuinely good service in a nicer restaurant is generous. Taxi drivers: round up. Hotel porters: €1–2 per bag. Nobody expects American-style 20%.
Common scams to avoid
- •The gold ring trick — someone 'finds' a ring at your feet near the Seine and offers it for a reward. Walk on.
- •Petition clipboards around the Louvre and Eiffel Tower — signing distracts you while an accomplice picks your pocket, or ends in aggressive cash demands.
- •Friendship bracelets at Montmartre/Sacré-Cœur — once it's knotted on your wrist, you're pressured to pay. Keep hands in pockets and keep moving.
- •Cup-and-ball (bonneteau) games on bridges — the 'winners' in the crowd are accomplices. You cannot win.
- •Unofficial taxis at CDG/Orly — only use the official rank. Paris taxis have fixed airport fares (around €56 Right Bank / €65 Left Bank from CDG); anyone quoting more or 'negotiating' is not a real taxi.
Where to exchange money in France
Don't bring a stack of home currency to exchange — France is a card economy and Paris bureaux de change offer mediocre rates (airport counters are the worst, often 8–12% off mid-market). The cheapest setup is a no-foreign-fee debit card (Wise, Revolut, or a fee-free card from your home bank) used for everything, plus one small ATM withdrawal from a bank-attached machine for market days. French banks generally won't exchange cash for non-customers. For larger transfers — property, tuition, rent deposits — use a specialist like Wise or OFX to send EUR directly into a French IBAN at near mid-market rates instead of a bank wire.
Best eSIMs for France (2026)
An eSIM gives you mobile data the moment your plane lands — no hunting for a SIM booth, no swapping physical cards. Below are the most popular options for France, with prices checked April 2026.
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Airalo
Airalo 'Bonjour' — 7 days, 3GB
$9.50USD
- 3 GB data
- 7 days validity
- Best value
Affiliate pending — link goes direct.
Airalo
Airalo 'Bonjour' — 30 days, 10GB
$21.00USD
- 10 GB data
- 30 days validity
- Longer trips
Affiliate pending — link goes direct.
Holafly
Holafly — Unlimited, 7 days
$27.00USD
- Unlimited* data
- 7 days validity
- Unlimited data, no hotspot
Affiliate pending — link goes direct.
Ubigi
Ubigi — 10 GB, 30 days
$19.00USD
- 10 GB data
- 30 days validity
- Best for digital nomads
Affiliate pending — link goes direct.
Culture & etiquette: dos and don'ts
French social life runs on politeness rituals. Every interaction — entering a shop, boarding a bus, asking directions — starts with 'Bonjour' (or 'Bonsoir' after ~6pm); skipping it is the single fastest way to get frosty service. Meals are events, not refueling stops: lunch is sacred (12–2pm), dinner starts around 7:30–8pm, and asking for the bill is something you do explicitly ('l'addition, s'il vous plaît') — servers consider it rude to rush you. A little French effort goes a very long way, even just bonjour, merci, au revoir.
Do
- ✓Say 'Bonjour Madame/Monsieur' before anything else — in shops, taxis, ticket counters. It's non-negotiable etiquette.
- ✓Greet with 'la bise' (cheek kisses) only if a French person initiates; a handshake is always safe.
- ✓Keep your hands on the table (not in your lap) at meals, and keep bread on the table or tablecloth, not on the plate.
- ✓Validate paper train tickets where machines are present, and keep your ticket until you exit the metro — inspections are common with on-the-spot fines.
- ✓Dress a notch smarter than you would at home — athleisure marks you as a tourist in Paris restaurants and shops.
Don't
- ✗Don't expect shops and many restaurants to open on Sundays or Monday mornings, especially outside Paris.
- ✗Don't ask for menu changes or substitutions — the chef's dish is the dish. Special requests are often politely refused.
- ✗Don't speak loudly in restaurants or on trains; ambient volume in France is noticeably lower than in the US.
- ✗Don't order a cappuccino after a meal — coffee after dinner means an espresso ('un café'). Milky coffee is a breakfast drink.
- ✗Don't assume English first — open in French ('Bonjour, parlez-vous anglais ?') and most people will happily switch.
Sports & local pastimes
Football is the national game — Ligue 1 runs August to May and PSG's Parc des Princes is the marquee ticket — but France's sporting calendar is unusually rich for travelers. The Tour de France takes over the country every July, finishing on the Champs-Élysées; roadside viewing is free and a genuine cultural festival. Rugby is huge in the southwest (Toulouse, the Top 14 league), Roland-Garros brings clay-court tennis to Paris in late May, and on any village square you'll find locals playing pétanque with a glass of pastis.
- →Tour de France (July) — free roadside viewing; mountain stages in the Alps and Pyrenees are the most atmospheric.
- →Roland-Garros / French Open (late May – early June, Paris) — outer-court day passes are reasonably priced if booked early.
- →Ligue 1 football — PSG at Parc des Princes; Marseille's Stade Vélodrome is arguably the best atmosphere in the country.
- →Top 14 rugby (Sept–June) — Toulouse, La Rochelle, and Clermont offer big-crowd matchdays well under football prices.
Practical travel info
Best time to visit
April to June and September to October are the sweet spots — mild weather, manageable crowds, and the countryside at its best (lavender in Provence peaks late June to mid-July). July and August are high season: hot, crowded, and expensive on the coast, while Paris partly empties in August as locals take their own holidays — some independent restaurants and shops close for weeks. December is excellent for Christmas markets (Strasbourg, Colmar) and the Alps ski season runs December through March.
Visa (2026)
France is in the Schengen Area: US, UK, Canadian, Australian, and NZ passport holders enter visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. Since October 2025 the EU's Entry/Exit System (EES) registers biometrics at the border — allow extra time on your first entry. The ETIAS travel authorisation (around €20, valid 3 years) is expected to become mandatory for visa-exempt visitors in late 2026 — check the official EU site before you fly. Stays beyond 90 days require a long-stay visa arranged in advance.
Safety
France is safe by global standards; the main tourist risk is pickpocketing on the Paris metro (especially line 1), at major sights, and around train stations — keep phones out of back pockets and bags zipped in front of you. Strikes and demonstrations are a regular feature of French life and can disrupt transport with little notice; check SNCF/RATP apps before travel days. The EU-wide emergency number is 112. Tap water is safe everywhere — ask for 'une carafe d'eau' (free) in restaurants.
Daily budget (USD)
- Backpacker: $60–$90 USD per day
- Mid-range: $120–$200 USD per day
- Luxury: $350+ USD per day
Backpacker assumes hostel dorms, bakery/market meals, and metro travel. Mid-range covers a 3-star double, one restaurant meal a day with a lunchtime formule, and intercity trains booked ahead. Paris runs roughly 25% above the rest of the country; rural France and smaller cities (Lyon excepted) are notably cheaper.
Plugs & power
Plug types C, E · 230V / 50Hz
Calling code & language
+33 · French · CET (UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer)
Must-visit places in France
Paris
The Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, Eiffel Tower, Montmartre, and the rebuilt Notre-Dame (reopened December 2024). Budget 4 days minimum. Museum Pass pays off at 3+ sights; many museums are free the first Sunday of the month.
Provence & the Luberon
Hilltop villages (Gordes, Roussillon), Roman ruins in Arles and the Pont du Gard, and lavender fields late June to mid-July. Rent a car — this is not train country.
French Riviera (Côte d'Azur)
Nice's old town and Promenade, Èze's clifftop village, Antibes, and day trips to Monaco. The coastal TER train linking the towns costs just a few euros and beats driving.
Normandy & Mont-Saint-Michel
The D-Day landing beaches and museums around Bayeux, Rouen's cathedral, and the tidal abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel — go early or stay overnight to beat the day-trip crowds.
Loire Valley
Renaissance châteaux — Chambord, Chenonceau, Villandry's gardens — strung along the river an hour from Paris by TGV. Bikeable between castles on the Loire à Vélo route.
Bordeaux & Dordogne
Wine capital with a walkable UNESCO center and the Cité du Vin museum; the Dordogne adds medieval towns, river castles, and the prehistoric Lascaux cave art.
Frequently asked questions
Should I bring cash to France or just use a card?+
Just use a card. Contactless Visa/Mastercard is accepted virtually everywhere in France, including bakeries, metro machines, and market stalls. Withdraw €50–100 from a bank-attached ATM for the rare cash-only stall and you're covered. Use a no-foreign-fee card (Wise, Revolut, or similar) and always choose to be charged in EUR, never your home currency.
How much do you tip in France?+
Very little. A 15% service charge is legally included in every restaurant bill ('service compris'). Locals round up or leave €1–5 for good service in nicer restaurants. Taxis: round up to the nearest euro. There is no expectation of US-style 20% tipping anywhere in France.
What's the cheapest way to get euros in France?+
Withdraw from a bank-attached ATM (BNP Paribas, Société Générale, Crédit Agricole) with a no-foreign-fee debit card, and decline Dynamic Currency Conversion by choosing to be charged in EUR. Avoid standalone Euronet machines and all airport exchange counters, which cost 5–12% more. For large amounts, send money to a French IBAN via Wise or OFX at near mid-market rates.
How much does a taxi from CDG airport to Paris cost?+
Paris taxis charge a fixed fare from Charles de Gaulle: around €56 to the Right Bank and €65 to the Left Bank (slightly more from Orly rules apply in reverse). Only use the official taxi rank — ignore anyone soliciting inside the terminal. The RER B train (~€11.80) or Roissybus are the budget alternatives; G7 is the main reliable taxi app.
Is France expensive to visit in 2026?+
Mid-range travelers should budget $120–$200 per day including a 3-star hotel, one restaurant meal, and local transport. Paris is roughly 25% pricier than the rest of the country. Big savings: lunch 'formules' (€18–25 for three courses), picnics from markets and bakeries, TGV tickets booked 2–3 months ahead, and free first-Sunday museum entry.
Do Americans need a visa for France in 2026?+
No visa for stays up to 90 days in any 180-day period — this applies to US, UK, Canadian, Australian, and NZ passports. Two changes to know: the EES biometric border system (live since October 2025) adds time on first entry, and the ETIAS authorisation (~€20 online, valid 3 years) is expected to become mandatory in late 2026. Check the official EU ETIAS site before flying.
What eSIM should I get for France?+
An eSIM from Airalo, Holafly, or Ubigi costs roughly $8–$35 depending on data needs and works on Orange/SFR networks. Because France is in the EU, a Europe-wide regional eSIM is often better value than a France-only one if you're visiting multiple countries — EU roaming rules mean one plan covers the whole Schengen area.
Is the Paris metro easy for tourists?+
Yes — it's dense, frequent, and cheap. Buy a Navigo Easy card (€2) and load it with t+ tickets (about €2.50 a ride, cheaper in carnets) or use contactless bank-card tap-in on equipped lines. Keep your ticket until you exit — inspectors issue on-the-spot fines. Watch for pickpockets on line 1 and at major interchanges.
Is Paris safe for tourists?+
Yes, by big-city standards. Violent crime against visitors is rare; the real risks are pickpocketing (metro, Montmartre, around the Eiffel Tower) and the classic street scams — gold rings, petitions, friendship bracelets. Keep bags zipped in front of you, ignore street solicitations, and you'll very likely have zero problems. Emergency number: 112.
Can I send money to or from France cheaply?+
Yes. Specialists like Wise, OFX, and Instarem transfer EUR into or out of a French IBAN at near mid-market rates — typically 2–5% cheaper than a bank's international wire once you account for the exchange-rate markup. SEPA makes euro-zone transfers fast and free domestically; the cost battle is all in the currency conversion, which is where comparison pays.
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About the author
Akif Hazarvi, Editor-in-Chief
Akif Hazarvi is the editor-in-chief of SendMoneyCompare with 8+ years in fintech and cross-border payments.