Packing for any big trip can be complicated, and you can already find lots of general advice on the internet about not forgetting your tickets and such. So, I am going to give you my best and personal advice for how to pack for France specifically. On y va!

A Visa or Mastercard with a chip and a pin code.

This is the standard in France and will facilitate all payments while here.

 

Credit Card with Chip

A credit card with a chip & 4-digit code will make life easier, ©Pixabay

 

A smartphone with a good international plan

Your phone can be helpful in many ways : driving with a GPS, translating, keeping in touch back home, and travel apps of all sorts. France Just For You can recommend the most useful travel apps for your trip, and we are currently developing our own app - but more about that later.

A small change purse to keep coins in.

When eating in a restaurant, the gratuity is included in the price. However, if you are happy with the service, you can leave 1 or 2 euros on the table and having a little change on hand will make this easier.

Contact Solution

If you wear contacts, try to bring along enough solution for the whole trip. Contact solution is more expensive in France, and it is sold in pharmacies and at the opticians, so you may have to go a little out of your way if you need to get some more.

A pair of small binoculars

This allows you to see the architectural details on buildings, zoom in on particular points in the landscape, or take in some wildlife.

Reusable Tote Bag

Bring along a small, reusable tote bag to carry around with you each day. It can be used for picnic supplies, small purchases or souvenirs. Also, often in the French boulangeries, they do not put your baguette in a bag. You can slip your bread into the bag to avoid leaving a trail of crumbs behind you.

A reusable water bottle

Fill up your bottle before leaving for the day so that you do not spend all your money on Evian.

Cozy Items for Relaxing

A small candle to make your room cozier and like home, plus a pair of plushy socks to wear only in your room to help you relax.

 

Travel Candle

A travel candle can help you relax after a fun day of sightseeing, ©Laura Crotet

 

Tissues

Pocket tissue packs and/or wet wipes – these come in handy all the time: spills, no toilet paper, napkins for a picnic, etc.

Student ID and copy of passpoort

If you are a student, bring along your student ID because there are many discounts offered in many museums and galleries, restaurants and even some stores. The same is true for retired folks, so carry around a paper copy of your passport to get some euros off on entrance fees.

Your Personalized GuideBook

Your personalized France Just For You guidebook will be an indispensable reference for making the most of your days during your French adventure. Some of our travelers have even referred to it as their 'Bible'!

A Wine Bottle opener

No explanation required!

 

Wine Bottle Opener

Do not forget a wine bottle opener, ©Pikist

 

And when you are done packing, the best advice remains take half out, and bring more money than you think you'll need.

 

- Laura Crotet, France Just For You

If your bags are ready to go, contact us to help plan your French adventure.

France Just For You

Experts in self-drive tours in France

Travelers Reviews

5.0
Susan
We just returned from a 15 day trip to Paris, the Loire Valley and Normandy. Our trip was planned by Emilie with precise attention to detail, giving us our perfect itinerary. We were independent in our travels but it was evident that Emilie and her staff were available throughout the trip. They appeared to always be mindful of our location and …
Earl
It's hard to know where to begin. We stumbled across France Just For You by accident when researching ideas for our three week visit to France. We made contact with Emily by email and began a conversation over the coming weeks as she planned a self-guided holiday for us, designed to fulfil our dream of staying in French b'n'bs in wine-growing …
Debbi
We worked with Emilie to craft a 10 day trip that customized one of the trips on their website and were wonderfully pleased with our whole experience. The b&b hosts and various guided events we participated in all treated us wonderfully and were clear that Emilie had visited & vetted each property (and even rooms!) The personal tour book we …
Gabriele
This trip was such an awesome cultural adventure and we can not say enough about Emilie and France Just for You. This service was outstanding, well planned according to our interests and the B&B's were all wonderful. Each B&B was different but all fantastic in their own way. The suggestions Emilie made all worked amazingly well and so did the …
Bobbi
We like to travel independently and Emilie was fantastic in providing us everything we needed to do so. We had wonderful information to read beforehand and received maps and GPS coordinates to get us where we needed to go.This is a great service to use to set up your hotel and car arrangements along with suggested itineraries that can be modified …
Sheldon
We began planning this trip over a year before our departure date. We have done a lot of traveling but this trip was for our 25th wedding anniversary! Once we decided upon France as our destination all that was left was to get all the details taken care of. Based on previous adventures, we knew that we wanted to drive ourselves on a self- directed …