Before you go.

Check passport validity, visa-free Schengen stays, French border documents and the separate status of EES and ETIAS before leaving the United States.

Compare U.S. roaming with a French or travel eSIM, check unlocking and coverage, and prepare maps and tickets for time offline.

Check your U.S. license and IDP, compare automatic rental quotes, and plan the pickup, deposit, protection, tolls and one-way return.

Read a French rental quote by separating liability, damage and theft terms, the deposit hold, exclusions, and your U.S. card’s actual benefits.

Read French speed signs, understand priority and free-flow tolls, and check parking and low-emission restrictions before driving.

Price nine hotel nights, trains, car hire, meals and admissions for a ten-day Paris, Normandy and Loire itinerary using your own quotes.

Choose euros at card terminals, check ATM and card fees, and understand when restaurant service is included and a tip is optional.

How to keep your things safe in Paris, the French emergency numbers, how to report a theft, and the exact steps for a lost or stolen U.S. passport in France.

The petition, shell-game, fake-police, street-ticket and airport-taxi scams the Paris police warn about, with what to say, the fair taxi fares and what to do if it happens.

What French law requires restaurants to post outside, what the price must include, the free tap water rule and how to read the bill, so you can pick a good table in Paris.