Staying connected in France.

France has good mobile coverage across the places visitors go, so the main decision is how you pay. The expensive default is roaming on your US plan: AT&T and Verizon charge about 12 dollars a day, roughly 84 dollars for a week. T-Mobile and some Google Fi and Visible plans include roaming, but often at slow 2G-style speeds that handle messaging but struggle with maps and rideshare, so check your plan's fine print.

Whatever you pick, do not roam with no plan. Pay-per-use data is around 2 dollars a megabyte, thousands per gigabyte, and phones use data in the background, so turn off data roaming until an eSIM or pass is active.

A travel eSIM is the cheapest way for most visitors to get real data in France. A Nomad eSIM is a few dollars per gigabyte, well under day-pass fees, activates before you fly and works from landing, with no SIM counter. Your US number stays reachable on your normal plan while the eSIM carries the data.

The network barely matters where you will be: a Nomad eSIM rides a major French network, and coverage in the cities and towns is strong on all of them. Set it up before departure, since installing it needs a connection.

The gaps are in the mountains and deep countryside: parts of the Alps and Pyrenees, the remote Massif Central, and some rural roads and small villages. In Paris and the towns you will have fast 4G and 5G, but an alpine hike or a back-road drive can lose signal, and the Paris Metro has coverage on most, not all, lines.

So download offline maps before a mountain day or a rural drive. For paying as you go, see cash or card in France, and the France money guide.

If an eSIM is the cheaper, simpler call for France, Nomad covers it.

Common questions

Quick answers.

More on France

The little money things nobody warns you about.

• Tipping in FranceFrance is not a US-style tipping country. Service is included in the price by law, staff earn a full wage, and no one expects 15 to 20%. A small pourboire for good service is a kindness, not an obligation. Here is what you actually owe.
• Paris taxis and Uber, and the CDG fixed fareParis gives you real choice, a hailable licensed taxi or a proper Uber, but the airport is where money is won or lost. Here is how the two compare, the fixed fare that protects you, and the tout trick to skip.
• Bringing your dog or cat to France.France is one of the most common EU destinations for US pet owners, and the good news is there is nothing France-specific to fear at the border. It runs on the single EU pet-entry process: microchip, rabies in the right order, and an EU health certificate on a 10-day clock. No quarantine, no rabies titer. Here is what that means for France, and the local parts worth knowing.
• France's tourist tax, and the Paris surcharges.France adds a small per-adult, per-night tax to your stay, set by each town. In most places it is a euro or two. In Paris it is now much more, because the region stacks extra charges on top. Here is what to expect in 2026.
• Do I need cash in France, or can I use cards?Short answer: card for almost everything, a little cash for bakeries and market stalls. France is firmly card-first, and contactless runs the day. The things to get right are a chip-and-PIN backup, the fee-heavy kiosk ATMs, and the dollar prompt.
• France's VAT refund (detaxe), and what you get back.France charges 20% VAT, and non-EU visitors can claim some of it back on shopping through the detaxe scheme. It is fully digital via the PABLO kiosks, but operator fees mean the real refund is well under the headline. Here is how it works.
• What does renting a car in France really cost?France is a joy to drive, with quiet back roads and superb motorways, and the motorways are where the meter runs. The costs to plan for are per-kilometer tolls, the low-emission sticker some cities require, and getting the insurance right before the counter.