How to Talk About Your Holiday in French: Essential French Travel Vocabulary and Phrases
Talking about your holidays is one of the easiest ways to start having real conversations in French.
You can describe where you went, what you saw, where you stayed, the people you met, the weather, and what you enjoyed. And you don’t need complicated French to do it!
In this beginner French lesson, we’ll learn how to talk about a trip or holiday, while practising two of the most important French verbs:
être = to be avoir = to have
We’ll also look at the very useful structure on a + past participle, which French speakers use all the time to talk about things they did.
Let’s imagine you’re telling a French-speaking friend about a recent trip.
You might say:
On a visité deux grands lacs. We visited two big lakes.
On a visité le lac Michigan et le lac Huron. We visited Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.
On a marché sur la jetée. We walked on the pier.
On a dormi dans un appartement. We stayed in an apartment.
On a rencontré beaucoup de nouvelles personnes. We met lots of new people.
On a passé un bon moment. We had a good time.
These are excellent sentences to learn as a beginner because they allow you to talk about real experiences.
🌊 Essential Holiday Vocabulary in French
Here are some useful words from our holiday story:
un lac = a lake
l’eau = water
une jetée = a pier
un appartement = an apartment
une ferme = a farm
l’hiver = winter
un cygne = a swan
un bébé = a baby
une personne = a person
les locaux = the locals
une famille = a family
une piscine = a swimming pool
une fête = a party
And some useful adjectives:
grand / grande = big
froid / froide = cold
gelé / gelée = frozen
gentil / gentille = kind
accueillant / accueillante = welcoming
jeune = young
joli / jolie = pretty
rapide = fast
fatigué / fatiguée = tired
🏞️ Describing What You Did
One of the most useful structures for talking about a past holiday is:
On a + past participle
Here, on means we in everyday spoken French.
For example:
On a visité… We visited…
On a dormi… We slept / stayed…
On a vu… We saw…
On a rencontré… We met…
On a passé… We spent / had…
This is the passé composé, one of the most important French past tenses.
You don’t need to master the whole tense before you can start using it. Learn useful phrases first and gradually understand how the structure works.
🦢 A Holiday Story in French
Here’s a short example using the vocabulary from this lesson:
On a visité deux grands lacs : le lac Michigan et le lac Huron. On a marché sur la jetée et on a dormi dans un appartement. Il y avait beaucoup de fermes. L’eau était très froide !
On a vu une famille de cygnes sur le lac avec quatre bébés. On a rencontré beaucoup de nouvelles personnes. Les locaux étaient très gentils et accueillants. On a passé un très bon moment !
This is already a lovely little holiday story — and it’s made almost entirely from simple, reusable French structures.
👀 “There Was / There Were” in French
Another extremely useful expression for describing places is:
Il y avait…
= There was / There were
For example:
Il y avait beaucoup de fermes. There were lots of farms.
Il y avait beaucoup de monde. There were lots of people.
Il y avait un grand lac. There was a big lake.
It’s especially useful when you’re describing what a place was like.
❄️ Describing the Weather and Nature
You can use simple sentences to describe what you saw.
L’eau est très froide. The water is very cold.
Le lac est gelé en hiver. The lake is frozen in winter.
Il fait froid. It’s cold.
Il fait chaud. It’s hot.
Le lac est très grand. The lake is very big.
Il y a beaucoup de fermes. There are lots of farms.
These structures are useful far beyond holidays. You can use them to describe your town, your home, a restaurant, a country or a place you’re visiting.
🤝 Talking About People You Met
When travelling, you often meet new people.
The French verb rencontrer means:
rencontrer = to meet
For example:
On a rencontré beaucoup de nouvelles personnes.
= We met lots of new people.
You can describe them:
Les locaux étaient très gentils. The locals were very kind.
Les gens étaient très accueillants. The people were very welcoming.
accueillant / accueillante
= welcoming
It’s a particularly useful word when talking about people, places and cultures.
😊 “We Had a Good Time”
Here’s a phrase worth remembering:
On a passé un bon moment.
= We had a good time.
You can make it stronger:
On a passé un très bon moment.
= We had a really good time.
You can also say:
On s’est bien amusés.
= We had fun.
This is a great phrase to use when telling someone about a holiday, evening or weekend.
🇫🇷 The Verb Être — To Be
You can’t get very far in French without learning être.
Être = to be
Pronoun
Être
je
je suis
tu
tu es
il / elle / on
il est / elle est / on est
nous
nous sommes
vous
vous êtes
ils / elles
ils sont / elles sont
Examples
Je suis à la maison. I am at home.
Tu es ma professeure. You are my teacher.
Elle est ma fille. She is my daughter.
Nous sommes une grande famille. We are a big family.
Vous êtes fatigués. You are tired.
Elles sont jeunes. They are young.
👥 The French Pronoun “On”
If you’re learning French, you’ll hear on constantly.
In everyday spoken French:
on = we
For example:
On est à la maison. We’re at home.
On a visité deux lacs. We visited two lakes.
Grammatically, on behaves like a singular pronoun, even when it means we.
So we say:
On est…
not:
❌ On sommes…
And:
On a…
not:
❌ On avons…
You’ll still learn nous:
Nous sommes à la maison.
But in everyday conversation, on is extremely common.
❤️ Être vs Avoir: To Be vs To Have
Two verbs that beginners need constantly are:
ÊTRE = TO BE
je suis tu es il/elle est nous sommes vous êtes ils/elles sont
AVOIR = TO HAVE
j’ai tu as il/elle a nous avons vous avez ils/elles ont
Compare:
Je suis fatiguée. I am tired.
J’ai faim. I am hungry.
Literally:
I have hunger.
This is one of the important differences between English and French.
You say:
J’ai faim. J’ai soif. J’ai chaud. J’ai froid.
rather than using être.
✏️ Practice: Talk About Your Last Holiday
Try answering these questions in French.
1. Où es-tu allé(e) ?
Where did you go?
2. Qu’est-ce que tu as visité / mangé ?
What did you visit / eat?
3. Où as-tu dormi ?
Where did you stay?
4. Qu’est-ce que tu as vu ?
What did you see?
5. Est-ce que tu as rencontré de nouvelles personnes ?
Did you meet new people?
6. Comment étaient les locaux ?
What were the locals like?
7. Est-ce que tu as passé un bon moment ?
Did you have a good time?
Try to use:
On a visité…
On a dormi…
On a vu…
On a rencontré…
On a passé un bon moment.
🌍 Your Turn: Tell Your Own Holiday Story
You don’t need advanced French to tell someone about a trip.
Start with five simple sentences:
Je suis allé(e) à…
J’ai visité…
J’ai vu…
J’ai rencontré…
J’ai passé un très bon moment.
Then add details:
Il y avait beaucoup de…
Les locaux étaient…
L’eau était…
Le temps était…
This is one of the best ways to progress from beginner French to conversational French: take grammar and vocabulary and turn them into a story about something you have actually experienced.
🇫🇷 Learn French Through Your Own Life
You don’t need to wait until you’re “advanced” to start talking about your holidays, your family, your home or your plans.
These everyday topics are exactly where useful French begins.
In my French lessons, I combine grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and conversation around real-life topics, so you can gradually build the confidence to express your own ideas in French.
If you’re an English speaker learning French and you want to move beyond textbook exercises and start actually speaking French, get in touch to find out about personalised French lessons adapted to your level, interests and goals.
