Planning a trip to France?
You don’t need to speak perfect French to feel more comfortable travelling in France. Learning a few essential French travel phrases can make a huge difference when you’re ordering a coffee, asking for directions, buying a ticket or finding the train station.
In this beginner French lesson, we’ll look at practical phrases you can use immediately while travelling, including:
- asking for directions
- ordering food and drinks
- asking how much something costs
- talking about transport
- saying where you’re going
- checking into travel situations
- talking about your holiday
Let’s get started!
Start Learning with a Native French Tutor
🇫🇷 1. Introducing Yourself
Before travelling, it’s useful to be able to say a few simple things about yourself.
Here are some beginner French structures you can adapt:
Je suis…
I am…
Je fais…
I do / I’m doing…
Je viens de…
I come from…
Je suis avec…
I’m with…
Je suis en vacances.
I’m on holiday.
Je prépare mon voyage.
I’m preparing my trip.
The great thing about these structures is that you can create lots of new sentences simply by changing the final word.
For example:
Je suis en France.
Je suis avec ma soeur.
Je suis en vacances avec mes amis.
Je prépare mon voyage en France.
🗺️ 2. How to Ask for Directions in French
One of the most useful phrases when travelling is:
Excusez-moi, où est… ?
= Excuse me, where is…?
You can use it almost anywhere.
Excusez-moi, où est la gare ?
= Excuse me, where is the train station?
You can replace la gare with:
- la pharmacie = the pharmacy
- les toilettes = the toilets
- le supermarché = the supermarket
- la boulangerie = the bakery
- le restaurant = the restaurant
- le canal = the canal
- le parking = the car park
For example:
Excusez-moi, où est la boulangerie ?
Excusez-moi, où sont les toilettes ?
Notice the difference:
Où est…? → singular
Où sont…? → plural
So:
Où est la gare ?
but:
Où sont les toilettes ?
🧭 3. Understanding Directions
Once you’ve asked for directions, you need to understand the answer!
C’est à droite.
= It’s on the right.
C’est à gauche.
= It’s on the left.
C’est tout droit.
= It’s straight ahead.
C’est près d’ici.
= It’s near here.
C’est loin.
= It’s far.
You might hear:
À droite.
Right.
À gauche.
Left.
Tout droit.
Straight ahead.
And once you’ve found your destination:
Merci beaucoup !
= Thank you very much!
A very common response is:
Je vous en prie.
= You’re welcome.
☕ 4. How to Order in French
One of the most useful phrases for travelling in France is:
Je voudrais…
= I would like…
It’s polite, natural and extremely useful.
You can use it in a café, restaurant, bakery or shop.
For example:
Je voudrais un café, s’il vous plaît.
Je voudrais une bouteille d’eau, s’il vous plaît.
Je voudrais un sandwich.
Je voudrais une baguette.
Je voudrais deux croissants.
Once you’ve learned Je voudrais, you can use it with almost anything you want to order.
🥐 A French Bakery Conversation
Imagine you’re walking into a French bakery.
You:
Bonjour ! Je voudrais une baguette et deux croissants, s’il vous plaît.
Baker:
Bien sûr !
You:
Merci beaucoup !
You don’t need complicated French.
A simple:
Bonjour + Je voudrais… + s’il vous plaît + merci
will take you surprisingly far.
💶 5. How Much Does It Cost?
Another essential travel phrase:
Combien ça coûte ?
= How much does it cost?
You can also hear:
C’est combien ?
= How much is it?
The answer might be:
Ça coûte deux euros.
Ça coûte cinq euros.
Ça coûte dix euros.
You can also ask:
Combien coûte ce livre ?
= How much does this book cost?
🚆 6. Talking About Transport
Here are some essential French transport words:
- le train = the train
- le bus = the bus
- le métro = the underground / metro
- le taxi = the taxi
- le bateau = the boat
A very useful phrase is:
Je prends…
= I’m taking…
For example:
Je prends le train.
Je prends le bus.
Je prends le métro.
Je prends le taxi.
Je prends le bateau.
The verb is:
prendre = to take
It’s an important irregular French verb, so learning je prends as a useful expression is a great starting point.
🚌 7. “I’m Going To…” in French
The verb aller means to go.
Here is the present tense:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| je vais | I go / I’m going |
| tu vas | you go |
| il/elle va | he/she goes |
| nous allons | we go |
| vous allez | you go |
| ils/elles vont | they go |
You’ll use aller constantly when travelling.
For example:
Je vais à la gare.
I’m going to the train station.
Je vais au restaurant.
I’m going to the restaurant.
Je vais au marché.
I’m going to the market.
Je vais en France.
I’m going to France.
Je vais en Belgique.
I’m going to Belgium.
🇫🇷 À, AU and EN — Why Do They Change?
This is an important little grammar point.
French uses different prepositions depending on the place.
à + city
Je vais à Paris.
au + masculine place
Je vais au restaurant.
Je vais au marché.
en + country
Je vais en France.
Je vais en Belgique.
At first, don’t worry about memorising every rule. Learn these expressions as complete chunks and you’ll gradually develop an instinct for what sounds right.
🏨 8. Essential French Travel Vocabulary
Here are some words you’ll probably need when travelling:
- une carte = a map
- un billet = a ticket
- un ticket = a ticket
- une valise = a suitcase
- un sac = a bag
- un passeport = a passport
- un hôtel = a hotel
- une chambre = a room
- une réservation = a reservation
Useful phrases include:
J’ai une réservation.
= I have a reservation.
Où est l’hôtel ?
= Where is the hotel?
Voici mon passeport.
= Here is my passport.
💬 9. Two Essential Travel Dialogues
Dialogue 1 — Asking for Directions
You: Bonjour !
French person: Bonjour !
You: Excusez-moi, où est la gare ?
French person: La gare est à droite.
You: Merci beaucoup !
French person: Je vous en prie.
Simple, polite and completely sufficient.
Dialogue 2 — Ordering in a Café
You: Bonjour !
Server: Bonjour !
You: Je voudrais deux cafés et une bouteille d’eau.
Server: Très bien.
Server: Ça fait huit euros.
You: Merci !
Server: Au revoir !
This teaches you several extremely useful expressions:
Je voudrais…
I would like…
Ça fait…
That comes to…
Merci !
Thank you!
Au revoir !
Goodbye!
🌍 Build Your Own French Travel Story
Now combine everything you’ve learned.
Try to create a short story:
Je suis en France avec…
Aujourd’hui, je vais…
Je prends…
Je voudrais…
Ensuite, je vais…
For example:
Je suis en France avec mon mari. Aujourd’hui, je vais au marché. Je prends le bus. Je voudrais acheter du pain et du fromage. Ensuite, je vais au restaurant.
It’s simple French — but it’s real communication.
And this is exactly the point.
🇫🇷 French for Travelling: Start With What You Actually Need
You don’t need to memorise an enormous list of French vocabulary before travelling to France.
Start with the phrases that will genuinely help you:
Excusez-moi, où est…?
Je voudrais…
Combien ça coûte ?
Je prends…
Je vais…
Merci beaucoup.
Je ne comprends pas.
Répétez, s’il vous plaît.
These expressions give you a foundation for navigating everyday situations with much more confidence.
And once you’ve learned these structures, you can keep changing the vocabulary:
Je voudrais un café.
Je voudrais une baguette.
Je voudrais un billet.
Je voudrais une bouteille d’eau.
The structure stays the same. Your French grows by building on what you already know.
🌿 Learn Practical French for Your Next Trip
One of the best ways to learn French is to start with the situations you’re actually going to encounter: ordering food, asking directions, booking accommodation, travelling by train, shopping and having simple conversations with French speakers.
That’s the approach I use in my French lessons: practical vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation combined with real conversation and everyday situations.
If you’re an English speaker learning French and you’d like to feel more confident using French on your next trip, get in touch to find out about personalised French lessons based on your level, interests and travel goals.
Start Learning with a Native French Tutor
