French for Travelers

You are standing at the Gare du Nord with a connection to make and a ticket that says something you cannot quite read. The departure board is flipping. Someone behind the counter is already looking past you. This is exactly the moment these phrases are for — not the polished conversation you rehearsed, but the real one, under pressure, with a bag on your shoulder.

This page covers the French you actually need when you travel: asking for directions, buying metro tickets, ordering at a café without pointing at the menu, telling a taxi driver where you are going, and yes, apologizing gracefully when you have missed something or misunderstood. The phrases are grouped by situation — transport, food and drink, accommodation, emergencies — so you can find what you need fast rather than scrolling through an alphabetical list that puts aéroport next to allergie.

Each entry includes the French phrase, a plain English pronunciation guide, and a note on when to use it. Some phrases have a formal and an informal version — a hotel receptionist and a fellow passenger on the RER are not the same audience, and the difference matters in French more than in most languages.

Every translation and audio clip on this page has been checked by a native speaker. We fix errors when we find them.