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Region

Île-de-France

Sleep in Paris; do Versailles, Giverny and Fontainebleau as day trips from one kept bed.

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Key facts · France

Best months
Mar–Jun, Sep–Oct
Visa
Depends on your passport
Currency
Euro (EUR, €)
Language
French
Plugs
C · E · 230 V
Time zone
CET, UTC+1
Month by month here
Rules in force · 8Non-EU visitors get 90 days in any rolling 180-day window…
  • Europe ↗Non-EU visitors get 90 days in any rolling 180-day window, counted across all 29 Schengen states together — not per country; the Entry/Exit System now logs each crossing, so an overstay is detected automatically.
  • Europe ↗On the first Schengen entry since EES began, non-EU travellers give four fingerprints and a face photo at the border instead of a passport stamp; there is nothing to apply for or pay in advance.
  • France and Monaco ↗France has run temporary identity checks at its internal Schengen land borders since 2015; carry a passport or EU/EEA national ID on trains and buses from Italy, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg.
  • France and Monaco ↗Nights in France and Monaco draw on the same Schengen 90-in-180-day allowance as the rest of the area; Monaco does not reset or pause it.
  • France ↗France is in the Schengen area. Check the entry rules for your passport on official sources; the EU's Entry/Exit System registers non-EU visitors' fingerprints and photo at the first Schengen border, and further pre-travel authorisation rules are being introduced.
  • France ↗TGV (including the low-cost Ouigo) and Intercités night trains need a seat reservation: a rail pass alone does not let you board.
  • France ↗Paris, Lyon and other large cities run low-emission zones that require a Crit'Air sticker on cars; check before you drive a hire car or your own car into a city.
  • France ↗Carry your passport or national ID card: police can ask for identification, and hotels register foreign guests.

Île-de-France is the region around Paris. The city is the base; the palaces and gardens are day trips by RER or train, and the airports are in the region, not the city.

Where to sleep

4 places in this region

Sleep base

  • ParisTrip line

    Marais or Latin Quarter for first-timers.

    Best Mar–Jun, Sep–Oct

    Open Paris →

Day trip

Plan the nights

How to split the nights, day-trips and what to do with your bags

Open Plan the nightsClose Plan the nights3 partsNights · Day-trips · Bags

Night sequences

4 nights
Paris 4, Versailles as a day trip
6 nights
Paris 5 + Giverny or Fontainebleau day trip
  • Paris + Versailles + Giverny in two days is mostly transfers.

Day-trips door to door

ToFromDoor-to-door p50Last returnNote
VersaillesParis60 minunknownThe palace is closed on Mondays; book a timed ticket.
GivernyParis120 minunknownSeasonal: roughly April to November.

Bags between cities

No luggage forwarding culture: leave the big bag at the Paris hotel and take a day pack.

When to go

Months and weather

Open When to goClose When to go1 partSeasons

Seasons at a glance

From each city's month table

Pick a month to see where to go.

Show all 12 months, country by countryHide the 12-month table
CountryJFMAMJJASOND
Paris
Versailles
Giverny
Fontainebleau
France (country-wide)
Go: the good monthsFair: workable, mixedPoor: heat, rain or hazeAvoid: storms, floods, closuresno data yet

Computed from each country’s own data; hover a country name for the source. Advisory countries are left out.

Eat and move on

Regional food and where to go next

Open Eat and move onClose Eat and move on1 partGo next

Go next

Other regions of the country

Provence and the Côte d'Azur

planned

3–5 nights

Avignon, Aix and Marseille by TGV; Nice as a base for the Riviera and Monaco

Loire Valley

planned

2–3 nights

Châteaux country: Tours or Amboise base, car or bike between châteaux

Lyon and the French Alps

planned

3–4 nights

Lyon for food; Annecy and Chamonix for mountains

Normandy and Brittany

planned

3–4 nights

Mont-Saint-Michel, D-Day beaches, Saint-Malo; car for the coast

Alsace and Champagne

planned

2–3 nights

Strasbourg and Colmar wine villages; Reims and Épernay cellars

Bordeaux, Dordogne and the Basque coast

planned

3–5 nights

Wine, cave art, Biarritz surf; Bordeaux is 2 h from Paris by TGV

Île-de-France: what we know, and what is coming

4 of 4 places open

On this page

  1. 4 places with their role: where to sleep, what to do as a day trip
  2. How to split 4 or 6 nights
  3. 2 day trips with door-to-door time
  4. Seasons month by month, from the cities’ own tables
  5. What to do with the big bag between beds

Coming as the guide grows

  1. Climate strip by zone, with the storm and haze months
  2. Get in: airports and stations with door-to-door times
  3. Regional passes and cards, with a buy / skip verdict
  4. Regional food: what, where and when it works

Meanwhile

Planning aids

Built from this guide's own data

Open Planning aidsClose Planning aids3 partsIn numbers · Trips here · Local time

Region in numbers

Where to sleep
1 base
Day trips
2, 1 h to 2 h
Nights suggested
4–6 nights

Trips that stop here

From the France guide

  • Paris only, 5 nights

    5 nights here

    paris

  • Paris and the Loire

    7 days · 4 nights here

    Paris → Amboise (Loire)

  • Paris, Provence and the Riviera

    10 days · 4 nights here

    Paris → Avignon → Nice → Monaco (day trip)

  • The classic loop

    14 days · 4 nights here

    Paris → Bayeux → Tours or Amboise → Lyon → Avignon or Arles → Nice

  • North to south, slowly

    21 days · 4 nights here

    Paris → Reims → Strasbourg and Colmar → Lyon → Annecy → Avignon → Nice → Bordeaux

All France trips →

Local time

What time it is there now, compared with the clock on your device.

  • Paris

    …

    Checking your clock…Europe/Paris

Open Paris Up to France

Ask about Île-de-France

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