Using your Smartphone to make your trip easier

Traveling with your smartphone allows you to save your pictures and share them with family, keep in touch with home, and have access to great traveling Apps. 

 

To Use your phone without surprise roaming fees :

  • Procure an International plan with your telephone service provider - this is the best option - plan for 50MB of data per day
  • or buy a prepaid SIM card upon arrival in France - your phone must be unlocked for European SIM cards for this
  • Laura, Emilie & Clélia will walk you through finding the best option for you

The team will provide how tos for the most used travel apps:

  • We will provide explanations and short videos : easy & user friendly
  • We recommend you start using WAZE (or Google Maps) GPS at home before the trip as this is the best navigation tool in France

This is a list of applications we find very useful while traveling. Based on the type of "app user" you are, we will glady make a short-list which fits YOUR needs.

 

 

 

Your France Just For You App

The Best GPS in France

  • Waze: if you use only 1 App, this is THE App to get for your French trip
  • Google Maps

Great Tools for your trip

  • Citymapper
  • Gas Now
  • Google Translate
  • The Fork
  • Tiqets (last minute tickets)
  • Uber
  • The French Weather Forecast : France Weather app
  • XE currency converter
  • Flush: to find the nearest public restrooms
  • TouchNote: to mail real postcards from your cellphone - about $3 a postcard - it takes about 5 working days to be delivered

Keep in touch

  • Whatsapp
  • Facebook
  • Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo
  • Instagram
  • Skype
  • Viber

 This way, you can use you own smartphone in France, the same way you use it at home !

FAQ

Yes. Google Maps covers France in detail, including driving directions, public‑transport routes, walking paths, and live traffic updates on major roads. 

Before you leave your accommodation’s Wi‑Fi, download the region of France you're in for offline use since cell coverage can be patchy in the countryside and inside stone villages.

Absolutely; in fact, it's our preferred GPS navigation app. Waze is popular with French drivers because it crowdsources real‑time traffic, road‑work alerts, and speed‑camera warnings.

Just be aware that France restricts precise speed‑camera locations; the app will instead show “danger zones.” Keep a car charger handy—Waze can drain your phone battery quickly.

For most travelers, a combination works best:

  • Google Maps for reliable routing, offline maps, and walking directions in towns.
  • Waze for live traffic on longer drives and alerts about accidents or slowdowns.

Tip: We preload every France Just For You itinerary into our MyFrance travel app with one‑tap links to each stop, so your chosen nav app opens with the exact GPS coordinates—no typing required.

Our Travelers’ Reviews

Lola
My husband and I have just returned from an amazing 16 day trip in France organized thoughtfully and beautifully by Emilie of France Just for You. As the other reviewers have stated, all interactions with Emilie have been prompt, professional and thorough. Although we have organized European travel on our own in the past, concerned that we might be …
Jena
Our trip was exactly as expected, planned perfectly with so many amazing tips on where and how to get around like a local. 25 days, with lots of driving and so much to see. Paris, Versailles, Normandy, Loire Valley, Sancerre, Dordogne and Bordeaux. We were warmly welcomed at all B&Bs and felt that we really got a local feel everywhere we went. All …
Laura from Canada
Words cannot begin to describe how pleased we are with the 22 day trip that the France Just for You team created for us as we celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary. We normally plan our own trips but when we looked at France we became overwhelmed with how much we could do. We found the FJFY team and saw that they had all 5 star reviews. You can …

Our Travelers’ Photos

Karen, Theresa, Mike & Bill
From the US
Dinner with view...
Ginette and Craig
from the US
In Chaumont castle, Loire Valley
Patty
from the US
In Villeneuve les Avignon, Provence
Roberta & Terry
At their B&B near Aix-en-Provence
Judy & Chris
From Great Britain
In a winery in Provence
Pam & Rick
From the US
Tasting some oysters and white wine in the Basque Country
Kathie, Brian, Joan & Richard
from the US
In Monet's gardens in Giverny
Our guide with Jean's team
In the quicksands in Mont Saint Michel bay
Bev & John
from Canada
in Bordeaux
Kelsey
from the US
With her hosts at the B&B in the Loire Valley
Maureen & Victor
from the US
Visiting an Abbey in the Loire Valley
Sharon & Gary
from Canada
In Chambord castle - Loire Valley

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