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

Jodi
My husband and I have both been to Europe multiple times in our school/college days but not since we've been married- so over 19 years! We finally got it together to plan a return trip together. Since it had been so long we weren't confident in planning it on our own but didn't want to be hearded around like cattle. Anyway, we found Emilie and she …
Jenifer
When planning my 60th birthday celebration, my sister and I stumbled upon France Just For You, which saved us from the potential nightmare of traveling with 40 strangers on a bus. As a result, my sister and I, along with our husbands, experienced a trip of a lifetime! From the beginning, Emilie was extraordinarily responsive, informative, and more …
Sandra
My husband and I prefer to travel independently not on tours but I am getting tired of doing all of the planning. Emilie did an excellent job of planning the trip. I gave input on the type of hotels and the places that we wanted to see and she took care of the details. The hotels that she picked were outstanding. All but one day we followed her …

Our Travelers’ Photos

Yvette & David
from the US
on the French Riviera, near Nice
Hee Leng, Xin Yu and Swee Ming
From Singapoure
Visiting the Opera Garnier in Paris
Alan & Lucelle
From South Africa
In Mont Saint Michel at the border between Brittany & Normandy
Linda, Danny & their son Chris
from the US
In Mont Saint Michel
Fred
from Canada
Truffle hunting in Burgundy with Thierry
Jane & Ron
From Canada
Visiting the Opéra Garnier, in Paris
Sheena & Anna
From the US
In Provence
Tonia & Peter
from Canada
at the Louvre Museum in Paris
Joe & Beth
From the US
Truffle hunting in Provence
Sharyn
from the US
Taking a cooking class in Normandy
Marcia & Elliott
Celebrating Marcia's birthday in a Michelin restaurant
Jim & Sarah
from the US
in love in Amboise!

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