Guidebook Updates for France

• Per new requirements set by the UK government, all passengers on Eurostar trains to/from the UK must now enter their passport details online before boarding. Once you've bought a ticket, enter your ticket's reference number at Eurostar's Manage Your Booking page to reach the page for entering your passport info. If you don't have a reference number issued by Eurostar, head to the manual check-in desk at the Eurostar terminal. Given the UK's new procedures for border checks, it's especially important to allow plenty of time for check-in (Eurostar recommends that standard-class passengers departing from Paris Gare du Nord arrive 90–120 minutes ahead of their departure time; gates close 30 minutes before departure).

For books printed before April 2024, the following may also apply:

• In Provence and the French Riviera, buses are now run by the Zou bus network, and bus numbers have changed (timetables at Rome2Rio are easier to use than those on Zou's own site).
• High-speed Thalys trains — which run the only direct trains between Paris and Brussels — have been rebranded as, and are now operated by, Eurostar. (Prices have not changed significantly; see our France Rail Passes and Train Tips page.)

For books printed before April 2024, the following may apply:

• The Discover Provence tour company is no longer operating.
• Sophie Bergeron at the Travel in Provence tour company has a new email address: [email protected].

For books printed before December 2020, the following may also apply:

• The Brunet Chocolatier mentioned in the "Aix-en-Provence Walk" and noted for its macarons has closed. (A different shop has opened at that location, but it sells very few macarons.)
• A fire destroyed the historic Les Deux Garçons restaurant.

For books printed before April 2024, the following may apply:

• In summer it's best to book your free entry to the Frank Gehry–designed Tower at LUMA Arles online in advance.
• The Discover Provence tour company is no longer operating.
• Sophie Bergeron at the Travel in Provence tour company has a new email address: [email protected].
• Bus #707 (not #57) connects Arles and St-Rémy-de-Provence via Les Baux in summer. Bus #704 (not #54) also goes to St-Rémy (but not via Les Baux) and runs all year.
• Hôtel de la Muette has a new email address: [email protected].

For books printed before April 2024, the following may apply:

• Between June and September, it's a good idea to book timed-entry tickets for the Palace of the Popes in advance of your visit. Also, the palace's light show has been discontinued.
• The Nîmes-Orange Pass been discontinued.
• The Discover Provence tour company is no longer operating.
• Sophie Bergeron at the Travel in Provence tour company has a new email address: [email protected].
• Bus #126 (between Nîmes' Pont du Gard TGV station and the Pont du Gard) is no longer running.
• Bus #707 (not #57) connects Avignon and St-Rémy-de-Provence via Les Baux in summer.
• Bus #902 (not #2) connects Avignon with Orange (hourly Mon–Sat, 3/day Sun, 1 hour).
• Bus #906 (not #6) connects Avignon with Isle-sur-la-Sorgue.

• Hotel Bilbao Jardines has closed. (Hotel Bilbao Plaza is still open.)

For books printed before July 2024, the following may also apply:

• ​The Basque Museum in Bilbao remains closed for renovations.
• Claire Lohiague is no longer working as a guide in Bayonne.
• The Chronoplus and Hegobus bus lines in the French Basque region are now operated by a new company, Txik Txak.

For books printed before June 2024, the following may apply:

• The Alpine Museum (to be renamed the Mont Blanc Museum / Musée du Mont Blanc when it reopens) may remain closed for renovation until 2026.

For books printed before April 2024, the following may apply:

• Malcolm Miller has retired from leading daily tours of Chartres Cathedral, though you can still arrange for a private tour with him ([email protected]). Regularly scheduled tours (still Tue–Sat at 12:00) are led by the excellent Anne-Marie Woods and run from Easter (not mid-May) until mid-October, including all of August (but no tours on religious holidays).
• Le Picoterie restaurant has closed.

For books printed before April 2024, the following may apply:

• The Nîmes-Orange Pass been discontinued.
• Bus #902 (not #2) connects Orange with Avignon (hourly Mon–Sat, 3/day Sun, 1 hour).
• Bus #904 (not #4) connects Orange with Vaison-la-Romaine and continues to Sablet and Ségure (6/day Mon–Sat, 2/day Sun).
• Bus #911 (not #11) connects Viason-la-Romaine with Crestet/Malaucène (5/day Mon–Fri, 3/day Sat, none on Sun, 10–20 minutes).
• Bus #922 (not #23) connects Orange with Châteauneuf-du-Pape (7/day Mon–Sat, none on Sun, 20 minutes).
• Côté Vignes restaurant (on the Côtes du Rhône Wine Road Drive) is now closed Mondays in the off-season (not Wednesdays).
• La Poterne de Pascale in Brantes (also on the Côtes du Rhône Wine Road Drive) is now closed Mondays (not Wednesdays) year-round, and closed entirely in the off-season (Nov–March).
• Cave la Romaine in Vaison-la-Romaine is closed Sundays in the off-season (Oct–April).

For books printed before June 2024, the following may apply:

• Grotte de Font-de-Gaume and Abri du Cap Blanc will be closed either Saturdays or Mondays year-round. A final decision on closed day(s) is pending from the French monuments authority.
• The Taverne des Remparts in Beynac only offers a house aperitif to Rick Steves readers who order a meal.

• Le Cantine de Tiflo restaurant in Villefranche-sur-Mer has closed.
• Antibes restaurants Chez Lulu and Le P'tit Cageot have closed.

For books printed before April 2024, the following may also apply:

• The Chagall Museum in Nice often closes at lunchtime (12:00–14:00) and may close at other odd times (check its site for the latest).
• Buses and trams in the Riviera no longer accept tickets per se; now you need to first purchase a €2 travel card (available in digital or physical form) to which you add funds to cover the cost of your ride(s). Travel cards are available via the Lignes d'Azur mobile app, in person from bus drivers, at vending machines at Nice's main train station and at key tram/bus stops (including at the airport), and at Lignes d'Azur offices. Single trips on Nice's city buses cost €1.70 (covers 74 minutes of travel in one direction including transfers); an all-day pass is €7, and a seven-day pass is €20. Round-trip travel by tram between Nice's airport and the city center costs €10.
• Buses in the Riviera are now run by the Zou bus network, and bus numbers have changed (timetables at Rome2Rio are easier to use than those on Zou's own site). Main changes to note:
  • Bus #601 (not #100) connects Nice with Villefranche-sur-Mer, Beaulieu-sur-Mer, and Monaco.
  • Bus #620 (not #200) connects Nice with Cagnes-sur-Mer and Cannes (4/hour Mon–Sat, 2/hour Sun).
  • Bus #603 (not #116) connects Nice with La Turbie and Monaco along the High Corniche (5/day, leaves from Pont Michel T-1 tram stop in Nice).
  • Bus #650 (not #500) connects Nice and Grasse (2/hour, 1 hour).
  • To connect Nice with St-Paul-de-Vence, take the train between Nice and Cagnes-sur-Mer and the frequent bus #655 (not #400, which had run all the way to/from Nice) between Cagnes-sur-Mer and St-Paul-de-Vence (allow about one hour total). Bus #655 also serves Vence.
  • Bus #80 (not #110) connects Nice's airport with Monaco (Place d'Armes stop).
  • Bus #81 (not #210) connects Nice's airport with Cannes' train station.
  • Bus #82 (not #250) connect's Nice's airport with from Antibes.
• The phone number for Nice's tourist information office is now +33 4 92 14 46 14.
• The tourist information office next to Cannes' train station has closed.
• Le Cantine de Tiflo restaurant in Villefranche-sur-Mer has closed.
• La Cabane de l'Ecailler restaurant in in St-Jean has closed.
• Two recommended restaurants in Antibes, Chez Lulu and Le P'tit Cageot, have closed.
• Parking in Eze-le-Village is now easy, thanks to a big new underground parking garage.

For books printed before November 2022, the following may also apply:

• The Nice's combo-ticket, which includes all sights except the Chagall Museum, has been renamed the "All Museums Pass" and is now valid for four days instead of just 24 hours, but costs a bit more (€15).
• The Lignes d'Azur info desk at 17 Rue Thiers in Nice has closed, but Nice's main train station still has a Lignes d'Azur info desk. Office hours are now generally Mon–Fri 7:30–17:30, Saturday until 15:00, and closed Sunday.

For books printed before April 2024, the following may apply:

• To connect Nice with St-Paul-de-Vence, take the train between Nice and Cagnes-sur-Mer and the frequent bus #655 (not #400, which had run all the way to/from Nice) between Cagnes-sur-Mer and St-Paul-de-Vence (allow about one hour total). Bus #655 also serves Vence.
• Bus #650 (not #500) connects Nice and Grasse (2/hour, 1 hour).
• Bus #651 (not #510/511) connects Vence and Grasse.
• Bus #660 (not #600) connects Grasse and Cannes.
• Tickets for the Chapel of the Rosary (Chapelle du Rosaire) in Vence no longer include a 20-minute nun-led tour.
• A shuttle bus now connects the Chapel of the Rosary in Vence and the Fondation Maeght in St-Paul-de-Vence. It runs July–Sept.
• Grasse's tourist information office has moved to Cours Honoré Cresp, across from the International Museum of Perfume.
• Grasse's free and easy Centrifolia bus links the train station with the center city every 15–20 minutes (runs daily).
• The Grand Canyon du Verdon's Cavaliers Trail and Imbut Trail may be closed during your visit (because of rockslides).
• The Château de Villeneuve is now formally known as the Vence Museum.
• Les Agapes restaurant in Vence has closed.
• La Treille Muscate restaurant in Moustiers-Ste-Marie has closed.

For books printed before June 2024, the following may apply:

• Didier minivan service in Carcassonne is no longer in operation (Didier has retired); instead try Jean-Michel of Sun Tour, who offers tours in and near Carcassonne, as well as transportation (+33 6 12 27 47 01, [email protected]).
• Hostel Carcassonne is now Hostel Cœur de Cité.

For books printed before April 2024, the following may apply:

• Isle-sur-la-Sorgue's Antique Toy and Doll Museum has closed.
• Bus #906 (not #6) connects Isle-sur-la-Sorgue with Avignon.
• Bus #909 (not #9) connects Lourmarin with Aix-en-Provence.
• Restaurant La Passerelle in Isle-sur-la-Sorgue has closed.
• Roussillon's Clos de la Glycine hotel and its Chez David restaurant are under new ownership and rebranding as "Omma."
• The Discover Provence tour company is no longer operating.
• Sophie Bergeron at the Travel in Provence tour company has a new email address: [email protected].

• The L'Esprit des Vignes B&B (outside town in the Rhône Valley) has a new email address: [email protected].

For books printed before June 2024, the following may also apply:

• The Lyon City Card no longer covers the Notre-Dame Basilica rooftop tour.

• Private guide Brigitte Gavila has a new email address: [email protected].

For books printed before April 2024, the following may also apply:

• The Discover Provence tour company is no longer operating.
• Sophie Bergeron at the Travel in Provence tour company has a new email address: [email protected].
• Tastes of Provence no longer offers cooking classes.

For books printed before November 2022, the following may also apply:

• The Cosquer Méditerranée in Marseille's Euromed district has opened, featuring a re-creation of the Grotte Cosquer, an underwater cave with prehistoric paintings that was discovered in 1985 off the coast near Marseille.
• Recommended guide Pascale Benguigui has a new email address: [email protected].
• The Marine Museum has closed.
• Toinou les Fruits de Mer seafood cafeteria in Marseille has closed.
• Chez Gilbert restaurant in Cassis is now closed on Wednesdays.

• Bus #601 (not #100) runs eastbound from Nice, stopping in Villefranche-sur-Mer, Beaulieu-sur-Mer, and Monaco.
• The Jardin Exotique (formerly the "Jardin Botanique") is now set to remain closed for renovation until late summer 2025 (the nearby Botanical Center remains open).

For books printed before April 2024, the following may also apply:

• Bus #80 (not #110) connects Nice's airport with Monaco (Place d'Armes stop).
• The tourist information office at Monaco's train station has closed.
• Tour Prestige has rebranded as Live Harmony and is now run solely by Cecilia Cotton (+33 625 914 388).
• A combo-ticket covers both the Prince's Palace and the Prince's car collection.
• Casino de Monte Carlo is open 10:00–13:00 for sightseeing with an audioguide, and after 14:00 for gambling.

• The Bayeux Tapestry will not be on display between fall 2025 (when the museum currently housing it closes) and early 2027 (when a new museum, adjacent to the current one, is planned to open).

For books printed before June 2024, the following may also apply:

• Rouen's tourist information office has moved to Esplanade Marcel Duchamp, in the same building that houses the Museum of Fine Arts, a few blocks south of the train station.
• Rouen's train station no longer offers baggage storage; try Nannybag.com for storage at businesses near the station or the Museum of Fine Arts, which has storage lockers (available only when museum is open).
• In Rouen, La Maison Sublime, an ancient crypt inside the Palais de Justice holding the remains of the oldest Jewish settlement in France, offers hourlong tours on Saturdays at 10:30 and 14:30. Tours are in French only; request an English booklet when booking. Bring your passport for entry.
• La Lieutenance, the old port gatehouse in Honfleur, is now open to the public.
• The website for the D-Day Landing Museum in Arromanches is now at www.musee-arromanches.fr.

For books printed before April 2024, the following may also apply:

• There is no longer a combo-ticket that covers both Monet's gardens in Giverny and the Orangerie Museum in Paris.

For books printed before October 2022, the following may also apply:

• Monsieur Augy has closed his faience earthenware studio and shop in Rouen; it's now a bookstore (but in his honor the new owners have retained the original storefront).
• Café Les Impressionistes in Honfleur is now the Bistrot de l'Hôtel de Ville.

• Notre-Dame Cathedral is once again open to visitors. Though admission is free, a timed-entry reservation is highly recommended, either via the cathedral's website or its Compagnon de Visite app. Time slots are usually available up to a week ahead, with 10,000–15,000 reservations available per day. If you find all slots taken, check back regularly, as more times may be made available. Without a reservation, arrive at the cathedral early, expect long lines, and understand that you may not get in (visiting hours can vary depending on special events but usually open Mon–Fri 7:50–19:00, Thu until 22:00, Sat–Sun 8:15–19:30). The nearby "In the Heart of the Restoration" exhibit has closed, but the Eternelle Notre-Dame VR experience is still on (described below).
• Fat Tire Bike Tours now offers a €4 discount on their tours to Rick Steves guidebook readers (code: RS4OFF).
• After a long renovation, the Grand Palais is opening to the public on June 6, 2025.

For books printed before April 2024, the following may also apply:

• If you plan to use a Paris Museum Pass for to visit the Louvre, you'll need to book much farther in advance — at least six weeks ahead in high season — than needed for standalone Louvre tickets, as passholder spaces are limited. That said, we now recommend booking even Louvre-only tickets as far ahead as possible. The museum is (once again) open late on Fridays (until 21:45), and may also stay open later on Wednesdays as well — check its site for current hours.
• The Paris Museum Pass is going digital only; paper passes will be sold at participating museums, monuments, and tourist information offices until the stock is depleted.
• Notre-Dame Cathedral's breathtaking "Eternelle Notre-Dame" virtual-reality experience, in the underground parking garage behind the Archeological Crypt, lets visitors travel through time from the cathedral's 12th-century construction up to the fire. Highlights include gazing into the nave from above; watching the assembly of rose windows; "meeting" the cathedral's architect, craftsmen, and first bishop; and gazing at views over Paris from the Middle Ages through today (roughly €40 but prices vary, usually cheaper online — choose the Notre-Dame square location, not the other location at La Défense; daily 10:00–20:00).
• The Delacroix Museum has reopened.
• When approaching the Orsay Museum, use the entry that accords with your ticket: When facing the entrance, head to the left if you have a pre-booked Orsay ticket; those using a Paris Museum Pass and those purchasing tickets on-site enter on the right (where there's a separate line for each). The Orsay now requires pre-booked tickets for free-ticket days on the first Sunday of the month.
• Discounted tickets at the Opéra Garnier for those with a ticket to the Orsay Museum are only granted within five days of your Orsay visit.
• The Orangerie Museum now requires pre-booked tickets only for free-entry days on the first Sunday of the month — but we still strongly recommend booking in advance for any Orangerie visit.
• If you're planning to get a combo-ticket that covers either the Orangerie or Rodin Museum in addition to the Orsay, it's smart to visit the Orsay after buying your combo-ticket at either of those less-crowded museums. (You can book a timed-entry spot before you've purchased a ticket.) There is no longer a combo-ticket that covers both the Orangerie and Monet's gardens in Giverny.
• Rooms 16–21 at the Cluny Museum are often closed; if this is the case during your visit, you'll need to backtrack to the entrance and climb the stairs to see the museum's final rooms.
• The escalator to the Centre Pompidou's sixth-floor view terrace is now free. Nearby, the studio of sculptor Constantin Brancusi has closed.
• At Les Invalides, a dazzling sounds-and-light show runs after dark from mid-July to early September.
• At the Eiffel Tower, the Madame Brasserie restaurant has opened on the tower's first level, with two lunch and two dinner seatings. Reserve far in advance, particularly for a view table.
• Train and bus service from Paris to Château Vaux-le-Vicomte is unpredictable; check transportation websites before going. Likely the best approach is to take a train from Gare de Lyon to Melun and then a taxi to the château.
• After 75 years in operation, Paris' largest cabaret, the Lido, has shut down. Its building, directly on the Champs-Élysées, now houses a UGC multiplex cinema.
• The correct email address for Hôtel Eiffel Kensington is [email protected].

For books printed before September 2022, the following may also apply:

• We no longer recommend waiting to buy the Paris Museum Pass once you get to Paris — since some covered sights need to be booked ahead (such as the Louvre), it's best to purchase your pass online in advance of your trip. The pass is now activated at the time of first use and is time-based (not days-based). For example, a two-day pass gives you 48 hours of use from the time you first use it (e.g. if your first entry is at 13:00, you get 48 hours from 13:00). While prices have increased, it's still the best value of all the passes offered in Paris, and pays for itself with four key admissions in two days (for example, the Louvre, Orsay, Sainte-Chapelle, and Versailles).
• Timed-entry tickets are now required at the Louvre. Visitors can enter at the pyramid up to 30 minutes before their assigned time. If you plan to visit the Louvre with a Museum Pass, you need to get your Museum Pass first, as the site will ask you to enter your pass's number. While the Museum Pass now carries a one-visit-per-museum restriction, the Louvre's three wings count as different museums for the sake of the pass — so you can visit the Louvre three times on one pass, provided you enter through a different wing each time. The Louvre is no longer free on first Sundays.
• Online reservations for the Eiffel Tower are now available 60 days in advance. From September until mid-June, the last ascent by stairs is at 18:30. For any trip up the tower that includes stairs — any time of year — tickets must be purchased on-site.
• The Cluny Museum has reopened after a major renovation (€12, Tue–Sun 9:30–18:15, closed Mon).
• Post-Impressionist works at the Orsay Museum are now in new galleries on level 5, near the Impressionist rooms.
• The Rodin Museum now stays open until 18:30. There is no longer a separate entry time and cost for the gardens.
• The hop-on, hop-off bus company L'Open Tour has rebranded as "TootBus."
• Paper Métro tickets are being phased out in favor of plastic Navigo travel cards, which cover transit on the Métro, public buses, and the RER/suburban train. Single-use tickets for buses and the RER/suburban train will likely remain available. There are two Navigo options: You can buy your Navigo Easy or Découverte card at any staffed Métro station and at most tabacs.
  • Navigo Easy Card: Load euros onto your Navigo Easy card and pay as you ride, or load the card with a 10-ride pass or day pass.
  • Navigo Decouverte Pass: This chip-embedded card costs a one-time small fee. When you buy, select from a weekly or monthly pass and ride unlimited during that time.
• Local guide Arnaud Servignat's correct email address is [email protected].
• Café de Mars is now closed Sunday–Monday.