The good
- Diverse landscapes and regions to explore
- Public transport
- Internet-Wifi connection and 4G coverage
- French gastronomy
The bad
- The cost of living is pretty high
- English is not widely spoken
- Paperwork and bureaucracy
Digital Nomad Visas for France
France does not have any digital nomad visas. France belongs to the Schengen Zone, which is a border-free agreement between 26 countries. Most of tourists and digital nomads apply for the 90-day Schengen Visa. It allows a three months stay within a period of six months.
US citizens are allowed to enter France without applying for a Schengen Visa. However, going to other countries belonging to the Schengen Zone won’t be allowed.
Can you work remotely in France for a US company?
As per most of the countries in this world, this is sort of a grey area and you should speak with a travel agent to get the most accurate answer depending on your needs. Here is what I can tell you:
- If your plan is to work 9 to 5 for your US company while traveling in France, you are not allowed to do it.
- If you have your own business, or if you are self-employed and simply want to keep running your activities while traveling nobody needs to know about it, you are in France for tourism reasons.
- If you wish to stay longer than three months, live in France, settle down, work in France and pay taxes in France, well you should speak to a travel agent and to a tax advisor!
Can you live in France and work remotely for a UK company?
As an employee, you can’t live in France and work for a company based in the United Kingdom. Many British citizens do come to France for a period shorter than 90-days without a Visa and do work for the company that employs them, but it is not allowed.
As a self-employed person or a business owner, as per US citizens, you will be able to keep running your business.
To know more about the visa solutions please read this article.
Internet Speed In France
France is at the top of the line when it comes to connectivity. 4G covers 90% of the country and its providers are numerous.
The most popular are Orange, SFR, Bouygues, and Free, as well as being the best internet services providers overall.
In 2020, more than 27 million houses and buildings were connected through optic fiber.
Public spaces, restaurants/bars, and shops offer free WiFi and many hotspots can be found in major cities.
The map below shows the type of speed you can expect depending on where you will stay:
If you plan to spend time in the countryside, you must know that there will be very remote places where receiving a 4G signal will be difficult.
Before committing to a two-month rental in a lovely rural and remote town, just make sure to check precisely the 4G coverage of the place on Nperf.com.
Coworking in France
From municipal libraries, and local cafés to dedicated working spaces, France provides a lot of options for digital nomads to work on a daily basis, therefore the choice is entirely yours.
If you’re looking to socialize, hanging in your local bar is a perfect choice and if you want a more studious environment, you’ll find plenty of coworking spots in a lot of cities, and also libraries.
We compiled some of our favorite coworking spaces below.
Coworking spaces
- Greenspace, Paris 11th Arrondissement
- Mozaik Coworking (3 differents spaces), Paris 9th Arrondissement
- La Coroutine, Lille
- Le Bureau, Marseille
- Now Coworking, Lyon
- La Cantine Numérique, Nantes
- Hello’Working, Strasbourg
There is also a website named Neo-nomade, which helps you find coworking spaces near your location.
Local & National Librairies
It is very common in France to find municipal or national libraries. They provide high internet speed and calm spaces in exchange for a subscription, just like coworking spaces.
They also come with a wide variety of books and
To learn more about it and also locate a library, here’s a helpful link from the Ministry of Culture’s website:
Tech Stuff
Power plug types
French use French plugs and sockets. They are called Type E.
Laptop & phone repair
It is frequent even in smaller cities to find repair shops for all your electronic devices, whether you are using a PC, an Android mobile or an Apple product.
Obviously, language can be an issue in certain areas but for the most part, workers from those repair shops can speak English fairly well.
For Apple users, here is a list of the main store in France (there are plenty of them):
Language
French is the main language in France… “Bon Dieu, mais c’est bien sur!” which means “Duh!” in American English.
With that out of the way, according to How Widely Spoken’s website, 40% of the French population can speak to some extent.
Personal experience:
French tend to believe they do speak English very well when they actually can’t. Here is a video proving it:
In tourist areas, however, such as Paris and other big cities, you’ll find more fluent English speakers.
Other than that, French people, in general, can at least understand basic English.
When To Visit
Weather can significantly vary depending on where you are in France. The south of France is obviously warmer in general but can come with some surprises like the “Mistral”, while the North has a typical oceanic temperate climate.
Summers are sometimes too hot and very crowded, although it is also the best time to enjoy artistic/musical festivals and late-night outdoor dining.
Winters are fairly cold, especially in the North and it is also a great time to go skiing and sightseeing in the Alps or the Pyrenees.
Overall, late spring and early fall are both great times to visit France. You’ll experiment with good weather, pleasant temperatures, and lighter crowds.
Food
“La pièce de résistance”… French cuisine is known across the world for its finesse and its techniques have been adopted by other Western and Eastern cuisines since the 19th century.
It is too complicated to summarize its uniqueness. On top of that French cuisine vary depending on the region.
The best way to discover French dishes is to experiment with specialties from the region you’re visiting.
With that in mind, here’s an article from World of Wanderlust’s website, showcasing the specialties of every region.