Do Indian passport holders need a visa for France?

Visa required. Apply for a visa at an embassy/consulate (or via an authorised centre) before you travel. Always verify current rules with the official embassy before you travel.

When is the best time to visit France?

The most comfortable months are typically Jul · Aug · Sep, based on climate normals.

How far is France from India?

France is roughly 6,670 km from Delhi — about a 9-hour non-stop flight.

🇮🇳 Indian passport

Flying into your destination…

Cleared for take-off…

France visa for Indians — Visa required — Raahi

Europe

France

Visa required

🏙️ City🏛️ Heritage🍜 Food

Boarding pass · Raahi

From

DEL

Apply for a visa at an embassy/consulate (or via an authorised centre) before you travel.

Passenger

France

Flight

~9h · 6,670km

Best window

Jul · Aug · Sep

₹1,000 buys

9.2 EUR

Destination

France

Should you choose France?

A passport-first decision desk — tune the month and trip length

Raahi fit score

64Trade-offs to weigh

Balances entry ease, Jul climate, value profile, flight effort and India-friendly payments.

Entry45

Weather100

Value38

Flight52

Set your travel window

Trip lengthIdeal · 24°C · 61mm rain

Best for

city, heritage, food

Think twice if

you do not have time for an advance visa application
you need a low-cost trip

Price this trip with real dates

Flight and hotel costs depend on your exact dates, route, room and traveller count. Raahi deliberately does not turn a distance or a generic daily band into a price.

Estimate with live prices →

The live estimator combines current flight and hotel offers for your dates before you book.

Entry-friction timeline

Visa required

Advance approval is the main planning gate.

1Confirm the official embassy/VFS route and lead time.
2Prepare the application, supporting documents and appointment.
3Travel only after approval is in hand.

Build a document checklist →

Month-by-month decision table

Climate normals; demand is an editorial signal, not live pricing.

Flight reality

2 carriers and 4 non-stop routes in our route snapshot.

~9h non-stop flying from Delhi · 6,670 km straight-line

Direct from Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai

First-timer confidence

70/100

Based on entry effort, flight length, payments and your selected month—not a safety rating.

UPI/RuPay has some local support.

Accommodation reality

Before booking, test a listing’s claimed walk time, review patterns and photos against open-map evidence.

Run the Stay Truth check →

Make it a wider trip

🇦🇱 Albania · ~1,550 km · e-Visa 🇲🇦 Morocco · ~1,670 km · e-Visa 🇦🇩 Andorra · ~390 km · Visa required 🇨🇭 Switzerland · ~470 km · Visa required

See route pairings →

Live watchlist

Visa record: refreshed from the passport dataset daily. No category change against Raahi’s tracked baseline.

Travel advice: the official UK FCDO advisory further down this brief is checked daily when available.

Open passport change watch →

Applying for a France visa

A visa is required in advance for Indian passports

This is a Schengen visa.Apply at the country where you’ll spend the most nights (or your first point of entry) — one visa then covers all Schengen countries.

How to apply

1Check the exact requirements, fees and visa type on the official route below.
2Fill in the online application form and pay the fee.
3Book an appointment at the embassy / VFS Global centre.
4Attend in person with your documents and give biometrics (photo + fingerprints).
5

How to get in

11. Gather the required documents (passport, photographs, travel itinerary, etc.).
22. Schedule an appointment with the French consulate or an authorized visa centre.
33. Complete the visa application form and submit it along with the supporting documents.
44. Attend the interview (if required) and pay the visa fee.
55. Await visa processing; once approved, collect your passport with the visa stamp and prepare for departure.

The fine print — documents, pitfalls & local tips (tap to open)

Typically bring

Passport valid for at least six months beyond the planned exit date and with blank pages for the visa stamp.

Official advisory · France

Updated 26 Jul 2026

Wildfires are affecting parts of Gironde and Landes in the south-west of France.

Full UK FCDO advice

Getting there from India

Delhi → France: ~9h non-stop · 6,670 km

Check live flights

carriers non-stop

non-stop routes

Paris

arrival cities

Find lowest fare

Route snapshot, not a live timetable. Confirm schedules and fares before booking.

Live trip estimate

Flight + stay, grounded in current offers

Delhi · 1 traveller · 1 room

Fly outCheck out

Uses live flight offers and live hotel inventory. INR subtotal uses the current mid-market USD/INR rate; it excludes return flights, food, transfers, taxes or fees not in the provider total, and can change before checkout.

Live stays

Hotel rates for your dates

No daily-budget guesswork

Know before you go

Power

Type C/E · 230V

Driving

Drives on the right

Local time now

—

Emergency

112

Tap water

Tap water generally safe

Tipping

Service included; round up

🗓️ When to visit

Open-Meteo · ERA5 2021–2023

Sweet spotJuly · 24°CAugust · 24°CSeptember · 22°C

The optimal time to visit France is July through September, when daytime highs are around 23‑24°C, nights are pleasant, rainfall is low, and comfort scores hit 100/100.

Best window

July – September

Shoulder tip

April offers an Ideal comfort score (80) with mild temps and fewer tourists before the summer peak.

Maybe skip

January and February are cold (highs 5‑10°C) with high rainfall (90 mm, 62 mm) and lower comfort scores, making them less pleasant for sightseeing.

Bastille Day (July 14) draws large crowds and festive events, great for atmosphere but expect higher accommodation demand.
Easter Monday in April can bring regional holiday traffic; plan travel outside major city centers if possible.
Pack layers: light jackets for cool evenings even in summer months, and a waterproof layer for occasional rain in June and October.
Late summer (August) remains warm but may see a slight dip in rainfall, offering good value for outdoor activities.

🎉 Public holidays (2026)

Jan · New Year's DayApr · Easter MondayMay · Labour DayMay · Victory in Europe DayMay · Ascension DayMay · Whit Monday

Comfort is a travel guide from climate averages, not a forecast · timing notes explained by AI. Always check current conditions before booking.

What to pack

Clothing

Tech & power

Health

Documents & money

For your kind of trip

Built from this destination’s climate, plugs & vibe — tick as you pack.

Staying connected in France

eSIM, local SIM, or roam on your Indian number

eSIM — easiest

Buy before you fly and activate on landing — no shop, no swapping. Works on most phones since the iPhone XS / recent Android. Providers: Airalo, Holafly, Nomad.

France eSIMs

Local SIM — cheapest

Best value for longer stays. Grab a prepaid tourist SIM at the airport or a carrier store — carry your passport (needed to register).

OrangeSFRBouyguesFree

Your money in France

💱 Quick converter

You spend (₹)

You get (EUR)

9.17

Indicative mid-market rate — not a transaction rate.

Pay like home in France

UPI

UPI QR payments

● Live here

RuPay cards

○ Not live yet

UPI is accepted at a handful of landmark merchants (e.g. around the Eiffel Tower) via Lyra — still niche, so carry a card too.

Acceptance changes as NPCI adds corridors — confirm at the point of sale.

Money & forex in France

Forex card, cash & cards — the cheapest ways to spend

Forex card — best value

Load ₹ into EUR before you flyat a locked rate — no ~3.5% card markup, works at ATMs & shops.

BookMyForex Niyo

Cash

Buy EUR from an authorised dealer in India (your bank, BookMyForex) before travel — it beats airport rates. Abroad, use bank ATMs and skip airport exchange counters.

Regular cards

Say hello in French

Hello

Bonjour“bon-zhoor”

Thank you

Merci“mair-see”

How much?

Combien?“kom-byan”

How “home” France feels

Paris and other French cities feel cosmopolitan, so an Indian traveller will notice familiar international vibes but also distinct French customs. The language, food and street life are different, offering a refreshing cultural shift.

Indian community

≈ 58,983 of Indian origin

A well‑established Indian community lives mainly in Paris, Lyon and Marseille, with many small businesses and cultural groups.

Veg / Jain food

Vegetarian and even Jain meals are easy to find in most city restaurants and supermarkets, especially in larger towns.

Indian food

Indian restaurants are concentrated in Paris’s 10th and 11th arrondissements, and you can buy spices and ready‑to‑cook packets at Asian supermarkets like Tang Frères.

Places of worship

Hindu temples (e.g., Sri Sivananda Temple in Paris), Sikh gurdwaras and a few mosques are present; Christian churches are abundant and open to visitors.

Safe & healthy in France

France is generally safe for tourists, with normal urban precautions needed in crowded areas.

Health

Drink bottled or filtered water; tap water is safe but many prefer bottled.
Check routine vaccinations (tetanus, hepatitis A) before travel.
In summer, stay hydrated and protect against sun, especially in southern regions.

Watch for

Pickpocketing near major attractions like the Eiffel Tower and metro stations.
Fake charity collectors targeting tourists with “help refugees” pitches.
Unlicensed taxi drivers offering rides from airports at inflated rates.

Solo / women

Solo women travellers are welcomed, but avoid poorly lit streets late at night in some suburbs.
Public transport is safe, yet keep personal belongings close.

“Crime-related emergencies can be reported to the toll-free number 17 or 112 (European emergency telephone number). Law enforcement agencies are the National Police (Police nationale) in urban areas and the National Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie national) in the countryside, though for minor crimes such as parking and tra…”

On the ground · via Wikivoyage

General guidance, explained by AI — confirm health needs with a doctor and safety with official advisories before you travel.

Time it with a festival

Bastille Day

early July

National day with fireworks on the Eiffel Tower and parades, showcasing French pride.

Fête de la Musique

late June

City‑wide free music concerts on streets, a lively way to experience French culture.

Carnival of Nice

late February

Colorful parades and flower battles on the French Riviera, offering a vibrant spectacle.

Diwali Celebrations in Paris

late October or early November

Indian community events with cultural performances and fireworks in places like Parc de la Villette.

A little India in France

Real places around Paris

Indian restaurants

Le Mumtaz on the map Rani Mahal on the map Desi Road on the map Qasim on the map Rang on the map Suraj on the map

Hindu & Sikh temples

Temple Sri Manicka Vinayakar on the map

Places via OpenStreetMap contributors — listings may be incomplete; verify before you go.

Ask about France

Grounded in this page's data — visa, timing, money, safety

Answers are grounded in this page’s data and won’t invent fees, dates or numbers. General info — verify official sources before you travel.

Pair France with…

Nearby hops for one big trip

e-Visa

e-Visa

Visa required

Visa required

Straight-line distance between capitals — a rough sense of how close, not a route.

More like France

Visa required

Visa required

Visa required

Visa required

Europe

France

banner via Wikivoyage

France through travellers' eyes

Real photos shared by people around the world

📷 Denisa LesniakováPexels

📷 Valentin IvantsovPexels

📷 Mehmet Turgut KirkgozPexels

📷 Ali Burak CesurPexels

📷 Darya SannikovaPexels

📷 MargerrettaPexels

📷 Regan DsouzaPexels

📷 Constanze MariePexels

📷 Stephen LeonardiPexels

📷 Travel with LensesPexels

📷 TBD TravellerPexels

📷 Ludovic DelotPexels

📷 Stephen LeonardiPexels

Evidence ledger · France

What Raahi used, when it was last refreshed, and what it cannot promise

Entry category ↗Passport-index dataset for the Indian passport · refreshed daily Climate timing ↗Open-Meteo · ERA5 2021–2023 Non-stop route context ↗OpenFlights community route snapshot · not a live schedule Official safety advice ↗UK FCDO summary when available · refreshed daily

Source data supports Raahi’s recommendations; it does not replace the destination’s immigration authority, airline or live booking provider.

Important — verify before you travel

Raahi presents visa and entry information for the Indian passport compiled from public datasets. This is general information for planning, not legal or immigration advice.

Visa rules, fees, and processing times change frequently and without notice, and the underlying data can be outdated, incomplete, or wrong. Requirements also depend on your specific situation — purpose of travel, length of stay, past travel history, and connecting/transit countries.

Before you book or travel, always confirmwith the destination country's official embassy, consulate, or immigration website, and with your airline. Raahi holds no responsibility for travel decisions made using this information.

🇫🇷France

Should you choose France?

Applying for a France visa

Getting there from India

Flight + stay, grounded in current offers

Hotel rates for your dates

Know before you go

🗓️ When to visit

What to pack

Staying connected in France

eSIM — easiest

Local SIM — cheapest

Your money in France

Pay like home in France

Money & forex in France

Forex card — best value

Cash

Regular cards

Say hello in French

How “home” France feels

Safe & healthy in France

Time it with a festival

A little India in France

Ask about France

Pair France with…

More like France

France

France through travellers' eyes

Evidence ledger · France

Important — verify before you travel

Roam on your Indian SIM

France through travellers' eyes

France

🗓️ When to visit

How “home” France feels

Safe & healthy in France

Time it with a festival

France