Asking for directions is the quickest reason we’re compelled to communicate in a foreign language. Despite our handy phones and maps, we often need the help of locals to find landmarks and hidden gems alike. For this reason, you’ll want to know how to ask for directions in French, as well as how to understand the responses you’re likely to receive.
In this post we’ll start off with the very basics of how to ask for directions in French, from the simple where is…? to a few variations on this theme.
Then we’ll go into common responses, learning how to give directions in French. We’ll cover the range of French direction words like how to say left and right in French, as well as most of the directions you’re likely to be given.
Then comes our big French vocabulary list for locations and landmarks you’ll come across in the city.
Finally, we’ll end our post with a few sample scenarios where people are giving realistic directions in French.
Though we won’t go into much detail on the grammatical aspects here, we’ll include plenty of links to our relevant grammar posts.
This post is part of our beginner series for getting around in France, along with other posts like how to order food, saying Cheers in French, navigating French hotels, and getting a French phone number. For now though, let’s get started with how to ask for directions in French!
Asking for directions in French
When it comes to asking directions in French, the first thing we need to know is how to use the right question words. We’ll start with the most basic phrases based on the French word for where: oú. Then we’ll introduce a handful of other straightforward ways to ask for directions in French.
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Where is …? – Oú est …?
Even if you don’t remember anything else from this post, you can probably get by with this one simple question: where is …?. We just use the question word oú with the right conjugation of the verb être, and we have the fundamental question oú est …? (singular) or oú sont …? (plural), to which you just add whatever destination you’re looking for.
- Where is the hospital? – Où est l’hôpital?
- Where is the best restaurant? – Où est le meilleur restaurant?
- Where are the taxis? – Où sont les taxis?
Where is … located? – Où se trouve …?
For a slight variation of the first question, you can ask where your destination is located by adding trouver, which is the French verb for to find or to be found. This formulation uses the passive voice to ask where the location is found.
- Where is the theater located? – Où se trouve le théâtre ?
- Where is the university located? – Où se trouve l’université ?
- Where’s the nearest metro station? – Où se trouve la station de métro la plus proche ?
Where can I find …? – Où puis-je trouver …?
Here we’re using the same verb trouver, but asking where can I find a specific destination. Grammatically, this formulation uses inversion, which is a common way to form questions in French.
- Pardon, where can I find a mall? – Excusez-moi, où puis-je trouver un centre commercial ?
- Hello, where can I find a bank machine? – Bonjour, où puis-je trouver un guichet automatique ?
Where is there a …? – Oú y a-t-il un(e) … ?
This question is for when you know what you need, but it doesn’t need to be specific. Again we start with the French question word oú, followed by the inversion of il y a, which means there is or there are. Then we just add the noun for whatever we’re looking for, usually including an indefinite article.
- Where is there a pharmacy? – Oú y-a-t-il une pharmacie ?
- Where is a cheap bar? – Oú y-a-t-il un bar pas cher ?
- Where are there some public toilets? – Oú y-a-t-il des toilettes publiques ?
If you’re wondering about the extra -t- in the expression y a-t-il, it’s known as the t euphonique and is strictly a pronunciation aid. We explain this in our post on forming questions in French.
More ways to ask directions in French
Now that we’ve seen the very basic questions using oú, we’ll cover a few other ways to ask how to get somewhere. Just complete any of these phrases with whatever location you’re looking for. Check our big vocab list of destinations further down for the names of various landmarks around town.
| English questions | French questions |
| Excuse me, | Excusez-moi, |
| How do I get to the …? | Comment puis-je aller à/au(x) … ? |
| How can I get to the …? | Comment puis-je arriver à/au(x) … ? |
| How can I get there by bus? | Comment puis-je y aller en bus ? |
| Which bus should I take to go to …? | Il faut quel bus pour aller à/au(x) … ? |
| What is the best way to get to …? | Quel est le meilleur moyen pour aller à/au(x) … ? |
| What’s the way to get to …? | Quel est le chemin pour aller à/au(x) … ? |
| Where can I find …? | Où puis-je trouver … ? |
| Would you know where I can find …? | Sauriez-vous où trouver … ? |
| Could you tell me how I get to …? | Pouvez-vous me dire comment aller à/au(x) … ? |
You probably noticed that we gave multiple options for saying to or to the in French. This is because the right word depends on whether we’re including the article or not, and on the gender and number of the following noun. We explain this in detail in our post on à, au, à la, à l’, and aux in French. A common shorthand for including all of these possibilities is just à/au(x)!
Giving directions in French
Now that you know how to ask for directions in French, you need to understand when people respond to you. You’ll need to know some of the local landmarks that we’ll list in our big vocab list in the following section, along with some useful direction words in French that we’ll cover here.
When receiving directions in French, the speaker will often begin by saying Il faut … or Vous devez …. These are common French expressions of obligation with meanings along the lines of you need to or you must.
Use of le futur proche is also quite common when giving directions in French, equivalent to going to in English.
French verbs of movement
The French verbs of movement describe how we move through space, so they’re frequently used when giving directions in French.
Note that we’re introducing the infinitive forms here, whereas you’ll probably hear these verbs conjugated in their imperative form when they’re used for giving directions. In the next section, we’ll see these French verbs of movement used in the imperative.
| English verbs of movement | French verbs of movement |
| To go | Aller |
| To walk | Marcher |
| To drive | Conduire |
| To take (a train, a bus) | Prendre (un train, un autobus) |
| To follow, To keep going | Suivre, Continuer |
| To move forward, To keep going | Avancer |
| To pass, To go | Passer |
| To move | Bouger |
| To back up | Reculer |
| To go up | Monter |
| To go down | Descendre |
| To cross, To go across / through | Traverser |
| To turn | Tourner |
| To arrive | Arriver |
Giving directions in French
Now that we’ve seen our list of movement verbs, let’s see how to use them in the imperative when telling someone which direction to take.
Keep in mind that we normally use the formal you in French when giving directions, since these exchanges are generally between strangers. The following conjugations therefore all correspond to vous.
| English direction commands | French direction commands |
| Turn right / left | Tournez à droite / à gauche |
| Keep to your right / left | Restez à droite / à gauche |
| Go straight ahead | Allez tout droit |
| Keep going | Continuez, Avancez |
| Continue along, Follow | Suivez |
| Walk | Marchez |
| Go to the corner | Allez au coin |
| Go to the next block | Allez à la prochaine rue |
| Go past, Go through | Passez, Traversez |
| Pass through | Passez à travers |
| Cross | Traversez |
| Turn back, Turn around | Retournez en arrière, Faites demi-tour |
| Go back | Retournez |
| Go north / south / east / west | Allez au nord / sud / est / ouest |
| Go up / Go down | Montez / Descendez |
French prepositions of place
Now that we’ve seen how to give directions in French with the verbs of movement, let’s look at more of the possible options you might use with those verbs.
We use French prepositions of place to describe relative locations, so these can be inserted in the commands above to give more precision on where to go.
| English prepositions of place | Prepositions d’endroits en français |
| On the right side of | À la droite de |
| On the left side of | À la gauche de |
| Next to | À côté de |
| Far from | Loin de |
| Close to, Near | Près de |
| Around | Autour de |
| Across | En face |
| Outside | Dehors |
| Inside | À l’intérieur |
| In | Dans |
| Between | Entre |
| In front of | Devant |
| Opposite to | Opposé(e) à |
| Behind | Derrière |
| Across | En face |
Vocabulary list: French landmarks
We’re finally reaching our big vocabulary list of places you might want to ask directions to. We also include several other landmarks which you’ll likely hear in the responses. Basically, here’s a bunch of useful vocab for places around a city.
| Landmark | Un point de repère |
| Building | Un immeuble |
| Apartment | Un appartement |
| Hotel | Un hôtel |
| Stadium | Un stade |
| Theater | Un théâtre |
| Cinema | Un cinéma |
| Church | Une église |
| Museum | Un musée |
| Mall | Un centre commercial |
| Book shop | Une librairie |
| Library | Une bibliothèque |
| Pharmacy | Une pharmacie |
| Bakery | Une boulangerie, Une pâtisserie |
| Hair salon | Un salon de coiffure, Un coiffeur, Une coiffeuse |
| Barber shop | Un barbier |
| Bar, Pub | Un bar |
| Restaurant | Un restaurant |
| Gas station | Une station service |
| Gym | Une gym, Un gymnase |
| University | Une université, La fac |
| School | Une école |
| Fire station | Une caserne de pompiers |
| Police station | Une station de police |
| Hospital | Un hôpital |
| The subway, The metro, The underground | Le métro |
| Bus stop | Un arrêt de bus |
| Bus station | Une station de bus |
| Train station | Une gare |
| Airport | Un aeroport |
| Terminal | Un terminal |
| Parking lot | Un parking, Un stationnement |
| Zoo | Un zoo |
| Park | Un parc |
| Sidewalk | Un trottoir |
| Roundabout, Traffic circle | Un rond-point, Une giratoire, Une rotonde |
| Street | Une rue |
| Avenue | Une avenue |
| Highway | Une autoroute |
| Corner | Un coin |
| Intersection, Crossroads | Une intersection |
| Traffic light | Un feu de circulation |
| Sign | Un panneau |
Giving directions in French: Practice scenarios
Asking questions is easy enough when you want directions, but what about the answers?
We’ve covered a lot of vocabulary about giving directions in French. Here we’ll give a few sample scenarios so you can get some practice asking and giving directions in French.
You’ll see several of these phrases used in these examples, but for more options we recommend our detailed posts on hello, goodbye, please, thank you, and sorry in French.
Try to translate each sample dialogue yourself before reading through the French versions!
Getting to the airport
Directions in English
Tourist: Excuse me, my flight leaves at noon tomorrow. How can I get to the airport from here?
Receptionist: Hello! Do you depart from Roissy or Orly?
Tourist: From Charles de Gaulle.
Receptionist: Ah, Roissy. It’s easy. You can go by public transport and get there in less than an hour. Trains leave every ten or fifteen minutes.
Tourist: Oh good. And how can I get there from here?
Receptionist: Take a left out of the hotel and walk two blocks to the Denfert-Rochereau subway station. You just need to take the RER B, direction Aéroport. You get off at the last station.
Tourist: Great! Thank you very much for your help.
Receptionist: No problem! Have a good trip!
Directions in French
Le touriste: Excusez-moi, mon vol part demain à midi. Comment puis-je aller à l’aéroport d’ici ?
Le réceptionniste: Bonjour! Vous partez de Roissy ou d’Orly ?
Le touriste: De Charles de Gaulle.
Le réceptionniste: Ah, Roissy. C’est facile. Vous pouvez prendre les transports en communs et y arriver en moins d’une heure. Les trains partent chaque dix ou quinze minutes.
Le touriste: Génial. Comment puis-je y aller d’ici?
Le réceptionniste: Tournez à gauche en sortant de l’hôtel et traversez deux rues jusqu’à la station de métro Denfert-Rochereau. Vous devez prendre le RER B, direction Aéroport.
Le touriste: Formidable! Merci beaucoup pour votre aide.
Le réceptionniste: Pas de problème, bon voyage!
Getting to the Louvre
Directions in English
Tourist: Good morning! Can you please tell me how to get to the Louvre from here?
Receptionist: Hello! The Louvre? It’s about 20 minutes by bus and 40 minutes by foot. Which would you prefer?
Tourist: I’ll walk, can you give me directions?
Receptionist: Of course. Do you know the Rue de Rennes? The commercial street that runs from Montparnasse all the way to Saint Germain?
Tourist: Yes.
Receptionist: Take Rue de Rennes until it becomes Rue Bonaparte. Keep going until you hit the Seine. Turn right, cross the Pont des Arts, and you’re there!
Tourist: Ok that sounds easy. Thanks!
Receptionist: You’re welcome!
Directions in French
Le touriste: Bonjour! Pouvez-vous m’aider à aller au Louvre d’ici?
Le réceptionniste: Bonjour! Le Louvre? C’est à environ 20 minutes en bus et 40 minutes à pied. Qu’est-ce que vous préférez?
Le touriste: Je vais marcher, pouvez-vous me diriger?
Le réceptionniste: Bien sûr. Connaissez-vous la rue de Rennes? La rue commerciale qui va de Montparnasse jusqu’à Saint Germain?
Le touriste: Oui.
Le réceptionniste: Prenez la rue de Rennes jusqu’à ce qu’elle devienne la rue Bonaparte. Continuez jusqu’à ce que vous arriviez à la Seine. Tournez à droite, traversez le Pont des Arts et vous y êtes!
Le touriste: D’accord, ça me paraît facile. Merci.
Le réceptionniste: Tout le plaisir est pour moi.
Finding a pharmacy
Directions in English
Tourist: Pardon me, do you know where I can find a pharmacy?
Local: Yes, there’s one about five minutes from here. Do you know where the hospital is?
Tourist: The hospital? Yes, it’s two blocks from here.
Local: Exactly. For the pharmacy, first go back to the hospital. Turn left and pass through the parking lot. The pharmacy is behind the parking lot, across the big street.
Tourist: Ok, thank you!
Local: No problem.
Directions in French
Le touriste: Excusez-moi, savez-vous oú je peux trouver une pharmacie?
Un local: Oui, il y en a une à environ cinq minutes d’ici. Savez-vous où se trouve l’hôpital?
Le touriste: L’hôpital? Oui, il est à deux rues d’ici.
Un local: Exactement. Pour la pharmacie, d’abord retournez à l’hôpital. Tournez à gauche et traversez le parking. La pharmacie est derrière le parking, en face de la grande rue.
Le touriste: D’accord, merci!
Un local: Pas de souci.
Conclusion
How did you do in applying your new skills in these scenarios? Did you recognize the new vocabulary we introduced in the previous sections? Let’s just do a quick review of what we saw before we go!
We started off today’s post with the easy stuff, asking for directions a few ways using the word oú, as well as a few other ways to form the questions.
Then we covered the basics of describing how to move across space, with specific verbs and plenty of prepositions of place.
Then came our big vocabulary list of landmarks you’ll need to describe different places around a city.
We finished up with a few scenarios where we saw some examples of people describing how to get places. If you followed along there, you’re off to a great start.
Now you know the fundamentals to ask for and give directions in French!