Excellent care and safe tap water, but painkillers are pharmacy-only and the rules on bringing your own medication are strict - 28 days for controlled drugs, and Adderall is simply illegal in France.
- Care is excellent and the tap water is safe everywhere, with no vaccinations required.
- Painkillers are pharmacy-only. Paracetamol and ibuprofen are not sold in supermarkets - look for the green cross.
- Ordinary prescription medicine: up to a 3-month supply for personal use, in original packaging with a signed prescription.
- Controlled drugs: a maximum 28-day supply, carried in hand luggage with a doctor's letter or an ANSM certificate. Posting medication into France is illegal.
- Adderall and other amphetamine-based ADHD medicines are illegal to bring into France at all. This catches out a lot of American travellers; methylphenidate is allowed but needs the paperwork.
Care is excellent and the tap water is safe everywhere. No vaccinations are required; keep routine ones current.
- Hospitals: AP-HP in Paris, Hospices Civils de Lyon and CHU de Nice run emergency departments. Private cliniques give faster specialist access.
- Insurance: at least EUR 30,000 of cover for treatment and repatriation is mandatory for short-stay visa applicants and strongly advised for everyone else. EU and EEA visitors should carry the EHIC.
- Pharmacies only, marked by a green cross. Paracetamol and ibuprofen are not sold in supermarkets.
- Tiger mosquitoes carry a small seasonal dengue risk in the south in late summer. No malaria anywhere in metropolitan France.
Bringing your own medication - read this before you pack
- Ordinary prescription medicine: up to a 3-month supply for personal use, kept in the original packaging with a signed prescription.
- Controlled drugs (stupefiants): a maximum 28-day supply, carried in person in hand luggage, with a doctor's letter or an ANSM certificate. Posting or shipping medication into France is illegal.
- Adderall and other amphetamine-based ADHD medicines are not authorised in France and are illegal to bring in at all. This catches out a lot of American travellers. Methylphenidate (Ritalin, Concerta) is authorised but classified as a narcotic and needs the Schengen or ANSM paperwork.
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