Is France Safe for Travel

I’m planning a trip to France in February. The yellow vest protests have been violent and disruptive and the shooting in Strasbourg has added to my unease. I understand that terrorism is random and also extremely rare, but the yellow vests seem to be taking on a life of their own and my planned travel is less than two months away.

Should I head to Italy instead?

Thanks in advance for any input.

You live in America right?

Go travel. Take sensible precautions while doing so.

My in laws just made their regular drive from the place they spend half their time to Calais. About 1000km, they were met by very friendly and cheerful protesters in yellow jackets at several of the toll booths.

France is a fairly large place. I’d say it’s safe for the vast majority.

I do live in the US. In Chicago. The neighborhoods that I frequent are not violent, though a few miles away shootings are routine.

I’m probably more worried about inconvenience than physical safety, though both are on my mind. I’m toying with the idea that it might just be easier to go somewhere else where there’s less chance of a problem. The NYT specifically mentioned problems in the 1st arrondissement (among others).

Obviously, I will take sensible precautions wherever I travel.

Depends on how badly you want to go to France. There is always the chance of inconveniences when traveling. I was in NE France during the train strike earlier this year, which complicated my travel back to Brussels, but it all worked out without much hassle.

I would not change my plans over the yellow vests. YMMV

Hi Corey,

Where in France will you be?

Given how few of the yellow-vest protesters seem to be armed with locked-and-loaded heavy artillery, as if everyday 'mericans at the mall, I would not worry.

Mark, Scott thanks for your replies.

Henry, we are planning to stay in Paris, with a few day trips to nearby areas.

Victor, I think worrying about travel is part of my DNA. I’m not a nervous traveler per se, but Linda gets very little time off work, so I want to make sure we squeeze the maximum enjoyment out of our travels.

Was in Provence earlier this fall. We saw armed guards in almost all the train stations in the larger towns. The guards actually made me more nervous because they stare you down. The TSA folks just touch you.

Honestly, that’s been the case since the 1980s. They’ve had heavily armed soldiers at airports/train stations for decades, nothing to get too worked up about. You probably have more of a chance of getting into trouble in Chicago than in France, frankly.

BTW, I’ll be there and hope we can meet up in February?

Yes, I’d like that very much. I think it’s quite likely that we’ll go, but the shooting in Strasbourg + yellow vests gives me room for pause.

Maybe they seemed more visible on this last trip. I remember seeing armed guards in Italy, Naples in particular, just not in French wine country.

Good point about possible inconvenience. I’ve heard from friends who live there (mostly in the south) of major highways being disrupted, but peacefully as I heard, by yellow vest protestors. Accordingly, created traffic delays.

Change your plans. Try Poland. Very nice there.

I’m in Lyon currently and besides the heavily armed soldiers at the train station and the Christmas market things are very much normal here. Could be warmer but otherwise we are enjoying our time here very much. Really fantastic dinner at a restaurant called L’Ame Soeur last night, great time shopping before that at Antic Wine and Malleval.

I urge you to take some time and use youtube as a reference for real empirical information as opposed to fear mongering. The Yellow vest protestors are at virtually every autoroute exit/entrance and do not interfere with travel. You might be delayed a bit but you might actually have interesting interactions.

Since you plan to be in Paris, I would just avoid the big saturday protests near the rue de rivoli and the champs elysee but the protests are well publicized so you shouldn’t be surprised.

In relative terms to other countries I think France is very safe. I can understand the frustration of interfering with travel plans, as we have had an intermittent train strike earlier this year and now the ‘Gilets Jaunes’ revolt. But after a while you just get used to it and work out a way to make everything work. I have still run wine tours during strikes and interruptions.
Obviously terrorism is the headline that grabs attention, and the Strasbourg Christmas market tragedies are awful. But if you stay smart and alert, you should have no problems.

More mass shooting deaths in Thousand Oaks than in Paris this year.

But that goes my mean I feel great at my upcoming trip to Paris -staying just off Place Vendome. My backup hotel was on Rue de Rivi. Doing it on points or I’d switch to the Left Bank

I’m going to Paris on the 24th (with wife and kids) and I have very few concerns. It is a big city, and even if there are protests someplace like the Champs de Elysee, there are plenty of neighborhoods to go to. Like here in NYC, there could be 100,000 people protesting in one part of town, and you would never know it in another part.

Plus, the protests seem to not be a constant, day after day event, and with Macron’s concessions, they may be over (at least my host in Paris seems to think that is probable). I have been there when there are protests, and other than some Metro issues and avoiding a few stops/areas, it was no big deal at all.

Planning on going to Paris, too. But not until Feb or March. Just passing this on.