France in a wheelchair

France's accessibility framework is anchored in Loi 2005-102, passed on 11 February 2005. The law obliges public buildings, transport, schools, and workplaces (the wider category of "Etablissements Recevant du Public", or ERP) to be accessible to people with reduced mobility. New construction must comply by default. Older venues hold accessibility plans called Ad'AP, with deadlines that depend on the building category and renovation schedule.

Compliance is enforced through local Commissions Communales d'Accessibilite (CCAs), audited by prefectures, and sanctioned through fines and operating restrictions. In practice, many older venues still hold partial compliance: a step-free entrance with a non-accessible upper floor, or a working lift but no accessible toilet. Confirm the specific feature you need with the venue directly, especially in historic buildings.

EU-level regulations sit on top of the French framework. Regulation EC 1107/2006 obliges airlines flying into and out of EU airports to provide free assistance booked at least 48 hours in advance. The European Accessibility Act, in force from June 2025, raises the bar on transport ticketing, ATMs and e-commerce sites. France has transposed both into national law.

Two cards do most of the work when you claim a discount in France. The Carte Mobilite Inclusion (CMI) is the French national card, issued by the departmental authorities (Maison Departementale des Personnes Handicapees, MDPH). It comes in three variants: Invalidite (priority + reduced fares), Stationnement (parking), and Priorite (priority queues). Visitors do not normally hold a CMI.

The European Disability Card (EDC) is the visitor-facing equivalent. Issued in your home EU country, it is recognised across France for cultural, leisure, and sport venues, and increasingly for transport. Non-EU visitors should bring their home country's official disability card plus a passport-translated doctor's letter; in practice, photo ID plus a clearly stated diagnosis is enough at most national museums.

Documentation matters at the door, not in advance. National museums and the major monuments do not pre-register visitors. Bring the card, ask at the dedicated accessible entrance, and the discount is applied on the spot. Keep both the card and a backup photo on your phone, since checks are inconsistent.

SNCF runs the long-distance TGV network plus the regional TER and Intercites services. Accessibility booking is handled through Acces Plus (renamed Assist'enGare in some 2024 marketing), free of charge, and best requested at least 48 hours before travel. The service covers boarding assistance, transfers between platforms, and luggage help. Major hubs (Paris Gare du Nord, Gare de Lyon, Lyon Part-Dieu, Bordeaux Saint-Jean) are well-staffed.

TGV trains have a dedicated wheelchair space in first class on most routes. TER regional trains vary by region and rolling-stock generation: newer Regio2N and Omneo Premium units are step-free, older Z2 trains require a portable ramp. Intercites de Nuit (sleeper trains) run a limited accessible-cabin programme; book through the SNCF accessibility line rather than the website.

Smaller rural stations may be unstaffed. If your station is not in the Acces Plus network, request boarding from a staffed station up the line. Eurostar (Paris to London / Brussels / Amsterdam) has its own accessibility programme, and Thalys / TGV INOUI Brussels services are bookable through SNCF Connect with PMR assistance noted at booking.

Every commercial French airport is required to provide PRM (Passenger with Reduced Mobility) assistance under EC 1107/2006. The assistance is free, booked through your airline at least 48 hours before departure, and covers terminal transfers, boarding, lift-and-transfer, and luggage. Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly are the largest hubs; Nice, Lyon-Saint Exupery, Marseille-Provence, Toulouse-Blagnac, and Bordeaux-Merignac are the next tier.

Service quality is consistent at the major hubs and more variable at smaller regional airports. If your flight connects in France, factor in the inter-terminal transfer time; CDG Terminal 2 to Terminal 1 is a 20 to 30 minute escorted transfer including the CDGVAL shuttle, which has step-free access.

Service dogs travel free in the cabin on EU and most non-EU carriers under EC 1107/2006 and national rules. Confirm the documentation requirements (rabies vaccination, EU pet passport or third-country annex IV) with French customs before you book.

France recognises the EU disability parking permit (the blue Carte Europeenne de Stationnement, or its CMI Stationnement equivalent) at on-street parking spaces marked with the international wheelchair symbol. Holders park free of charge on the public highway. Underground and private car parks set their own rules; many offer reserved bays at the entry level but charge the standard rate.

Accessible taxis (taxis adaptes) operate in every major city, with the largest fleets in Paris (G7 Access, Taxis Bleus), Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, and Bordeaux. Book by phone or app at least one to two hours ahead, and longer at peak times. The vehicle is normally a side-loading or rear-loading van that fits one wheelchair user plus up to three companions. See our city pages for the operator phone numbers and current vehicle specs.

Road surfaces in old town centres (Vieux Lyon, Le Panier in Marseille, the Marais in Paris) are cobbled and uneven. Plan routes through nineteenth-century or modern districts where possible; the city pages flag the worst surfaces.

Paris is the only city published in depth at the start of this pilot. The Paris hub covers public transport, taxis, attractions, airports, accessible toilets, equipment rental, restaurants, and the discounts to ask for. Within Paris we publish individual pages for the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre-Dame, Charles de Gaulle airport, and Orly airport.

Lyon, Bordeaux, Marseille, and Nice are scheduled as follow-ups, in that order. We publish a city when we can match the depth bar set in the authoring playbook, not before, because a thin city page misleads more than a missing one.

Two country-level pages support the city work. The SNCF train operator page covers PRM assistance, booking, and on-train accessibility for the national rail network. The Useful French phrases page collects accessibility-specific phrases (asking for a ramp, finding the lift, reporting a fault) with phonetic pronunciation.

Every claim on the site is tagged with a status (confirmed, partially confirmed, unconfirmed, or not accessible) and at least one cited URL. The status is the contract: confirmed means we read the official source and quote it; unconfirmed means we could not verify the feature and we say so plainly rather than guess.

Each page also lists a lastVerified date. We re-read every cited source at least once a year and update the date when we do. If you find a stale fact, the easiest fix is to check the cited URL and email us the correction.

Start with the city you are visiting. The peer-link block at the bottom of each page connects you to every related topic for that city, so you can move between transport, taxis, toilets, attractions, and the discount sheet without going back to the index.