#25 Asking Questions at the Tourist Office｜French Travel Expressions

When traveling, you may visit a tourist office to get a map or ask about sightseeing spots and transportation.

Being able to ask basic questions in French will make your trip and sightseeing much smoother.

In this lesson, I will introduce useful French phrases for tourist offices and explain the grammar points behind them.

Dialogue

A

Bonjour, est-ce que vous avez un plan de la ville ?
(Hello, do you have a city map?)

B

Oui, bien sûr. Voilà un plan gratuit.
(Yes, of course. Here is a free map.)

A

Merci. Pouvez-vous me dire où se trouve la cathédrale ?
(Thank you. Could you tell me where the cathedral is?)

B

Elle est à dix minutes à pied d’ici. Suivez cette rue et tournez à gauche.
(It’s a 10-minute walk from here. Follow this street and turn left.)

A

Est-ce qu’il y a un bus pour aller au musée ?
(Is there a bus to go to the museum?)

B

Oui, prenez le bus numéro 5 à l’arrêt devant la gare.
(Yes, take bus number 5 at the stop in front of the station.)

1. Asking “Do you have … ?”

A common expression at tourist offices is: “Est-ce que vous avez … ?” (Do you have …?)

Here, the verb avoir (to have) is used in the sense of “Is there … ? / Do you have … ?” — similar to English “Do you have … ?”

2. Asking “Where is … ?”

To ask for locations, the phrase “Où se trouve … ?” is useful.

The verb se trouver means “to be located.” “Où est … ?” (Where is …?) is also understood, but in tourist offices or more formal situations, “Où se trouve … ?” sounds more polite.

3. Asking About Transportation

To ask about means of transportation to a destination, use: “Est-ce qu’il y a … pour aller à … ?” (Is there … to go to … ?)

The phrase “Il y a …” means “there is/are …” and is very common in French, much like English “Is there … ?”

4. Common Phrases for Giving Directions

Tourist office staff often use the following expressions when explaining directions:

These are key to understanding instructions when moving around locally.

Summary