In 2019, some 150 airports were operational in France. Some are huge – in 2022, Paris Charles de Gaulle saw nearly 57.5 million passengers land or take off from French soil, while Nice welcomed 12 million and Toulouse more than 7 million. 

Of the rest, some 41 airports served between 10,000 and 3 million commercial passengers; others, such as Troyes, received a grand total of 96, according to France Inter.

Meanwhile, there are some 12,000km of motorway according to roads watchdog Bison Futé, of which more than 9,000km are toll roads operated by private companies under contracts with the State.

About 200 cities and larger towns in France are connected to the high-speed rail network – and there are also 15 ferry ports dotted along the coast, which welcome millions of travellers per year.

READ ALSO MAP: Where high-speed trains can take you in France

Larger urban areas also boast reasonable local public transport services, with some French towns even falling in love with trams all over again. 

Others, meanwhile, offer at least part-time free bus travel on in-town routes. The idea is to ease local congestion on the roads by increasing the number of journeys made by bus, and to reduce the environmental impact caused by cars.

However, France is a patchwork nation of contrasts. And the same can be said of its local, regional and national transport networks. 

READ ALSO Planes, trains, and ferries: The new international travel routes from France in 2023

It’s most visible outside urban conurbations. It turns out there’s a reason why those picturesque and quaint villages in La France Profonde often come with the added ‘sleepy’ adjective.

The lack of public transport infrastructure in rural areas was a key early complaint of the ‘Yellow Vests’ movement in late 2018 and the early months of 2019.

READ ALSO Whatever happened to the ‘yellow vests’ in France?

Despite promises at the time, the situation does not seem to have improved much outside urban areas, with residents who live rural areas – one in three French people live in smaller communes – having little option but to use a car.

READ ALSO Driving in France: What are the French ‘villages étapes’?

That’s because there are very limited train or bus services that would provide them with an alternative form of transport, according to a report by the Autorité de la Qualité de Service dans les Transports (AQST) – while those that do operate are increasingly running late, and running slow.

It also noted in its most recent report that more local TER trains were being cancelled than ever before.

Basically, and this will come as no surprise to anyone who lives in rural parts of the country, public transport systems outside French towns and cities is virtually non-existent.

The Association des Maires Ruraux de France (AMRF), which brings together almost 10,000 mayors representing municipalities with less than 3,500 inhabitants throughout France, said that only 19 percent of France’s rural residents believe they can opt to travel using a range of transport options in their daily lives, compared to 60 percent of residents in towns of more than 100,000 people. 

And, even if they are aware of locally available public transport options, 60 percent still opt to use their car, for convenience. Another study found that 70 percent of all daily travel in rural France is made in private cars, while a further 22 percent are on foot. Only 9 percent of all daily travel needs are met by public transport outside urban areas.

In June, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne launched a three-year €90 million France Ruralités scheme which includes, among 40 measures, plans to cut the over-reliance on private cars among residents in areas where public transport provision remains low.