How to Call French Phone Numbers [The Absolute Best Guide]

Calling a French number isn’t really all that difficult, but there are a few things that you need to know to do it properly.

The good news is that it doesn’t matter where in the world you are calling from because you dial a French number the same exact way.

It does differ however depending on whether you are calling from a French phone service provider or a foreign one.

It may also differ a little bit on whether you are calling from a mobile phone or a landline.

A typical number is made up of 10 digits broken up into 2 digit intervals.

When the French give out their number they tend to say each 2 digit number as its actual number as opposed to saying each number independently from one another.

For example, if you live in the United States or Canada you would say the number 555-4983 as:

• Five, five, five, four, nine, eight, three

In France however you would say the French number 06 49 27 32 13 as:

• zero, six (06), quarante-neuf (49), vingt-sept (27), trente-deux (32), treize (13)

This is the equivalent of saying

• zero, six (06), forty nine (49), twenty seven (27, thirty two (32), thirteen (13)

If you’re new to learning French then learning how to give our (or understand) French phone numbers this way can be kind of difficult. It’s just yet another reason to learn how to counters numbers in French.

Sometimes you’ll be given a number without the first zero (6 49 27 32 13). You’ll see why this isn’t a huge deal in a minute.

In order to call France from outside of France you need to first dial +33 or 0033 if you can’t dial + (such as on a landline.)

If you want to call a French phone number from a mobile device simply follow the following steps.

1. Dial “+” before anything else to designate this call as international as opposed to local or domestic.

2. Dial France’s country code 33.

3. Dial the French number you were given, but leave off the first “0”.

So using the phone number we used earlier we would end up dialing +33 6 49 27 32 13.

Calling French numbers from a landline isn’t really all that much different from calling from a mobile phone.

The only real difference is that you would dial “00” instead of “+” at the beginning seeing as dialing “+” typically isn’t possible on a landline.

1. Dial “00” before anything else to designate this call as international as opposed to local or domestic.

2. Dial France’s country code 33.

3. Dial the French number you were given, but leave off the first “0”.

If you’re in France and have a French phone provider then you can just enter the phone number exactly as it was given to you (including the “0” at the beginning.)

So if you would given the French phone number 06 49 27 32 13 then you would type that into your phone and you’re all set.

When you’re in France most of the phone numbers you’ll see start with “06”, however this isn’t the case with all French numbers.

The first two numbers of French phone numbers are the area code with both 06 and 07 being designated for mobile phones.

Seeing as we live in a world where mobile phones are used much more than landlines you’ll see these numbers more than you’ll see others.

Below are the various area codes for other areas of France

01 – Île-de-France (This is where Paris is)

02 – Northwest France

03 – Northeast France

04 – Southeast France

05 – Southwest France

06 – Mobile Phone Services

07 – Mobile Phone Services

08 – Shared Cost Services and Freephone (toll-free numbers)

09 – Non-geographic numbers such as those used by VOIP services)

Like many countries, France is not restricted to just the hexagon-shaped country in western Europe that we all know and love.

There are many overseas territories (départements d’outre mer) that have their own country codes.

Calling these overseas territories can be a bit hard to understand because it’s different depending on whether you are in Metropolitan France (continental France) or outside of France entirely.

For many of these you’ll notice that the country code and the area code are the same thing.

If you’re calling from within France then the country code gets replaced by “0”. You of course still have to dial the area code.

The country code for French Guiana is +594 which means the area code is also 594. The area code changes to 694 if you’re calling a mobile device, but the country code does not change.

The country code for Martinique is +596 which means the area code is also 596. The area code changes to 696 (or 697) if you’re calling a mobile device, but the country code does not change.

The country code for Martinique is +262 which means the area code is also 262 (you can also use 263). The area code changes to 692 (or 693) if you’re calling a mobile device, but the country code does not change.

Saint-Martin, Guadeloupe and Saint-Barthélemy all have the same codes. The country and area code is +590 and changes to +690 or +691 when calling a mobile device.

Calling French phone numbers (or any phone number International to you for that matter) isn’t exactly difficult you just have to know what to dial given your specific circumstances.

Hopefully now you have a quick guide to refer to whenever you need to call someone in France.