France Crossword Printable

Print a criss-cross France crossword of cities, rivers, food, landmarks and history, with a word bank and its answer key.

More options

Settings you change are kept in this browser for your next visit.

Name Date

France Crossword

Read each clue and write the answer in the squares that start at its number, one letter in each square.

This grid is wider than a phone screen, so it scrolls sideways. It prints whole.

Tap a square, and its clue shows here.

Across

Down

Word bank

  • Alps
  • Baguette
  • Bonjour
  • Euro
  • Joan
  • Loire
  • Louvre
  • Monet
  • Normandy
  • Paris
  • Seine
  • Spain

Type in a square and the next one takes over. Tap the same square again, or press Space, to switch between Across and Down. Arrow keys move around the grid, Enter goes to the next clue, and a clue takes you to its squares.

Print gives 2 pages on Letter or A4: the puzzle with its clues, then the answer key. The squares print 8 mm wide. For a PDF, choose Save as PDF in the print window.

A share link holds the puzzle number and these settings, nothing you typed.

Answer key: France Crossword

1B2B3NORMANDYNGJU4LOIRE5J6A7EUTO8LOUVRETAPR9SEINESOP10PARISI11MONET

Across 3 NORMANDY · 4 LOIRE · 8 LOUVRE · 9 SEINE · 10 PARIS · 11 MONET

Down 1 BONJOUR · 2 BAGUETTE · 5 JOAN · 6 ALPS · 7 EURO · 9 SPAIN

Next step Print the Europe crosswordFind France words in a word search

All 158 clues

Show all clues and answers

Cities and Regions 28

  • Alsace Eastern border region with a Germanic dialect of its own
  • Avignon Southern city still ringed by medieval walls, once the home of seven popes
  • Bordeaux Southwestern river port nicknamed the Port of the Moon
  • Brittany Peninsula region of the far west, one of the six Celtic nations
  • Burgundy Eastern region ruled by powerful dukes in the Middle Ages; also a dark red color
  • Calais Ferry port from which the white cliffs of Dover can be seen on a clear day
  • Cannes Resort town of the southeast coast known for a film festival each year
  • Chamonix Mountain resort in a valley below the highest French peak
  • Corsica Mountainous island in the sea south of the mainland, a part of France
  • Dijon Eastern city that gave its name to a strong mustard
  • Lille Northern city in French Flanders, capital of the Hauts-de-France region
  • Lyon City where two big rivers meet, long famous for weaving silk
  • Marseille Great port of the south, the only big French city with a national park inside its limits
  • Martinique Island in the West Indies, a region of France, whose highest point is Mont Pelée
  • Nantes Western river city with the castle of the Breton dukes
  • Nice Seaside city on the Bay of Angels, in the far southeast
  • Normandy Northern region whose beaches saw the D-Day landings of 1944
  • Orléans City whose Maid is the heroine of 1429
  • Paris Capital city, divided into twenty districts called arrondissements
  • Provence Region of the southeast whose name comes from a Roman province
  • Reims City where the kings of France were anointed with holy oil
  • Rennes Chief city of the Breton peninsula
  • Riviera French ___, the resort coast that ends at Menton on the Italian border
  • Rouen Norman river port with a cathedral that one painter pictured again and again
  • Savoy Mountain region on the Italian border that joined France in 1860
  • Strasbourg City counted with Brussels and Luxembourg as a capital of the European Union
  • Tahiti Island of French Polynesia, the largest of the Society Islands' Windward group
  • Toulouse Southwestern city at the center of the European aerospace industry

Rivers, Mountains and Neighbors 30

  • Alps Mountains of the southeast; their highest peak stands on the French and Italian border
  • Andorra Tiny mountain country squeezed between France and its southwestern neighbor
  • Ardennes Region of thick forest and hills on the northern border
  • Atlantic Ocean that French ships cross to reach North America
  • Belgium Small neighbor to the north, where French is one of three official languages
  • Biscay Bay of ___, the wide gulf off the west coast
  • Blanc Mont ___, the white mountain on the Italian border, highest in Europe west of the Caucasus
  • Camargue Marshy river delta of the south, known for white horses and flamingos
  • Canal The ___ du Midi, dug in the 1600s, carries boats across the south
  • Dune The ___ of Pilat, on the west coast, is the tallest sand one in Europe
  • Garonne River of the southwest that begins in the Spanish mountains
  • Geneva Lake ___, the large lake shared with Switzerland
  • Gironde Largest estuary of western Europe, on the southwest coast
  • Glacier The Mer de Glace, whose name means sea of ice, is the largest one in France
  • Hexagon Six-sided shape that is a nickname for France, from its outline on the map
  • Italy Boot-shaped neighbor to the southeast
  • Jura Mountains on the Swiss border that gave the Jurassic period its name
  • Loire Longest river in France, known for the castles of its valley
  • Massif ___ Central, the highland of mountains and plateaus in the middle of the country
  • Mediterranean Sea reached from the ocean through the Strait of Gibraltar
  • Monaco Second-smallest country in the world, tucked into the southeast coast
  • Pyrenees Mountain wall along the southwestern border
  • Rhine River that brushes the eastern edge of France on its way to the North Sea
  • Rhône River that rises in the Swiss mountains and reaches the sea at the Gulf of Lion
  • Seine River crossed by 37 bridges inside the capital
  • Spain Neighbor to the southwest, beyond the mountains
  • Tunnel The Channel ___ carries trains under the sea to England; it opened in 1994
  • Verdon River named for its turquoise-green color, which cut a gorge up to 700 meters deep
  • Volcano Puy de Dôme, in the middle of France, is one that last erupted more than 10,000 years ago
  • Vosges Rounded mountains of the northeast, near the German border

Food and Cafe Words 30

  • Baguette Stick of bread; French law sets its dough and its size
  • Bistro Small, informal restaurant
  • Boulangerie French word for a bakery
  • Brie Soft cheese sold under the names of the towns of Meaux and Melun
  • Brioche Golden bread enriched with eggs, butter and milk, a kind of viennoiserie
  • Café Coffeehouse, often with small tables out on the sidewalk
  • Camembert Cheese that carries the name of its home village in the northwest
  • Cassoulet Slow-cooked bean stew of the south
  • Chef Boss of a restaurant kitchen; in French the word just means chief
  • Crêpe Thin pancake served with a sweet or a savory filling
  • Croissant Curved breakfast roll made of buttery, layered dough
  • Cuisine French word for kitchen that English uses for a style of cooking
  • Custard Crème brûlée is a rich one under a crust of hard caramel
  • Éclair Finger of choux pastry with cream inside and icing on top
  • Escargot Snails cooked with garlic butter, in a restaurant's own word
  • Gourmet Person who knows and loves fine food
  • Lavender Purple flower grown in fragrant fields of the southeast
  • Macaron Pair of smooth almond shells stuck together with ganache, buttercream or jam
  • Madeleine Little cake from the town of Commercy with a scallop pattern on its back
  • Menu List of dishes, a word English borrowed from French
  • Mousse Airy dessert, often chocolate; the word means foam
  • Nougat Chewy candy of nuts and honey, a specialty of the town of Montélimar
  • Omelette Beaten eggs fried in butter and folded over
  • Patisserie Shop that sells cakes and pastries
  • Picnic Basket lunch on the grass, known in France as a pique-nique
  • Quiche Savory egg pie whose name may come from the German word Kuchen
  • Roquefort By law this ewe's-milk cheese must ripen in the Combalou caves
  • Soufflé Airy baked egg dish, served as a savory main course or a sweet dessert
  • Tart Open pastry case with a fruit filling; Tatin is the upside-down apple kind
  • Truffle Underground delicacy once hunted with pigs, now more often with dogs

Landmarks and Art 27

  • Abbey A medieval one crowns Mont-Saint-Michel, the rocky island cut off at high tide
  • Aqueduct The Pont du Gard is a Roman one with three tiers of arches
  • Arena The town of Nîmes keeps a Roman one that is still used for public events
  • Carnac Breton village known for its menhirs, dolmens and long stone rows
  • Cézanne Painter who pictured apples, and one mountain of the south, again and again
  • Chambord Royal hunting lodge with a forest of towers and a double spiral staircase
  • Château French word for a castle or grand country house
  • Degas Artist best known for pictures of dancers at rehearsal
  • Eiffel ___ Tower, the iron landmark built for the World's Fair of 1889
  • Gargoyle Rain gutter in the shape of a monster on a Gothic building
  • Impressionism Art movement of the 1870s named after a painting of a sunrise
  • Lascaux Cave whose walls hold paintings of animals at least 17,000 years old
  • Lisa Mona ___, the smiling portrait by Leonardo that hangs in the capital
  • Louvre World's most-visited museum, home of the Venus de Milo
  • Matisse Henri ___, painter of the Fauvism movement, known for his use of color
  • Metro City railway of the capital, with station entrances in the Art Nouveau style
  • Millau Southern town whose viaduct was the tallest bridge in the world for more than twenty years
  • Monet Painter of the water lilies in his garden at Giverny
  • Montmartre Hill in the north of the capital, known for its artists and its white-domed church
  • Notre-Dame Cathedral on the Île de la Cité that lost its roof and spire to a fire in 2019
  • Obelisk An Egyptian one more than 3,000 years old stands in the Place de la Concorde
  • Pyramid A glass one is the main entrance of the biggest art museum in the capital
  • Renoir Painter of a dance at the Moulin de la Galette and of a boating party at lunch
  • Rodin Auguste ___, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture
  • Statue A giant copper one, a gift from the people of France, stands in New York Harbor
  • Tapestry The one kept at Bayeux is really an embroidery about the Norman invasion of England
  • Versailles Palace of roughly 2,300 rooms, built by the kings a short ride from the capital

History, People and Symbols 43

  • Anthem La Marseillaise is the national one, written in 1792
  • Ballet Dance whose steps have French names, such as plié and pirouette
  • Balloon Two brothers named Montgolfier sent up the first hot-air one in 1783
  • Bastille Fortress prison in the capital whose fall in 1789 is remembered every summer
  • Beret Round, brimless cap of soft felt or wool
  • Blue Color of the band nearest the pole on the French flag
  • Bonjour Hello or good day, in French
  • Braille Louis ___, who at fifteen showed his classmates a reading code of raised dots
  • Champollion Scholar who cracked the Rosetta Stone's picture writing in 1822
  • Charlemagne Emperor crowned in 800 whose name means Charles the Great
  • Cousteau Jacques ___, ocean explorer and filmmaker who co-invented scuba gear
  • Curie Marie ___, Polish-born scientist in France who won two Nobel Prizes
  • Descartes René ___, thinker and mathematician for whom the Cartesian coordinate system is named
  • Euro Money used in France today; its coins and bills arrived in 2002
  • Fashion Clothing styles, an important French industry since the 1600s
  • Fencing Sword sport whose calls, such as en garde and touché, are French
  • Franc Money of France before 2002
  • Franks Germanic people first united by King Clovis; the name France means their realm
  • Gaul Roman name for the land that became France
  • Hugo Victor ___, novelist and poet of the 1800s buried in the Panthéon
  • Joan ___ of Arc, peasant girl of about seventeen who carried her banner to war in 1429
  • July Month of the national holiday, on the fourteenth
  • Lafayette French officer who joined Washington's army in the American war for independence
  • Liberty First word of the national motto, before equality and fraternity
  • Lumière Brothers who showed the first paid public movies in 1895
  • Marianne Woman in a red cap who stands for France on stamps and in town halls
  • Merci Thank you, in French
  • Metric ___ system: meters, liters and grams, first adopted by France in the 1790s
  • Mime Silent actor's art, made famous by Marcel Marceau
  • Napoleon Emperor whose last defeat came at Waterloo in 1815
  • Oui Yes, in French
  • Pasteur Louis ___, scientist whose heating method keeps milk safe to drink
  • Perfume Scent in a bottle; the town of Grasse is called its world capital
  • Perrault Charles ___, who wrote down Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty in 1697
  • Pétanque Bowling game played standing inside a circle, tossing toward a little jack
  • Photograph The oldest one that survives was made by Nicéphore Niépce in the 1820s
  • President Head of state, elected by the voters for five years
  • Republic Kind of state with no king, as France is today
  • Revolution The French ___ of 1789 produced the Declaration of the Rights of Man
  • Rooster Farm bird that is a national symbol of the French people
  • Sun Louis XIV was called the ___ King
  • Tricolor Nickname of the French flag, for its three colors
  • Verne Jules ___, writer of early science fiction adventures

How this list was compiled: Clues written for this site for a class unit on France, in five sets: cities and regions, rivers, mountains and neighbors, food and cafe words, landmarks and art, and history, people and symbols. Facts were checked against English Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA 4.0), French words in Wiktionary and the Statue of Liberty gift at nps.gov, in October 2026. Accents are kept in the list (Château, Crêpe). No living person, brand or drink is an answer. Licence: own work

How it works

This France crossword, printable on Letter or A4, is a criss-cross vocabulary grid with a word bank under the clues. The first puzzle has 12 easy words, among them Paris, Seine, Alps, Baguette and Louvre.

Read the full guide

Five sets after the easy one

Cities and Regions has Marseille, Strasbourg and Provence. Rivers, Mountains and Neighbors has Rhône, Jura and Monaco. Food and Cafe Words has Quiche, Macaron and Bistro. Landmarks and Art has Versailles, Lascaux and Rodin. History, People and Symbols has Charlemagne, Marianne and Pasteur.

French words in the grid

Bonjour, Merci and Oui are answers in the easy set; Château and Boulangerie are answers too. An accent is printed in the list of all clues; the grid and the answer key use plain capital letters.

Questions and answers

Is the France crossword printable for kids?

Yes. Easy France Words is written for grades 3 to 5 and prints with a word bank. The five themed sets suit grades 6 to 8. These bands are our judgment, not a published standard.

Does the France crossword print with an answer key?

Yes. The key prints last, on a sheet of its own, so you can hand out the puzzle and keep the answers. It is free, with no sign-up.

What is the capital of France?

Paris. It is an answer in the easy set, clued by its twenty districts, called arrondissements.

Why is France called the Hexagon?

Because the outline of mainland France on a map is roughly six-sided; the French call the mainland l'Hexagone. Hexagon is an answer in the easy set.

More tools

Show 7 more

Browse Puzzles