Wondering if any of you fellow Francophiles can confirm if and how it's OK to drink in public. We'll be spending a month in Alsace and Burgundy this summer—Strasbourg, Colmar, Beaune, and Dijon—and plan to take advantage of the local wine and long evenings to enjoy a bottle outdoors. Just wondering how discreet we need to be (and what kind of vessels to bring with us to facilitate our discretion).
Merci!
Public drinking in France is legal.
Just be relaxed about it. you can have a wine glass or a bottle of beer in the open;
no one is going to stop you.
However local laws may ban public drinking or the purchase of alcohol in certain areas or at certain times
I'm sure that French people would want you to enjoy your wine in the best glass you can find, on pretty much any available bench or beach. Grass may be off limits. The key is not so much hiding as just not causing any trouble. See this thread from a couple of years ago: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/any-restrictions-on-picnicking-in-paris-public-parks.
I did find one Reddit thread that said Strasbourg bans public drinking from 10:00 PM to 5:00 AM. Does anyone know about local laws in other cities?
Laws vary from place to place even within a specific city. Best to read the signs. Public drinking and public drunkenness are different. While on lovely summer nights a picnic wouldn't be complete without wine drunken discreetly as wine is not allowed " wink wink" in most parks, (Also many parks are locked up at night) public drunkenness is way out of line. Public urination is illegal.
Strasbourg? where were you playing to drink outside from 10 pm to 5 am anyway besides a bar or club.
Now you just need to research the drinking laws of each little individual city that you cited in your itinerary
I don't think we'll have any trouble the with the Strasbourg laws. We usually don't start drinking until 6:00 AM anyway. ;)
I've done my best to research the other cities, and there is just nothing online. (It took awhile to find that Reddit thread on Strasbourg.) That's what I'm asking here.
We usually don't start drinking until 6:00 AM anyway. ;)
That's perfectly fine. It's 5 p.m. somewhere in the world then.
