Flying a drone in France? The complete 2026 guide in English: how to read the zone map, register on AlphaTango step by step, and the rules for cities and Paris.
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C-DRONE GUIDE · 2 APRIL 2026
France drone zone map 2026 (Géoportail): check your area in 30 seconds
The official drone zone map for France is the “Restrictions UAS catégorie Ouverte et Aéromodélisme” layer published by the IGN — geoportail.gouv.fr now redirects to cartes.gouv.fr with the layer already on — free and with no sign-up: red means no flying, orange or yellow means a height cap of 30, 50, 60 or 100 m, hatching means prior notification for aircraft over 900 g, no colour means the general 120 m ceiling. It is the reference for where you may fly in the open category and how high. But misread — or taken for what it is not — it leads to serious mistakes. This guide covers how to read it, its limits and the tools that complement it.
Published on 2 April 2026, updated on 13 October 2026 — regulations in force as of September 2026.
The complete guide to French drone regulations 2026 — procedures, checklists and templates · €10 →
Accessing the map and understanding its colour code
Since 2026 the geoportail.gouv.fr address redirects to cartes.gouv.fr, “Explorer les cartes”: the link to the “Restrictions UAS catégorie Ouverte et Aéromodélisme” layer opens the map of France with the layer already shown over the aerial photo. The interface is in French: type your address in the search box, then click your take-off point. A pop-up gives the “Limite” (limit: “Vol interdit” = flight prohibited, “Hauteur maximale de vol de 50 m” = maximum flight height 50 m…) and, where relevant, a “Remarque” (remark). The June 2026 edition covers mainland France, French Guiana, the French Antilles, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, Mayotte, Réunion and the Southern Territories. The legend: red, flight prohibited; orange to pale yellow, maximum height 30, 50, 60 or 100 m; hatching, prior notification required for aircraft over 900 g; no colour, no flying above 120 m. Every entry carries an asterisk: “except special conditions published in the Airspace Order of 3 December 2020”.
Large cities appear massively red: central Paris is entirely prohibited (zone P-23), and most urban centres are covered by airport CTRs. An essential reminder: these heights are measured above ground level (AGL) at the drone's position — on a hillside, the reference follows the terrain, not the take-off altitude.
CTR, P, R and D zones: what the restrictions cover
Behind the colours lie different aeronautical realities. CTRs (airport control zones) impose reduced heights in concentric rings around runways: typically 0 m within 2.5 km, then 30, 50 and 100 m further out. P zones (prohibited) ban all overflight: nuclear power plants, prisons, military sites, Paris. R zones (restricted) are off-limits when active — military training areas, very-low-altitude corridors of the RTBA network where fighter jets fly at 150 m above ground and 900 km/h. D zones (danger) flag hazardous activity without a formal ban.
Added to these are the non-aeronautical restrictions built into the map: nature reserves where overflight is limited or prohibited (Calanques, Vanoise, bird sanctuaries), hospital helipads, and localised sensitive sites. The trap with R zones: their activation varies by hour and day. The Géoportail map displays them statically; their actual status on the day must be checked in the aeronautical publications (AIP, SUP AIP and AZBA for the very-low-altitude network).
What the map does not show
First and most important limit: the Géoportail map only covers the open category and model aircraft. It says nothing about what is possible in the specific category — a professional under STS-01 with a protocol may fly where the map shows restrictions, and conversely some scenario conditions can be stricter than the map. Second limit: built-up areas are now drawn in red, with the remark “no flying over public space in built-up areas except as provided by the Airspace Order”, but the official layer description states that their outline is given “for information only”. The real built-up area is what counts: a hamlet or a recent housing estate outside the outline is still covered by the rule.
Third limit: temporary bans do not appear in real time. Temporary restricted zones (ZIT) created for an international summit, a forest fire or an official visit, particularly during major events, are published via SUP AIP and NOTAM. Finally, the map ignores everything relating to ground law: private property, privacy, departmental park rules or municipal orders restricting take-off from certain areas. Flying "in a white Géoportail zone" has never meant flying legally in every respect.
Paris on the drone map: what we found on 13 October 2026
We queried the official layer point by point on 13 October 2026. The answer was “flight prohibited” everywhere in Paris (Notre-Dame, Bois de Boulogne, Bois de Vincennes), in Boulogne-Billancourt, Issy-les-Moulineaux, La Défense, Saint-Denis (Stade de France and basilica), Versailles, at Orly and Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airports and around Disneyland Paris, as well as in the centres of Meaux, Melun, Fontainebleau, Rambouillet, Étampes, Mantes-la-Jolie and Senlis. The first permitted heights appear over farmland: 100 m on a field in Seine-et-Marne, 50 m on a field in Essonne, and hatching (“prior notification above 900 g”) near Courances.
In practice, in the Paris region the map mostly tells you where a hobby flight is possible, away from towns. For professional footage in Paris or the inner suburbs, the route is an authorisation prepared weeks ahead, explained in our guide to flying a drone in Paris and Île-de-France; for Seine-Saint-Denis (Le Bourget, Stade de France), see the drone map of the 93. Need footage near Paris without the paperwork? Registered operators in and near Paris.
The remote pilot's complementary tools
Serious mission preparation cross-checks several sources. For the day's airspace: the SIA (aeronautical information service) publishes the AIP, drone SUP AIPs and NOTAMs; the AZBA chart gives the activation slots of the military very-low-altitude network, a must-check in rural areas crossed by the RTBA. Private apps aggregate this data and make field reading easier, but in the event of an inspection only the official publications are authoritative.
For flights near an aerodrome, the aerodrome's VAC chart shows the circuit patterns to know before requesting any protocol. For terrain elevation and obstacles (high-voltage lines, masts, wind turbines), the IGN layers on Géoportail remain the best free source. Recommended method: check the zone a week ahead to anticipate any agreement request, re-check NOTAMs and AZBA the day before, then keep a dated screenshot of the map in the mission file — valuable evidence of good faith in the event of a dispute.
Case study: preparing a flight on the edge of a large city
A typical example: a drone roof inspection 8 km from a regional airport. On Géoportail, the address falls within an orange "maximum height 50 m" ring of the CTR. First consequence: the flight remains possible in the open category below 50 m if the site is outside the built-up area and off public space; otherwise it moves to STS-01. Second check: a click reveals a hospital helipad 1.2 km away imposing 0 m locally — the edge of that parcel is untouchable. Third check: the day's SUP AIP announces no temporary restricted zone, and the AZBA chart shows the RTBA inactive in the morning.
Operational decision: flight at 45 m maximum, C2 drone in A2 (site staff briefed and the public kept beyond 30 m), no préfecture notification needed outside a populated area, Géoportail screenshot and NOTAMs archived. This funnel reasoning — map, then the day's publications, then ground law — takes ten minutes once practised. It is exactly what your drone provider should be able to walk you through for your site; their ability to do so is an excellent professionalism test before signing a quote.
Frequently asked questions
What is the official drone zone map for France?
It is the DGAC's “Restrictions UAS catégorie Ouverte et Aéromodélisme” layer, published by the IGN: the geoportail.gouv.fr address now redirects to cartes.gouv.fr, “Explorer les cartes”, with the layer already on. It is free, needs no sign-up, and shows for each point the maximum height allowed in the open category, or a flight ban.
What do the colours on the Géoportail drone map mean?
Red: no flying (maximum height 0 m). Orange and yellow: height capped at 30, 50, 60 or 100 m depending on the zone. Hatching: prior notification required for aircraft over 900 g. No colour: the open category's general 120 m ceiling. Clicking a spot shows its limit (“Limite”) and any remark (“Remarque”).
Does an area with no colour on the Géoportail mean I can fly there?
Not necessarily. Built-up area outlines are indicative only (the rule follows the real built-up area), temporary restrictions published by NOTAM are not shown, nor are ground rules (private property, municipal orders, reserves not on the map). Cross-check the map with those three.
Can I fly a drone in Paris?
Not for leisure: central Paris is prohibited area P 23, red on the map. Only a professional operator holding a specific authorisation may fly there, case by case and with several weeks of preparation.