F-LAN is a geospatial data set that documents hundreds of coastal lights that guided ships around France from medieval times to 1929. F-LAN provides visibility range for individual lights. The authors collected all data from scholarly literature, historical coastal navigational charts, and official lighthouse surveys. F-LAN allows users to track the provision of coastal lighting over time. It complements the existing LAN dataset for England and Wales. Thanks to F-LAN it is now possible to map and analyse light coverage for France over two centuries. It can be used to analyse coastal routing, infrastructure investment and the relationship between accidents and the provision of light in any given area.