This study aimed to assess: 1) vaccine hesitancy (VH) prevalence among French general practitioners (GPs) through the frequency of their vaccine recommendations, and 2) the determinants of these recommendations. Cross-sectional observational study in 2014 nested in a national panel of 1712 randomly selected GPs in private practice in France. We constructed a score of self-reported recommendation frequency for 6 specific vaccines to target populations. 16% to 43% of GPs sometimes or never recommended at least one specific vaccine to their target patients. Multivariable logistic regressions of the dichotomized score showed that GPs recommended vaccines frequently when they felt comfortable explaining their benefits and risks to patients (OR=1.87; 1.35–2.59), or trusted official sources of information highly (OR=1.40; 1.01–1.93). They recommended vaccines infrequently when they considered that adverse effects were likely (OR=0.71; 0.52–0.96) or doubted the vaccine's utility (OR=0.21; 0.15–0.29). Our findings show that after repeated vaccine controversies in France, some VH exists among French GPs, whose recommendation behaviors depend on their trust in authorities, their perception of the utility and risks of vaccines, and their comfort in explaining them. Further research is needed to confirm these results among health care workers in other countries. •We assessed attitudes and behaviours of French GPs for 6 vaccine situations for which coverage in France is suboptimal.•The variation of vaccine recommendations according to vaccine suggests the existence of vaccine hesitancy among GPs.•GPs’ beliefs about vaccine risks and trust in health authorities are linked to vaccine hesitancy for controversial vaccines.•Vaccine hesitancy is also related to GPs' beliefs about vaccines’ utility, regardless of whether they are controversial.