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- Week 1 ·
No town-hall registration: check your residence status
France has no residence registration at the town hall. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens can live here beyond 3 months without a residence permit; a residence card is optional. If you came with a long-stay visa that counts as a residence permit (VLS-TS), validate it online within 3 months of arrival and pay the tax that comes on top of the visa fee. If your visa says “carte de séjour à solliciter dans les 2 mois suivant l'arrivée”, you apply at the préfecture instead. Then go through the city's moving checklist.
EU/EEA citizens: right of residence (service-public F2651) · Long-stay visa (service-public F16162) · Validate your VLS-TS (service-public R52684) · ANEF, online portal for foreigners · Moving to Nantes checklist (Nantes Métropole)
- Week 1 ·
Naolib tickets for tram, bus and Navibus
A Ticket 1h costs €1.80, ten cost €17.80 and a Ticket 24h €6.80 (fares as of October 2026). Buy them as mTickets in the Naolib app, online, at machines at tram and busway stops or in 120 Relais Naolib shops. The monthly ticket costs €67 from age 26 (€40 under 26) and goes on a personal carte nominative: from 26 you get it at the Espace Mobilité (2 allée Brancas, Commerce stop, Mon–Fri 9:30–18:00, Sat 9:30–17:30) or a Relais Naolib. On a low income, ask about the solidarity fare.
Naolib tickets and prices · Points of sale · Solidarity fare
- Week 1 ·
Phone: SIM or eSIM
With an EU mobile plan, calls, texts and data in France cost the same as at home under “roam like at home”, so you can keep your number for the first weeks. Once you take a French plan and want to keep a French number when switching operator, call 3179 from that phone to get your 12-character RIO code and give it to the new operator: it cancels the old contract for you, and porting takes at least 3 working days. ARCEP, the telecom regulator, explains your rights.
- Week 1 ·
Safety basics
Save 112, the European emergency number, plus 15 (SAMU, medical emergencies), 17 (police) and 18 (fire brigade); 114 is the emergency number for deaf and hard-of-hearing people. The city's Maison de la Tranquillité Publique answers on 02 40 41 99 99. Lost something on Naolib or in the street? The city's lost-property desk is at the main town hall, 29 rue de Strasbourg, Mon–Fri 13:00–17:30, or call AlloNantes on 02 40 41 90 00, the only official number for it.
Emergency numbers (Nantes Métropole) · Emergency numbers list (ARCEP) · Lost property (Ville de Nantes)
- Weeks 1–2 ·
Health insurance (PUMa)
If you work or live in France in a stable and regular way, the universal health cover (PUMa) pays for your health care. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens only need an ID card or passport; others need a residence permit or document. If you work, you are covered as soon as your application is accepted; if you don't, you must wait 3 months after arriving. You apply to the Assurance Maladie (CPAM) with the form “Demander l'ouverture des droits à l'Assurance maladie”.
- Weeks 1–2 ·
Your first weekend: free things
Trams, buses and Navibus are free every weekend, from Saturday 00:00 to Sunday 23:59, so you can explore without a ticket (except the airport shuttle). The Château des ducs de Bretagne courtyard and ramparts are free every day, 8:30–19:00, and its museum is free on the first Sunday of the month except July and August. The Musée d'arts is free on Thursday evenings 19:00–21:00 and also on first Sundays (closed 1 November). Then pick a free outing in the city's agenda.
Free weekend transport (Naolib) · Château: hours · Château: free entry · Musée d'arts: prices and free entry · What's on in Nantes
- Weeks 3–4 ·
Your first plan to meet people
The library card is free for everyone and lets you borrow 15 items; bring an ID. Every week outside school holidays, the médiathèques hold free French conversation groups with no sign-up, for example at Jacques Demy on Tuesdays at 17:30. Sign up for the city's “Bienvenue à Nantes” welcome scheme to get information and an invitation to its yearly evening for new residents, or drop in at your maison de quartier. Or go to one of the events below: they are picked because it is easy to go alone and talk to people.
Library card · French conversation groups · Bienvenue à Nantes (new residents) · Maisons de quartier
Rules change: always confirm on the official page before you go.
This week in Nantes
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