Nancy
France
An eighteenth-century square with gilded gates, and the city that gave France its Art Nouveau
Photo by Pavol Svantner on Unsplash
Photos by Florian K., Julius Yls, Noureddine BOUABDALLAH and Dwain Norsa on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of France
May to September (the Saint-Nicolas festival in early winter is the other reason to come)
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 80mm in Dec
Where it is
48.69°N, 6.18°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
A week easily- See Place Stanislas twice: in the morning, empty, and on a summer evening for the projection
- Book Villa Majorelle ahead; visits are timed and small
- Walk the Art Nouveau houses of the Saurupt park and the streets near the station with a map from the tourist office
- Buy bergamotes and macarons from the shops on Rue Gambetta and around the square, and compare
- Take the train to Metz for a day, which is a different city with a different history
Nancy travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget France
Mid-rangeEuro, and cards everywhere, contactless included. The Saint-Nicolas market stalls are the one place a few notes help.
ATMs & cards
Bank machines — Crédit Agricole, BNP Paribas, Société Générale, La Banque Postale — are all over the centre and around the station. Refuse the conversion when the screen offers it.
Avoid these
- Euronet
- standalone machines in shops and tourist streets
Use these instead
- Crédit Agricole
- BNP Paribas
- Société Générale
- La Banque Postale
French bank machines are normally free on their side for foreign cards. Refuse the conversion offer.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of France
Very safeVery comfortable, and the centre is busy with students into the evening. The usual care around the station late at night, and on the bar streets as they close at the weekend. Nothing beyond that.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (6 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- the station forecourt late at night — the usual quiet edge of a French station, and nothing worse
- Rue des Maréchaux and the Grande Rue at closing time — weekend student crowds, noise and the odd scuffle
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa France visa rules
No visa needed
Freedom of movement — no time limit, and no visa. Bring a passport or national ID card.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 90 days
90 days within any 180-day period, counted across the whole Schengen area, not per country. ETIAS, a paid online authorisation, is being introduced for these passports — check the official link for whether it applies to your travel dates.
Visa required in advance€90 (Schengen short-stay visa)
A Schengen short-stay visa is applied for before travel, at the consulate of your main destination.
How to get it: Apply at the consulate or visa centre of the country you will spend most time in, typically 15 working days ahead and no more than six months before travel.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of France
Excellent and cheapRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
Getting treated
EU/EEA and Swiss visitors are treated on the same terms as residents with an EHIC or GHIC card; UK visitors use a GHIC. Everyone else pays, and travel insurance is worth having for the repatriation cover rather than the treatment.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
GoodQuiche lorraine without cheese, as locals will point out; pâté lorrain in pastry; mirabelle plums in tarts, jam and eau-de-vie, and fresh only for a few weeks at the end of summer. Nancy’s own sweets are the bergamote, a flat amber boiled sweet, and the macaron, a cracked almond biscuit that has nothing to do with the Paris kind. The baba au rhum is claimed for Stanislas’s kitchen; the story is better than the evidence.
Travel tipsGetting around
Easy- UberWorks here
- BoltWorks here
- G7Works here
- FREE NOWWorks here
G7 the taxi fleet, by app
- Against a taxi
- Much the same. The flat airport rate is a taxi rule and the apps price against it.
Time zone and your working day
Europe/Paris — 6 hours ahead of you
2 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–11:00 your time, 15:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 03:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 03:00–11:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
eSIM
A data eSIM for France, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:
Works here
Works hereRevolutIn the app
Must-see
Travel tipsNearby day trips
Travel tipsSay a few words
French
- HelloBonjourbon-ZHOOR
- PleaseS'il vous plaîtseel voo PLEH
- Thank youMercimer-SEE
- Yes / NoOui / Nonwee / non
4 more phrases
- Excuse meExcusez-moiex-koo-zay MWA
- How much is it?C'est combien ?say com-BYEN
- The bill, pleaseL'addition, s'il vous plaîtla-dee-SYON
- Cheers!Santé !son-TAY
Open with bonjour before anything else. Launching straight into a question without it reads as rude, and explains a lot of reputed French coldness.
Travel tipsReligion
Catholic, and strictly secular
Laïcité is a constitutional principle: religion is kept out of public institutions, and conspicuous religious symbols are banned in state schools. Cover shoulders in cathedrals.
Travel tipsDo's and don'ts
Do
- Say bonjour before anything else, every single time you enter a shop
- Keep your voice down in restaurants and on public transport
- Keep both hands visible on the table while eating, wrists on the edge
- Dress a notch smarter than you would at home — it changes how you are treated
Don't
- Do not ask for a doggy bag or substitutions; the dish arrives as the kitchen intends
- Do not start with English without at least attempting bonjour, parlez-vous anglais
- Do not tip more than rounding up — service is included by law
- Do not eat while walking; it reads as slightly uncivilised
Where to stay in Nancy
No Holistay rentals in Nancy yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Nancy on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Paris Charles de Gaulle CDG
3hfrom the airport· 268 km as the crow flies
About 3h: RER B to Gare du Nord, a short walk to Gare de l’Est, then the TGV, 1h30.
Also worth pricing: Luxembourg LUX — bus to Luxembourg station, then a direct regional train to Nancy; about two hours.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
