The cheapest way to park in Nantes is a Naolib park-and-ride: the P+R ticket costs €4.50 and covers 24 hours of parking plus a return trip by tram or bus for up to five people, and at weekends it is free. In the centre you pay €2.60 per hour on the street in the red zone, or €3.40 per hour and €21.60 for 24 hours in a covered car park. This guide covers the 2026 tariffs, the park-and-ride sites by line, the central car parks, the limited-traffic zone (ZTL) and the low-emission zone.
Do you need a car? Not in Nantes itself. For the coast at La Baule and Pornic, the Muscadet vineyards or Puy du Fou you do: compare prices at Nantes Airport on DiscoverCars and check motorway costs with our France toll calculator.
Nantes pushes visiting drivers towards three choices. You can leave the car at a Naolib park-and-ride on a tram or busway line, pay for a street bay in the red or yellow zone, or drive into one of the covered car parks in the centre. Naolib is the brand of the public transport and parking network of Nantes Métropole; the central car parks are run for it by NGE. Two rules affect where you can drive: a limited-traffic zone (ZTL) on Cours des 50-Otages and a low-emission zone (ZFE) inside the ring road.
Planning your trip: do you need a car?
Tick what applies and we’ll tell you if a rental is worth it.
| Option | Price in 2026 | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Park-and-ride with barrier (20 sites) | €4.50 P+R ticket | 24 hours of parking plus a return trip for up to 5 people; free on Saturdays and Sundays |
| Park-and-ride, open access (most of the 62 sites) | Free | No barrier, open day and night |
| Street, red zone (centre) | €2.60 for 1 hour, €5.30 for 2 hours | Mon–Sat 9:00–19:00; €0.50 per hour between 12:00 and 14:00 |
| Street, yellow zone | €1.60 for 1 hour, €3.10 for 2 hours | Mon–Sat 9:00–12:00 and 14:00–19:00 |
| Covered car parks in the centre | €3.40 for 1 hour, €21.60 for 24 hours | At most €3.80 for the whole night (19:00–8:00) |
| Airport, Eco car parks P7–P9 | €29.10 for 12–24 hours | €78.10 for 6–7 days |
Nantes Métropole lists 62 park-and-ride sites (P+R) on its tram, busway, bus, river-shuttle and regional train lines. Most have no barrier and are simply free. Twenty have access control, and there the rules are these:
| Who | What you pay | Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Occasional visitor, Monday to Friday | €4.50 | Take a P+R ticket at the entrance. It covers up to 24 hours of parking and one outward and one return journey of an hour each, for up to 5 people travelling together |
| Anyone, Saturday and Sunday | Free | Public transport is free at weekends; take the P+R ticket and validate it on the way out and on the way back, and nothing is charged at the exit |
| Holder of a Naolib or LiberTan pass with a subscription | Free | Up to 24 hours, pass validated on the network |
| Driver who continues by bike | Free | Own bike or a Naolib self-service bike |
Parking at a barrier-controlled P+R is limited to 24 hours. From the 25th hour you pay hourly rates, so these car parks do not work as cheap multi-day parking. The P+R ticket is not valid on the airport shuttle.
| Line | Park-and-ride sites with access control |
|---|---|
| Tram 1 | François Mitterrand, Haluchère 1 and 2, La Beaujoire, Ranzay, Babinière |
| Tram 2 | Le Cardo, Recteur Schmitt |
| Tram 3 | Huit Mai, Marcel Paul, Neustrie, Orvault-Morlière |
| Busway 4 | Bourdonnières, Gréneraie, Porte de Vertou |
| Other lines | Bas-Chantenay (C1), Duguay Trouin and Prairie de Mauves (C3), Estuaire (C20), Trentemoult-Sablières (Navibus) |
Paid street parking in Nantes has two colours. The red zone covers the centre and is charged Monday to Saturday from 9:00 to 19:00, with a ten-hour maximum. The yellow zone surrounds it and is charged Monday to Saturday from 9:00 to 12:00 and from 14:00 to 19:00, with an eight-hour maximum. Prices rise steeply with the length of stay, so the street only makes sense for short stops.
| Duration | Red zone | Yellow zone |
|---|---|---|
| 15 minutes | €0.50 | €0.30 |
| 30 minutes | €1.20 | €0.80 |
| 1 hour | €2.60 | €1.60 |
| 2 hours | €5.30 | €3.10 |
| 3 hours | €8.00 | €5.50 |
| 4 hours | €13.00 | €8.00 |
| 8 hours | €39.00 | €40.00 (maximum stay) |
| 10 hours | €50.00 (maximum stay) | Not allowed |
In the red zone a lunchtime rate applies between 12:00 and 14:00: €0.50 for one hour and €1 for two. You pay at the meter (coins everywhere, bank cards in the red zone) or with the PayByPhone app. If you do not pay, the city issues a post-parking charge (forfait de post-stationnement) instead of a fine; Naolib does not publish its amount on the tariff page.
The Naolib car parks in the centre share one tariff, in force since 1 January 2026. By day (8:00–19:00) you pay €3.40 for one hour, €5.70 for two, €7.70 for three, €8.80 for four and €13.70 for nine hours. At night (19:00–8:00) the price is capped at €3.80, however long you stay. A 24-hour pass with multiple entries and exits costs €21.60.
| Car park | Address | Spaces | Max height |
|---|---|---|---|
| Graslin | Rue Louis Préaubert | 484 | 1.80 m |
| Commerce | Allée de la Bourse | 433 | 1.80 m |
| Decré-Bouffay | Rue du Moulin | 511 | 1.80 m |
| Cathédrale | Rue Sully and Rue Tournefort | 382 | 2.00 m |
The same tariff family also covers Aristide Briand, Cité des Congrès, Feydeau, Médiathèque, Talensac and Tour Bretagne. Gates close late in the evening (Graslin at 23:00, for example), but you can always get back in with your ticket. The open-air car parks with barriers, such as Gloriette, are dearer for long stays: €3.10 for one hour and €9 for three.
A private car park on Rue Arsène Leloup, a short walk west of Place Graslin, bookable online through Parclick.
Handy if you are catching a train or collecting someone from the south exit of Nantes station.
On Rue Gambetta beside the botanical garden, a few minutes on foot from the north exit of the station and the castle.
On Boulevard Gaston Doumergue on the Île de Nantes, the island where the mechanical elephant and the Machines de l’île are.
The limited-traffic zone (zone à trafic limité, ZTL) of Nantes is small: it covers Cours des 50-Otages, the boulevard that crosses the centre from north to south, and the adjacent streets. Driving there without an authorisation or a badge is forbidden, and the city states that an offence can cost €35. Access is reserved for authorised users such as residents, delivery drivers with proof of delivery and public transport. The ZTL has nothing to do with the engine or the Crit’Air sticker of your car, so a new rental car has no more right to enter than an old one.
Since 1 January 2025 Nantes has had a low-emission zone covering everything inside the ring road (périphérique). It is one of the mildest in France. Only vehicles too old to obtain a Crit’Air sticker are affected, for example cars first registered before 1 January 1997, and only at peak hours: Monday to Friday from 7:00 to 9:00 and from 16:00 to 19:00, except public holidays. Cars with any Crit’Air sticker, from 0 to 5, may drive at all times. The sticker costs €3.81 on the official French site; Nantes Métropole warns against intermediary sites that charge more. The city’s page does not state the amount of the fine.
The airport publishes one tariff brochure for 2026. Prices below are the drive-up rates; online bookings are priced separately and vary with demand.
| Car park | 12–24 hours | 6–7 days | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eco P7, P8, P9 (open air) | €29.10 | €78.10 | Recommended for long stays |
| Proximité P2, P4, P5, P6 (open air) | €43.40 | €122.80 | First 20 minutes free in P5 |
| Proximité P3 (mostly covered) | €43.40 | €122.80 | First 20 minutes free |
| P1 (covered, direct access to the terminal) | €46.10 | €156.30 | Closest to check-in |
| Drop-off (dépose-minute) | First 10 minutes free | Not for long stays | Then €2.30 per 10 minutes |
Private valet operators near the airport can also be booked through Parclick, for example Blue Valet at Nantes Atlantique, from €39 for one day.
Nantes parking cost estimator
Pre-filled with the price of a park-and-ride ticket (€4.50 per day, return trip for up to five people included). For a covered car park in the centre, enter €21.60, the price of the 24-hour pass.
A park-and-ride ticket costs €4.50 for 24 hours of parking and a return trip by tram or bus for up to five people. On the street you pay €2.60 per hour in the red zone and €1.60 in the yellow zone. Covered car parks in the centre charge €3.40 for one hour and €21.60 for 24 hours.
Most of the 62 park-and-ride sites have no barrier and are free. At the 20 sites with access control an occasional visitor pays €4.50 on weekdays. On Saturdays and Sundays these sites are free too, as long as you validate your P+R ticket on public transport.
No. The P+R ticket at Le Cardo and the other barrier-controlled sites costs €4.50. It includes 24 hours of parking and a return journey for up to five people travelling together.
Yes. Street parking is free on Sundays and public holidays, except in the streets around the Talensac market on Sunday mornings from 9:00 to 13:00. Park-and-ride sites and public transport are free all weekend.
A limited-traffic zone on Cours des 50-Otages and the adjacent streets in the centre. You may not drive there without an authorisation or a badge, whatever your car. The city states that an offence can cost €35.
Any car that can obtain a Crit’Air sticker may drive in Nantes at all times. The low-emission zone only bans unclassified vehicles, such as cars first registered before 1997, on weekdays from 7:00 to 9:00 and from 16:00 to 19:00.
Commerce, Graslin and Decré-Bouffay are the most central Naolib car parks and share one tariff: €3.40 for one hour, €8.80 for four hours and €21.60 for 24 hours. Check the height limit of 1.80 m; Cathédrale accepts vehicles up to 2 m.
Street bays are free from 19:00 to 9:00. In the covered Naolib car parks the night rate from 19:00 to 8:00 is capped at €3.80.
According to the airport’s 2026 tariff, 12 to 24 hours cost €29.10 in the Eco car parks P7 to P9, €43.40 in the Proximité car parks and €46.10 in the covered P1. A week in an Eco car park costs €78.10.
Not for the city: trams and the busway cover the centre, the station and the Île de Nantes. A car is useful for the Atlantic coast, the Muscadet vineyards, Guérande and Puy du Fou.
See also: Parking in France (all cities)
