Munich

The Lycée français Jean-Renoir, directly managed by the AEFE, teaches from nursery to the final year on two campuses (Giesing for primary, Sendling for secondary); enrolment goes through the Eduka platform and, for nursery, a pre-registration on kita finder+. Bavarian state school is free and allocated by address, but everything happens in German and Grundschule lasts only four years. Our School fees page details the costs: /en/cities/munich/school-fees/.

All children who turn 6 by 30 September are of compulsory school age and enrolled at their catchment Grundschule; those born between 1 July and 30 September benefit from a 'corridor' allowing parents to defer entry by a year, by notifying the school in writing before 10 April. Children with little German are offered a Vorkurs Deutsch from Kita onwards.

Yes, it is compulsory for everyone living in Germany, but children are insured free of charge with the parent contributing to a public health fund (Familienversicherung), in principle until 18. With the insurance card you pay nothing at the doctor's, and under-18s are exempt from co-payments on medicines. It is all explained on our Health page: /en/cities/munich/health/.

As in France, the Kinderarzt is seen without referral; the official directory arztsuche.116117.de lists them by district, and you should call early as Munich practices take few new patients. The French embassy publishes a list of French-speaking doctors in Bavaria, with two paediatricians, GPs, dentists, speech therapists and therapists in Munich, which we reproduce on our Health page: /en/cities/munich/health/.

112 only for a life-threatening emergency. For everything else, 116 117, free and open 24/7, directs you to the on-call doctor, who can visit, or to the nearest paediatric Bereitschaftspraxis. The children's hospitals in Schwabing, Harlaching, Dritter Orden and the Haunersches Kinderspital have children's emergency units open day and night.

French families follow the lycée: Giesing and Harlaching near the nursery and primary campus, Sendling and the Westpark near the secondary one, and the green south from Thalkirchen to Solln, home to many French residents. Neuperlach is more affordable, Neuhausen and Haidhausen livelier, Schwabing and Bogenhausen pricier. Our Settling in page reviews the neighbourhoods: /en/cities/munich/settling-in/.

In order: the residence registration (Anmeldung) at the Bürgerbüro or online within 14 days, with the landlord's confirmation; a health fund for the whole family; a bank account; registration with a Kinderarzt and on kita finder+; the broadcasting fee; then the French consular register, online and free, and the Kindergeld application once the tax numbers arrive by post. Details on /en/cities/munich/settling-in/.

Up to and including age 5, they travel free across the whole MVV when accompanied; from 6 to 14 they pay the children's fare and a Kinder-Tageskarte covers the day on the whole network. From school age, the 365-Euro-Ticket gives them a year of travel for one euro a day, paid by the City subject to the distance between home and school. Parents' monthly passes let you take up to three children free on weekdays from 9 am.

In Munich, every application for a place in a Krippe (under 3), Kindergarten (3 to 6) or Hort goes through the single kita finder+ portal, for municipal and non-profit providers alike; register as soon as you have an address, as September places are decided in spring. The Lycée Jean-Renoir nursery also requires this pre-registration. Alongside, Tagesmütter (registered childminders) and au pairs complete the offer, and Kindergeld of 259 € per month per child helps fund childcare.

Very well, and faster than you: Kitas assess language level and offer a Vorkurs Deutsch before school, and Bavarian schools are used to children arriving from abroad. At the Lycée Jean-Renoir, German is taught from nursery. The real challenge then becomes keeping French when school is German: AFLM classes, the children's corner of the Institut français médiathèque, the French-speaking parish. Our addresses are on /en/cities/munich/family-outings/.

For housing, yes: rents are the highest in Germany and the reference rent rose another 5.5% between 2023 and 2025. The rest largely compensates: Kindergeld of 259 € per month per child, Elterngeld for a year after a birth, free state school, one-euro museums on Sundays, free transport before 6 and health insurance with no upfront costs. Our Settling in page details the budget line by line: /en/cities/munich/settling-in/.

Munich Accueil holds a welcome coffee twice a month at the Oberpollinger and a back-to-school coffee at the French school in Giesing, and runs clubs, hikes and visits all year. The lycée school gates, APELM, the French-speaking parish, the Atout Chœur choir and the Facebook groups of French people in Munich do the rest; lepetitjournal.com Munich lists the week's events.