An Evening Walk In Nantes
Place Royale, the lit Passage Pommeraye, dinner in Bouffay and the Loire riverbank after dark.
Nantes at night
Nantes Travel Guide: What To See, Where To Stay And How To Get There
A castle of the Dukes of Brittany, a giant mechanical elephant and a covered shopping arcade from 1843, all on the Loire and all within a tram ride.
The Loire Right Now
3.76 m at the Pont Anne de Bretagne gauge
Is Nantes Worth Visiting?
Yes. The castle museum, the partly reopened cathedral, Les Machines de l'île and a free riverside memorial fill two to three days comfortably. Prices run lower than in Paris, and the tram network makes a car unnecessary.
How Many Days In Nantes? One, Two And Three Day Plans
One day covers the castle, the arcade and the machines, all inside a few tram stops. A second day adds the river and Trentemoult, a third the vineyards or the coast.
1Morning
Château des Ducs de Bretagne
Walk the free courtyard and ramparts first, then decide whether the history museum inside is worth 9 euros.
Free Courtyard2Late Morning
Passage Pommeraye
A three-level arcade built in 1843 on a slope, a short walk from the cathedral and the shops of Graslin.
Free3Afternoon
Les Machines de l'Île
The Grand Éléphant, the Galerie and the Carrousel share one 12 euro tariff per attraction on the Île de Nantes.
12 €4Evening
The Green Line Along the Loire
A painted line about 20 km long links the city's sights and public artworks. Join it anywhere and leave it when you like.
FreeThings To Do In Nantes: The Sights That Matter
Eight places that earn the trip, with what each one gives you and what it costs to get in.
Courtyard Free
Château des Ducs de BretagneRamparts, a courtyard and a history museum in the castle of Anne of Brittany.
From 12 €
Les Machines de l'ÎleA giant walking elephant, a mechanical gallery and a marine carrousel.
Free
Passage PommerayeA three-floor arcade from 1843 with a grand staircase.
Free
Nantes CathedralGothic nave, partly reopened after the 2020 fire.
Free
Jardin des PlantesGreenhouses, a playground and perennial borders by the station.
9 €
Musée d'Arts de NantesFine art, open until 21:00 on Thursdays.
Free
Mémorial de l'Abolition de l'EsclavageA riverside memorial to Nantes and the slave trade.
4 €
Musée Jules VerneThe writer's birthplace, told in a small museum.
Nantes Neighbourhoods: Bouffay, Graslin, Île De Nantes And Trentemoult
Bouffay is the pedestrian old town around the château and the cathedral. Graslin is the theatre square beside the Passage Pommeraye. The Île de Nantes holds the Machines and the Hangar à Bananes, and Trentemoult is a former fishing village on the south bank, reached by Navibus river shuttle.
Bouffay · Graslin · Île de Nantes · Trentemoult · Île Feydeau · Butte Sainte-Anne
602 traveller reviewsacross 23 checked tours
From $10cheapest paid tour today
Prices checkedagainst the booking page, refreshed monthly
Nantes Tours Worth Booking
Twenty-three tours and tickets cover Nantes, from a city pass to a Muscadet tasting. Three quick questions sort them into a shortlist for your dates.
This is a starting shortlist of well-reviewed picks, not the full list. Tap an answer below to rebuild it around your plans.
- CityPass, 24 Hours to 7 Days from $34.44 ★ 4.3 375 Check availability
- 2.5-5 Hour Estuary Cruise 2.5 - 5 hours from $32 ★ 4.6 36 Check availability
- Electric Bike Panoramic Tour 2.5 hours from $55 ★ 4.8 34 Check availability
- 10-Minute Jet-Ski Session 10 minutes from €35 ★ 4.8 31 Check availability
- Smartphone Alchemy Quest, No Guide from $22.04 ★ 4.2 26 Check availability
- Self-Guided App Tour, 35 Stops self-paced, 35 stops from $9.99 ★ 4.5 21 Check availability
- Sensory Muscadet Tasting from $39 ★ 4.8 20 Check availability
- 1-Hour Family Estate Tasting 1 hour from $20 ★ 4.9 16 Check availability
- Jules Verne Outdoor Escape Game from $27.51 ★ 4.6 16 Check availability
- Private Custom Walk, 2-8 Hours 2 to 8 hours from $54.49 ★ 4.3 12 Check availability
- Half-Day Vineyard Van Tour from $149.31 ★ 4.8 5 Check availability
- Private Walk, Professional Guide Price not published by the operator ★ 5 4 Check availability
- Surprise Walk With a Local from $146.61 ★ 5 3 Check availability
- 60-Minute Local Walk 1 hour from $93.40 ★ 5 1 Check availability
- Escape Game With Game Master from $20.66 ★ 5 1 Check availability
- Photo Spots Walk With Local from $93.64 ★ 4 1 Check availability
- Machines of the Isle Tickets Price not published by the operator Check availability
- Chateau des Ducs, Museum Entry Price not published by the operator Check availability
- Cathedral Guided Visit Options Price not published by the operator Check availability
- Fine Arts Museum Entry Price not published by the operator Check availability
- 10-Hour Clisson & Trentemoult Day 10 hours from $258.21 Check availability
- Glass-Roofed Arcade Visit Price not published by the operator Check availability
- Photoshoot, 30 Min to 1 Hour 30 minutes to 1 hour from $170 Check availability
Things To Do In Nantes With Kids
A mechanical elephant, a carrousel under the sea and a botanical garden with a playground.
Les Machines de l'ÎleChildren aged 4 to 12 pay 8 euros per attraction.
Carrousel des Mondes MarinsA three-level ride among sea creatures on the Île de Nantes.
Jardin des PlantesFree greenhouses and a playground in the city centre.
Nantes With KidsA two-to-three day plan built around the family sights.
Things To Do In Nantes When It Rains
Museums carry a wet day, and a city pass covers several of them.
Musée d'Arts de NantesA full gallery morning, open to 21:00 on Thursdays.
Passage PommerayeA covered arcade you can cross without an umbrella.
Rainy Day PlanIndoor stops ordered so you do not backtrack.
Things To Do In Nantes At Night
The old town for dinner, a lit arcade, then the Loire or a ferry across to Trentemoult.
Nantes At NightPlace Royale, dinner in Bouffay and the river after dark.
Place RoyaleThe fountain square at the foot of the pedestrian centre.
Rooftop BarsDrinks above the roofs of the city.
TrentemoultA Navibus ferry ride to the night skyline from the south bank.
Things To Do In Nantes In Winter
Museums stay open, the temperature sits around 6 to 10 degrees, and a Christmas market fills the centre.
Christmas MarketStalls in the old town from late November.
Museums in NantesThe château museum, the Musée d'Arts and the Musée Jules Verne.
Nantes in WinterWhat stays open and what to pack.
Free Things To Do In Nantes
The château courtyard, the cathedral, the Jardin des Plantes and the riverside memorial cost nothing, and the whole tram and bus network is free every weekend.
What To Eat In Nantes
Beurre blanc over river fish, Muscadet to go with it, buckwheat crêpes and the sweets Nantes has made since the 1800s.
Crêperies
Savoury buckwheat galettes and sweet crêpes, usually with cider.
Beurre Blanc And Muscadet
The whisked butter sauce of Nantes, made with shallots and Muscadet.
Berlingots And Petit Beurre
Striped boiled sweets and the biscuit LU first baked here in 1886.
An Evening Walk In Nantes
Place Royale, the lit Passage Pommeraye, dinner in Bouffay and the Loire riverbank after dark.
Nantes at night
Map Of Nantes
Loading the map. Every place is also listed below.
Click the map to zoom with the scroll wheel. Numbers match the list.
- Château des ducs de BretagneThe Château des ducs de Bretagne, where most first days start
- Les Machines de l'ÎleLandmark · 1.6 km from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- Carrousel des Mondes MarinsLandmark · 1.8 km from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- Passage PommerayeLandmark · 820 m from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- Le Lieu UniqueLandmark · 290 m from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- Tour BretagneLandmark · 690 m from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- Place RoyaleLandmark · 730 m from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- Théâtre GraslinLandmark · 1 km from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- Hangar à BananesLandmark · 2.5 km from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- Anneaux de BurenLandmark · 2.3 km from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- Halles de TalensacLandmark · 860 m from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- Stade de la BeaujoireLandmark · 4.8 km from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- Erdre RiverLandmark · 680 m from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- Cathédrale Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-PaulCathedral or Church · 260 m from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- Basilique Saint-NicolasCathedral or Church · 640 m from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- Musée d'Arts de NantesMuseum · 400 m from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- Jules Verne MuseumMuseum · 2.7 km from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- Mémorial de l'abolition de l'esclavageMuseum · 1.4 km from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- Natural History MuseumMuseum · 1.2 km from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- Planétarium de NantesMuseum · 2.6 km from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- Musée DobréeMuseum · 1.4 km from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- Maillé BrézéMuseum · 2 km from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- Le ChronographeMuseum · 2.9 km from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- Jardin des PlantesPark · 630 m from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- Île de VersaillesPark · 1.2 km from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- Parc de ProcéPark · 2.7 km from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- Nantes Atlantique AirportLandmark · 7.6 km from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- Gare de NantesLandmark · 1.5 km from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- BouffayNeighbourhood · 340 m from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- Île de NantesNeighbourhood · 1.4 km from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- TrentemoultNeighbourhood · 3.5 km from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- Île FeydeauNeighbourhood · 80 m from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- GraslinNeighbourhood · 1 km from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
- Butte Sainte-Anne, ChantenayNeighbourhood · 2.7 km from Château des Ducs de Bretagne
Best Day Trips From Nantes: Clisson, Guérande And The Atlantic Coast
Clisson is a 15 to 23 minute TER ride away. Guérande, La Baule and Pornic are the coast, and the Muscadet vineyards start just south-east of the city.
Getting To Nantes: Airport, TGV And Trams
Direct TGV trains run from Paris Montparnasse about 24 times a day each way. From Nantes Atlantique Airport the shuttle costs 10 euros one way and takes roughly 20 minutes to the city. In town, three tram lines carry a 1.80 euro one-hour ticket, and trams and buses are free every weekend.
Paris to Nantes · Airport to the city · Trams and buses · Pass Nantes
Best Time To Visit Nantes: Loire Levels And Weather By Month
Tap a month. Figures are 1991 to 2020 Météo-France climate normals for the Nantes-Bouguenais weather station.
Nantes packs more sunshine into August alone (232.6 hours) than it gets across all of November and December combined (168.9 hours), the Meteo-France normals for Nantes-Bouguenais show.
- Monthly rainfall (mm)
- Mean temperature (°C)
| Month | Mean temp | Rainfall |
|---|---|---|
| January | 6.4°C | 87.9 mm |
| February | 6.7°C | 67.5 mm |
| March | 9.2°C | 58.4 mm |
| April | 11.4°C | 58.3 mm |
| May | 14.7°C | 61 mm |
| June | 17.8°C | 48.5 mm |
| July | 19.7°C | 44.2 mm |
| August | 19.8°C | 50.3 mm |
| September | 17.1°C | 59.5 mm |
| October | 13.5°C | 88.8 mm |
| November | 9.4°C | 94.1 mm |
| December | 6.7°C | 101 mm |
Data: Meteo-France, station Nantes-Bouguenais (44020001), 1991-2020 normals, Meteo-France, station Nantes-Bouguenais (44020001), 1991-2020 normals.
Where To Stay In Nantes
Pick the quarter first. Bouffay puts the castle and the cathedral on foot, Graslin is the theatre and shopping quarter, and the Île de Nantes sits beside the Machines.
Bouffay
Best For A First VisitThe château, the cathedral and the pedestrian lanes are all within a few minutes on foot.
- Cœur du BouffayApartmentCheck rates
- Au Pas de BouffayApartmentCheck rates
Graslin
Best For Dining And ShopsAn opera-house square beside the Passage Pommeraye and the Commerce tram hub.
- Best Western GraslinHotelCheck rates
- Hôtel Voltaire OpéraHotelCheck rates
- Mercure Passage PommerayeHotelCheck rates
Île de Nantes
Best For FamiliesThe Machines de l'île and the Hangar à Bananes sit on the island.
- Eklo Île de NantesHotelCheck rates
- Mer & Golf City Île de NantesAparthotelCheck rates
What Is Nantes Famous For?
1
Dukes Of Brittany
Anne of Brittany was born in the château in 1477, and the Edict of Nantes was signed here in 1598.
2
Les Machines De L'Île
A walking Grand Éléphant and a marine carrousel, built since 2007 on the Île de Nantes.
3
Muscadet And Beurre Blanc
A dry white wine and the whisked butter sauce made with it.
4
LU Biscuits
The Petit Beurre was baked in Nantes from 1886, in a factory that closed in 1986.
5
Jules Verne
The writer was born in Nantes in 1828, on the Île Feydeau.
6
The Green Line
A painted line about 20 km long ties the city's sights and summer artworks together.
What Exactly Is A Crêperie?
A crêperie is a restaurant built around one dish, and in Nantes, in the Loire-Atlantique department of western France, it is the most local kind of eating there is. Here is what the word means, what to order and what a meal involves.
Why Is Brittany Different From France?
Brittany was an independent duchy until 1532, kept its own language and legal traditions, and only lost its historic capital, Nantes, to an administrative line drawn in 1941. That layered history is why the region still feels unlike the rest of France, and why Nantes, in the Loire-Atlantique department of the Pays de la Loire region, sits right on the fault line.
What Is The Prettiest Town In The Loire Valley?
The prettiest-town question has no official answer, and most guides split between the royal towns near Tours and the stone villages of the far west. From Nantes, the reply with verified train times behind it is Clisson, an Italianate town on the Sèvre Nantaise about 15 to 23 minutes away by TER.
What Is The Most Beautiful Town In Brittany?
Ask ten travellers to name the most beautiful town in Brittany and you will mostly hear two names: the walled corsair port of Saint-Malo and the half-timbered harbour town of Vannes. But there is a third answer worth taking seriously, and it is the one most guides skip: Nantes, the historic capital of the duchy, sitting just across the modern administrative line in Loire-Atlantique, Pays de la Loire, in western France.
What Is Nantes Famous For?
A former ducal capital on the Loire, now France's sixth-largest city, Nantes is famous for mechanical elephants, the birthplace of Jules Verne, the Petit Beurre biscuit, and a city that tells the truth about its slave-trading past.
What Wine Is The Loire Valley Famous For?
The Loire Valley is famous for white wine, and the stretch of it that belongs to Nantes, in the Loire-Atlantique department of western France, produces the driest and most food-friendly of them all: Muscadet, made from the Melon de Bourgogne grape.
Is Rennes Worth Visiting?
Nantes sits about an hour and a quarter from Rennes by train, so plenty of travellers planning a trip to western France ask whether Brittany's capital deserves a slot in the itinerary.
What Language Do They Speak In Nantes?
Everyone in Nantes speaks French, the sole official language of France, and the city's own regional tongue, Gallo, survives only at the margins. Here is what a visitor actually encounters.
