Nantes is one of the most populated cities in France, and is often overlooked on itineraries around the country. But you’re reading this post, which means you’re probably planning to visit Nantes 😉.

The city of Nantes was once the largest port in France, becoming one of the country’s most important sites for the slave trade during the 18th century. With the French Revolution, the city went into decline, but eventually re-established itself with a strong industrial presence.

Nantes has reinvented itself over the years and is now a cosmopolitan city and one of the cities with the best quality of life in France.

Throughout this post, you will find all the information you need to visit Nantes: when to visit, how many days to spend in the city, what to visit, suggestions for accommodation/restaurants and much more.

Located in the Brittany region, the weather in Nantes can be a bit uncertain. The warmest time of the year and most likely to have good weather is from May to September, so I recommend visiting Nantes at this time.

However, this does not mean that you should not visit Nantes at other times of the year. For example, I visited Nantes in mid-February and, although it was a bit chilly, it was quite sunny.

Nantes is a city with a few points of interest and, some of them, a bit distant from others. Although it is possible to visit Nantes in just one day (that’s what I did), if you want a calmer visit and include some of the city’s museums in your itinerary, then I suggest spending 2 days in the city.

Nantes has one airport – Aéroport Nantes Atlantique, which has several connections to countries in Europe and beyond. Some of the major cities in Europe with direct flights from Nantes include:

• France (Paris, Marseille, Nice, Toulouse, Strasbourg, …)
• Portugal (Porto, Lisbon, Faro, Madeira)
• United Kingdom (London, Bristol, Birmingham, …)
• Spain (Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Malaga, …)
• Geneva (Basel, Zurich, Geneva)
• Italy (Naples, Milan, Florence, Venice, Rome, …)
• Belgium (Brussels)

Outside Europe, there are some direct connections with Turkey, Canada, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Senegal.

However, there are other ways to get to Nantes, namely from other cities in France. For example, there is a train that connects Paris to Nantes and takes only 2 hours. In my case, I travelled by Flixbus bus from Rennes (the journey takes about 1h20 and costs only 6 €).

The simplest and quickest way (except for taxis, of course!) to get from Nantes airport to the city centre is by shuttle bus. The service is available daily and costs 9 € (the ticket can be purchased from the driver).

There are buses every 20 minutes during the week and every 30 minutes at the weekend. There are 3 stations available in the city, which you should choose depending on what is most convenient for you:

• Gare Sud
• Lieu Unique
• Commerce

However, there are other options combining trams and buses:

• bus no 38 to Pirmil + tram no 2 or 3
• bus no 38 to Grenaraie + tram no 4
• bus no 98 to Neustrie + tram no 3

📝 USEFUL INFORMATION: I suggest you check the most up-to-date information, available on this website.

Some of the main points of interest in Nantes are far away, which means that it can sometimes be quite useful to use the public transport available in the city.

Individual tickets for each journey cost 1.7 € (bought from the machines) and a 24-hour ticket costs 6 €. I opted for the latter because the number of trips I was going to make did not make up for the use of individual journeys.

Tickets are valid on the entire transport network in the city (including tram, bus and ferry). However, they are not valid on the shuttle bus that runs between the airport and the city centre.

📝 USEFUL INFORMATION: For more information on public transport in Nantes, I suggest you check this site.

Depending on what you plan to visit in Nantes, it may make sense to buy the city pass which gives free access to various attractions in the city, as well as the public transport network and the shuttle bus from the airport 😉.

💡 EXTRA TIP: In my case, I chose not to buy the Pass Nantes, as it was not worth it. The best way to see if it pays off is to calculate the price of all the public transport journeys you plan to make and the attractions you will visit.

There are options for several journey durations. You can check the most up-to-date information here.

• 24 hours: 26€
• 48 hours: 35€
• 72 hours: 45€
• 7 days: 90€

I chose to stay in a relatively centrally located flat – Cosy à Guist’hau. The flat was very spacious and had everything you need for a longer trip (kitchen, dishwasher, washing machine, coffee machine, microwave, …).

Despite being in an older building, it is clearly visible that the flat had been refurbished and was in excellent condition.

However, there are other accommodation options available in Nantes:

So that you can better plan your trip to Nantes, I’ll share with you a map of what to visit in Nantes:

This itinerary in Nantes starts at the Île de Versailles, a small island in the river Erdre which passes through Nantes. The island was artificially created in the 19th century and is 1.7 hectares in size.

Originally used by naval carpenters, the island was transformed into a Japanese-style garden in 1983. The island is quite small but worth the visit.

We moved on to another garden, this time a bit bigger. Also known as the Jardin des Plantes, the Botanical Garden is a pleasant space in the city.

On a Monday morning, there were several locals enjoying the sunny winter day that was 🥰. Walking around the garden, we can find some funny figures, making the visit even more fun!

📝 USEFUL INFORMATION: Admission to the garden is free, with opening times varying according to the time of year. The opening times can be found here.

The church of Saint-Clément Church wasn’t even on my original itinerary, but I decided to include it here on the post. Although I entered this church by chance, I thought it is worth a quick visit. It’s the first gothic-style church to be built in Nantes.

📝 USEFUL INFORMATION: Entry into the church is free!

The Castle of the Dukes of Brittany is a must-visit in Nantes. It is a fortress with 500 metres of ramparts and seven towers, linked together. The castle was built at the end of the 15th century by the last Duke of Brittany.

In fact, one of the activities I most recommend in the castle is walking around the ramparts. Entering through the main door into the walls, just climb the ramparts and follow the directions of the visit.

This is one of the best viewpoints in the city 😍.

📝 USEFUL INFORMATION: The visit to the ramparts of the Castle of the Dukes of Brittany is completely free and can be done any day of the week from 8.30 am to 7 pm (or 8 pm in July and August).

On the premises, you can also visit the Nantes History Museum, which tells the history of the city. However, you need to buy a ticket to visit this part of the castle. The museum is closed on Mondays.

📝 USEFUL INFORMATION: The ticket to visit the museum costs 8 € (+2 € with an audio guide or +4 € with a guided tour), but is free with the Nantes Pass. There are some cheaper tickets for those under 25 years old or the City Museums Pass. You can find the most up-to-date information here.

As soon as you leave the Dukes of Brittany Castle, I suggest you visit the Water Mirror, located right in front of the castle. The thin layer of water there creates the ideal conditions for a beautiful photo of the castle reflected in the water.

Built in the 15th century, St. Peter’s Cathedral in Nantes is one of the most important religious monuments in the city.

Unfortunately, the Cathedral suffered a serious fire in July 2020, which caused severe damage. Thus, the building is closed to the public indefinitely while restoration work is carried out.

Anyway, it is still possible to admire part of the exterior of the Cathedral from the street where it is located.

It’s time to head for another church – Sainte-Croix Church. Built in the 17th century, this is another of the city’s churches. However, there is an important detail: it is in this church that Jules Verne was supposedly baptized in 1828.

Right next to the church, we find the entrance to the Sainte-Croix Passage. It is a covered passage of about 70 metres long. Currently, there are some art exhibitions inside.

📝 USEFUL INFORMATION: Admission to the church is free, and to the passageway as well. However, the passageway is only open from Tuesday to Saturday from 12 pm to 6.30 pm.

The next thing to visit in Nantes is the Basilica of Saint-Nicolas. It is a neo-Gothic style basilica, whose construction began in 1844. However, the site where the basilica was built had already had other religious temples throughout the ages.

📝 USEFUL INFORMATION: Entry to the basilica is free!

We continue this itinerary towards 3 of the most important squares in the city. Right next to the Basilica of Saint-Nicolas, we find Place Royale. It was designed in the 18th century and its main point of interest is the monumental fountain located in the centre of the square.

Another square is Place du Commerce, where many people gather, as this is the location of one of the main public transport stations in the city.

Finally, we have Place Graslin, where we find the theatre that gives it its name (Graslin Theatre). The theatre is undoubtedly the centre of attention in the square. However, I recommend you also admire the facade of La Cigale.

Of the three squares, I have to admit that my favourite was Place Royale!

Passage Pommeraye was, for sure, one of the places I most enjoyed visiting in Nantes 😉. It is a small 19th-century shopping gallery and its name comes from its founder (Louis Pommeraye).

The passage connects two streets (Rue Santeuil and Rue de la Fosse), and there is more than one entrance to the gallery.

Apart from a visit to the various cute shops there, I also suggest going up to the upper floors for the best photo opportunities.

📝 USEFUL INFORMATION: Admission to the Passage Pommeraye is free and opening hours are Monday to Saturday from 8 am to 8 pm and Sunday from 9 am to 8 pm. You can check the most up-to-date information here.

Even though I didn’t visit this point on the itinerary (the ferry wasn’t operating the day I visited), I decided to include it as I believe it must be quite interesting.

Trentemoult is an area connected to Nantes via a ferry ride. Although the journey between the centre of Nantes and Trentemoult is short, this area of the city is entirely different from the rest of the town. It’s a great place to get lost while admiring the colourful small houses there.

Returning to the centre of Nantes, I suggest a brief stop at the Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery. Nantes was once one of France’s most important ports for the slave trade during the 18th century.

Thus, this memorial was created in 2012, in order to remember the past and to leave a warning for the future. Next to the river, we can see several plaques reminding us of all the slave ships that departed from Nantes. We can also visit an underground part of the memorial.

📝 USEFUL INFORMATION: Visiting the memorial is free and opening hours are 9 am to 7 pm from 16 May to 15 September and 9 am to 6 pm from 16 September to 14 May. You can find the most up-to-date information here.

It’s time to cross the Anne de Bretagne Bridge to visit another of Nantes’ islands – Île de Nantes. It is on this island that we will find Les Machines de l’Île.

Les Machines de l’Île is an entertainment and exhibition area which opened in 2007. In the place where we can now spend a good few hours enjoying everything this part of Nantes has to offer, there used to be shipyards.

Here we find several (mostly representing animals) robotic machines. The best known is the elephant, where it is possible to travel on its top on a small route on the island.

In my opinion, I thought this part of the itinerary was more suitable for those with children. I believe there are adults who may be interested in this kind of visit, but it was not my case at all. Even because the only thing we can do for free is to watch the elephant walk around.

📝 USEFUL INFORMATION: Prices for each activity vary: Elephant ride (9.5€), Galerie des Machines (9.5€), Carousel of the Maritime World (9€). However, there are combined tickets for those who want to take part in more than one activity. All the information is available here.

💡 EXTRA TIP: The Nantes Pass has many advantages for visiting Les Machines de l’Île. So, if you want to visit this part of Nantes, it may be worth it to buy the Nantes Pass.

The last point I recommend visiting in Nantes is the Quai des Antilles. This quay results from the rehabilitation of the old port areas on this island of Nantes.

It is a very pleasant walk with one of the best views over the centre of Nantes. And this is where we also find Les Anneaux de Buren.

These rings, which light up at night, were created for a festival in 2007 and accompany part of the promenade on the Quai des Antilles.

Even though I didn’t visit any museums on my trip to Nantes, I thought I would include here 3 of the most important museums in the city for anyone who is interested. They are:

• Natural History Museum (admission 4 €)
• Jules Verne Museum (admission 3 €)
• Nantes Museum of Arts (admission 9 €)

I had the opportunity to try two restaurants in Nantes, which I really enjoyed:

• Chez ta Mère (€€): pleasant space and had a daily menu for lunch, although with few dishes available, making it a more accessible option.

• L’Entrecôte (€€€): The restaurant usually has a queue, so it’s best to arrive before it opens (I arrived at 6.50 pm and there were almost 20 tables ahead of me). They only have one dish (entrecôte) that comes served with fries, but it’s really delicious. In addition, the service was very friendly.

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