2 days in Nantes

About the city

Only six hours by rail from London, Nantes, a city on the Loire River, is just your ideal place for a short break in France.

Key tourist information for Nantes :

🗺️ Region: Pays de la Loire
🏁 Nearby cities: Rennes, Angers
✈️ Nearest airports: Nantes
🧑🏼‍🤝‍🧑🏼 Population: (Greater Nantes) 612,000

💎 Main sites: The château of the Dukes of Brittany, the city art gallery, historic city centre, the cathedral, boat trips on the Erdre

✔️ Nearby attractions: The Loire estuary, the Atlantic coast, La Baule

🚋 Nantes is a big city, but its historic central area is compact enough to be discovered on foot, or by taking the city's smart modern trams.

Day 1 evening

Arrival to Nantes

Day 2

1

Château des ducs de Bretagne

Castle Sights & Landmarks Museum History museum

🏰 The Chateau of the Dukes of Brittany is a renovated medieval castle which today includes the history museum.

2

cathédrale Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul

Catholic Cathedral Sights & Landmarks Cathedral Sacred & Religious Sites Historic Sites

⛪ This late medieval gothic cathedral at Nantes is impressive, particularly on the inside.

✔️ It is the sixth tallest cathedral in France.

3

Arts Museum of Nantes

Art museum Museums Art Galleries

🏛️ The Nantes Art Gallery is one of the better provincial art galleries in France.

🖼️ See artworks by: Bernardo Daddi, Breughel the elder, de Latour, Perugino, Tintoretto, Ingres, Burne-Jones, Corot, Monet, Sisley, Picasso and many more.

4

Place Royale

Historical landmark

🏁 A grand urban piazza dating from the late eighteenth century.
🛍️ Now part of the pedestrian area of central Nantes, the piazza is popular for its cafés and shops

5

Passage Pommeraye

Shopping mall Shopping

👜 A fine 1840s shopping arcade, decorated with classical statues, and home to many up-market stores and boutiques

6

Erdre

River

🛳️ Erdre River Dinner Cruise
After a long day, the ideal way to end the night is cruising Erdre River while having dinner onboard!

⚠️ It is important to book the cruise ahead of time.

There are several operators found you'll find online, but here's the Nantes Official site for guidance
https://www.nantes-tourisme.com/en/cruise/erdre-river-cruise

Day 3

1

Les Machines de l'Île

Museums Specialty Museums

🏛️ Popular family destination, a museum filled with fantastic modern machines, including a mechanical walking elephant that carries passengers on a ride round the site.

2

French destroyer Maillé-Brézé

Museum Specialty Museums

🚢 A T47 class naval destroyer,
🚢 Decommissioned in 1988, the Maillé-Brézé is now a museum ship.
🚢 Was used in the film Dunkirk.

3

Jules Verne Museum

Heritage museum Museums Art museum History Museums Specialty Museums

🏛️ Museum devoted to the life and work of the great 19th century writer and traveller, author of Around the World in Eighty Days and many other popular novels.

Other places to visit

1

Espace zoologique de La Boissière-du-Doré

Zoo Outdoor Activities Zoos and aquariums Parks

🗺️ 40 km east of Nantes
🏁 Small safari park - 20 hectares and 70 species
🐵 Involved in the breeding of endangered species, notably orang-utangs.

2

Château de Goulaine

Castle Sights & Landmarks Historical landmark

🏰 This seasonal castle is a small Loire valley château and vineyard that is reputedly the oldest family-owned business in Europe. Today the castle is also home to a large butterfly houe and to the Lu Biscuits museum, Lu being a historic French brand in the same way as MacVities in the UK.

3

Guérande