There’s extra to France than Paris! Nantes is a vibrant French metropolis the place a Inexperienced Line takes guests and voyagers on a modern-day treasure hunt to find nuggets round each nook. If you’re prepared to enterprise past the enduring capital metropolis, you’ll uncover an inviting vary of issues to do in Nantes. Expertise nature, artwork, cultural heritage, historic and fashionable structure, gastronomy and vibrant nightlife in a metropolis hailed as a ‘gateway to Brittany’. On this article, we share highlights from our journey and showcase what to see and expertise when visiting Nantes.
Disclosure: Our go to was a part of a marketing campaign with Brittany Tourism. HDYTI maintains full editorial management of the content material printed on this web site.
Your Nantes journey begins with the Inexperienced Line
Nantes is the French metropolis that invitations you to think about, to wander, to interact and to play.
This grew to become obvious to us as we picked up metropolis maps and customer brochures and accompanied our sensible information for the day, Nadim, to Le Jardin des Plantes from our metropolis centre resort. Approaching this botanical backyard via the doorway alongside Rue Stanislas Baudry, we got here throughout the primary of many vibrant doodle characters (Filili Viridi) by Nantes-born French illustrator Jean Jullien.
These outsized paper-like characters mix into the surroundings, interacting with the panorama in playful methods whereas including layers of enjoyable to the backyard’s lovely flora and aquatic options. This specific character held a chunk of inexperienced tape in its hand that curled downwards and seamlessly mixed with neon inexperienced paint on the grass which continued onto the pavement.
Tracing the inexperienced line with our eyes, we watched it disappear into the space, difficult our curiosity and alluring us to comply with it, an invite we didn’t resist.
The Inexperienced Line, a artistic tourism idea, permits guests to comply with painted strains on the bottom that takes them on a voyage of discovery in Nantes. For those who like a superb treasure hunt, you’re in for a deal with! The Inexperienced Line primarily creates a free strolling tour that connects you to cultural points of interest, key monuments, and charming artwork scenes in and across the historic Nantes metropolis centre.
The Inexperienced Line is a part of a wider mission often called Le Voyage à Nantes (A journey to Nantes). Le Voyage à Nantes sees town unite its artwork initiatives, heritage points of interest, meals tradition, cultural occasions and transport infrastructure below one coordinated program to provide guests a seamless expertise.
This progressive mission picks up the Inexperienced Line from the beating coronary heart of the Nantes metropolis centre and hyperlinks it with points of interest alongside the Loire River estuary, extending out to Saint-Nazaire by the Atlantic Ocean, with detours into the area’s villages and vineyards.
There’s a lot to see alongside the Inexperienced Line (we spent two days within the metropolis) and for a very immersive expertise of Nantes, we suggest planning for 3 days.
HDYTI Tip: The Cross Nantes gives discounted 24hr, 48hr, 72hr and 7-day tariffs for public transportation (together with buses, trams, water taxi) and reductions on chosen experiences and points of interest in Nantes. Go to levoyagenantes.fr for extra data.
Strolling via Nantes is an immersive expertise
We visited Nantes within the spring. That is sometimes when cities start to wrap up building initiatives in preparation for the summer season vacation season. Roadworks weren’t an issue for us due to town’s effectively designed pedestrian and biking paths and tramways. As an alternative, they hinted of a metropolis on a mission and desperate to welcome extra guests to discover its points of interest.
The French metropolis of Nantes, nestled on the banks of the Loire River, is the executive seat of the Loire-Atlantique division inside the Pays de la Loire area. Nevertheless, Nantes has a protracted and deep historical past with Brittany and maintains such a powerful cultural reference to that area that it’s usually considered a ‘gateway to Brittany’.
Nantes is France’s Sixth-largest metropolis and residential to what was as soon as the biggest port in France and a key centre of commerce and industrial exercise. Beginning our go to to the Brittany area right here allowed us to grow to be acquainted with a metropolis we knew little or no about till that time.
Lately, town of Nantes has adopted a recent id, one which acknowledges her historical past whereas embracing a imaginative and prescient for the long run. This dynamic persona finds expression in its various neighbourhoods which have connections to the Inexperienced Line. We had been quickly immersed in its narrative, absorbing distinctive interpretations of the story of Nantes as we delved into town.
Choosing up the path within the Central Station District, we sauntered with locals in Le Jardin des Plantes, admired the spectacular façade of Musée d’arts de Nantes and realized a number of the historical past of the enduring French confectionery model, LU, whose former biscuit manufacturing unit is now residence to Le Lieu Distinctive, a thriving melting pot of town.
The Bouffay District positioned us proper within the medieval coronary heart of Nantes, with the primary attraction being Château des ducs de Bretagne, residence to the final Duke of Brittany earlier than the unification between France and Brittany in 1532. We particularly cherished the truth that entry to the fortress’s courtyard, fortification partitions and moat is free!
One of many many surprises alongside our Inexperienced Line expedition included Jungle Intérieure, a inexperienced oasis exceptional for its density, selection and weird location – a tiny courtyard between buildings. Planted and nurtured by a reclusive gardener/artist, this quiet area allowed us a second of solitude and reflection.
Nantes is a metropolis that invitations you to look UP and play!
You should bear in mind to search for when strolling across the metropolis centre!
One cause is that façacdes of outlets, bars and eating places provide some attention-grabbing artwork showcasing the artistic collaboration between native artists and companies. A specific store signal featured a cow sporting a wig. Seems, this was the artist’s interpretation of a butcher’s store sharing a wall with the African hairdresser subsequent door!
Another excuse to search for is to identify mascarons (ornamental stone ornaments portraying faces) that trace at tales of town’s delivery previous. By the tip of the seventeenth century, Nantes had grow to be a rich French international buying and selling port with items resembling sugar, cotton and tobacco and, sadly, enslaved folks (extra on that later) passing via. The decorations, usually discovered on mansions within the Feydeau Quarter owned by slave ship house owners, depict key figures from that period and their views of the world.
By far probably the most partaking district on our strolling voyage alongside the Inexperienced Line in Nantes was Île de Nantes. Transport could have ceased and port operations have since moved additional west to Saint Nazaire. Nevertheless, the commercial heritage birthed by these actions has been reimagined on this district of Nantes.
Relics of that bygone period, resembling delivery cranes, dot the panorama, a few of which have been repurposed for artwork. Former naval shipyards now kind a part of a community of supersized modern artwork installations, fashionable structure, artwork faculties, inexperienced areas and quirky initiatives like Les Machines de l’île.
City artwork that encourages engagement and play was one of many highlights from our go to to Île de Nantes.
For instance, the Grand Éléphant – a mechanical beast made up of hydraulics, wooden, steel and leather-based and powered by a hybrid engine – gave us an uncommon tour of Parc des Chantiers. A ‘basketball tree’ (L’arbre à basket) with a number of hoops inspired enjoyable conversations with locals.
Visually beautiful buildings like ‘Air’, designed by architects at Tétrarc, challenged us to think about sound as a constructing materials!
HDYTI Tip: Whereas entry to the Parc des Chantiers is free, rides on the Grand Éléphant price round £10 per grownup. Youngsters below 4 years can trip free of charge.
The memorial to the abolishment of slavery
The Graslin district is the place important wealth was concentrated in Nantes.
The monumental fountain at Place Royale serves as a confluence for streets that result in elegant outlets and connoisseur eating places. A increase interval skilled between the 18th and nineteenth centuries facilitated the development of monuments resembling Théâtre Graslin and the grand Passage Pommeraye, a lined buying arcade which was an architectural masterpiece for its time.
Nevertheless, this show of wealth and privilege contrasts sharply with one other attraction within the space.
Keep in mind these mascarons (ornamental stone ornaments) we talked about earlier?
A few of them depict enslaved Africans who, in Nantes’ heydey as a worldwide buying and selling port, had been considered mere commodities in what grew to become often called the ‘triangular commerce’ between France and territories in Africa, the Americas and the Caribbean.
Rich ship house owners commissioned a number of of such expeditions (of over 4,220 expeditions from French ports, over 1,800 had been recorded from the port of Nantes) with an estimate of 555,000 folks enslaved for revenue.
We skilled a sobering second at Le Mémorial de l’abolition de l’esclavage, a memorial which, in a daring and commendable transfer, Nantes has created to acknowledge this darker interval in its historical past. The memorial additionally brings consideration to the evil of slavery (previous and current) and human trafficking and the necessity to defend the human rights of freedom and equality.
It was surreal to look down at our ft and see the names and locations of slave ships and to think about the human cargo they carted away from freedom.
Your Nantes journey doesn’t finish with the Inexperienced Line
On our ultimate day in Nantes, we rented electrical bicycles from Paulette Bike Rental and cycled alongside a bit of the Loire estuary. The cycle route took us out of town the place we noticed artworks inside the Estuaire assortment resembling Sémaphore de Roche-Maurice, Belvédère de l’Hermitage (The Nest), and La Maison dans la Loire, the floating home that by no means sinks.
HDYTI Tip: Pack a picnic and plan to spend at the very least 5 hours on this biking sightseeing itinerary. Additional data and maps could be discovered at loireavelo.fr/carte
France’s Sixth largest metropolis by inhabitants has not at all times been the primary thought for guests to the nation however issues are wanting up for Nantes. The Inexperienced Line, the Voyage à Nantes mission (which makes Nantes a year-round vacation spot), and a futuristic inexperienced bridge mission are amongst a number of the many initiatives by town to reinvent itself and appeal to guests.
We particularly love how Nantes brings artwork to life in public areas and makes use of it to tell, provoke creativeness and entertain. It was spectacular to see how city artwork can present pure alternatives for locals and guests to interact and join.
As a base for exploring the encircling cities of Clisson and Saint Nazaire, the picturesque Muscadet wine area and coastal forays to Le Mont-Saint-Michel, Le Voyage à Nantes tempted us to take a number of tangents on an countless journey to expertise much more. Nevertheless, we had a number of extra stops in Brittany to go to and needed to say a hurried goodbye to a really pleasant French metropolis.
Journey data
How you can get there
We flew to Nantes Atlantique airport on EasyJet from London Gatwick Airport (approx 1 hour 30 minutes).
The place to remain in Nantes
Keep within the metropolis centre for straightforward entry to every part. We stayed at Hôtel La Pérouse (La Pérouse Resort).
The place to eat in Nantes
See our article on The Tables of Nantes for suggestions for lunch and dinner. They embody Sépia by Lucie Berthier Gembara, Restaurant SAIN by the Huitric brothers and Maison Bagarre by Martin Davy. For extra choices, additionally see restaurant information Les Tables de Nantes.
Particular due to the group at Le Voyage à Nantes and particularly to Nadim Zein sharing his information of Nantes with us.
Pin This!
Associated