Nantes

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France, Loire Atlantique, Nantes, European Green Capital 2013, the banks of the Erdre

Getty Images/Hemis.fr RM

Overview

You can take Nantes out of Brittany (as when regional boundaries were redrawn during WWII), but you can't take Brittany out of its long-time capital, Nantes (Naoned in Breton).

Attractions

Must-see attractions

Les Machines de l’Île de Nantes

Nantes

Nantes' quirkiest sight is this fantasy world – a serious and seriously wacky workshop with mechanical contraptions galore displayed in plant-filled…
Château des Ducs de Bretagne

Nantes

Forget fusty furnishings – light-filled rooms inside the Castle of the Dukes of Brittany house multimedia-rich exhibits detailing the city's history. Look…
Musée d’Arts de Nantes

Nantes

A six-year renovation job by London architects Stanton Williams has done wonders for Nantes’ art museum, open again since 2017 inside the historic Palais…
Musée Jules Verne

Nantes

Overlooking the river, this is a magical museum with 1st-edition books, hand-edited manuscripts and cardboard theatre cut-outs. Child-friendly interactive…
Jardin des Plantes

Nantes

Opened in 1860, this exquisitely landscaped park is among France's most interesting botanical gardens. Century-old magnolia and mulberry trees, Japanese…
Mémorial de l’Abolition de l’Esclavage

Nantes

Down by the water, 2000 brick-sized glass plaques embedded in the quay-side pavement scream out the names of slave-trading ships that regularly set sail…
Cathédrale St-Pierre et St-Paul

Nantes

Inside Nantes' Flamboyant Gothic cathedral, the tomb of François II (r 1458–88), Duke of Brittany, and of his second wife, Marguerite de Foix, is a…
Le Cale 2 Créateurs

Nantes

Edgy temporary art exhibitions, events and happenings fill this old industrial slipway, shaped like a wedge of cheese at the foot of Île de Nantes'…