La Cigale

Nantes


No visit to Nantes is complete without breakfast, brunch, lunch or afternoon tea at the city's legendary brasserie, a sensational feast of ceramic tile mosaics, gilt-framed mirrors and frescoed ceilings in a series of historic salons dating to 1895. Freshly shucked oysters (€40 per dozen), decadent seafood platters (€39–140) and traditional French classics are served nonstop from 11.30am.

Service is black-waistcoated and spot on, the pan-fried calf kidneys and steak in pepper sauce are both divine, and tables in summer spill outside onto one of the city's most attractive, fountain-pierced squares.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Nantes attractions

1. Musée d’Histoire Naturelle

0.13 MILES

Nantes' Natural History Museum has a fascinating collection of minerals, fossils, stuffed animals and an impressive whale skeleton. There are frequent…

3. Les Machines de l’Île de Nantes

0.56 MILES

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

4. Le Cale 2 Créateurs

0.61 MILES

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'…

5. Château des Ducs de Bretagne

0.64 MILES

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

6. Cathédrale St-Pierre et St-Paul

0.68 MILES

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…

7. Musée d’Arts de Nantes

0.84 MILES

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…

8. Jardin des Plantes

1.01 MILES

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