What to see in Nantes, a modern and fascinating French city in the Loire Valley just a stone's throw from the Atlantic Ocean.
Churches, museums, castles and delicious snacks: a Nantes The city of Jules Verne, one of the most beautiful places in France in the Loire-Atlantique, certainly has no shortage of attractions to explore. In this guide we will discover what to see and what to do in Nantes, to live a romantic weekend full of history, lots of art, culture and food and wine.
The itinerary to visit Nantes could begin right on the banks of the Loire, at the Quai de la Fosse, where it is located Memorial to the abolition of slavery (monument to the abolition of slavery), a project by two conceptual artists Krzysztof Wodiczko and Julian Bonder that tells the story of the slave trade and the abolition of slavery in the city that was the largest "slave port" in France during the 19th century. century.
Cross the bridge and continue your walk along the island of Nantes, which is home to a true open-air contemporary art tour in the Les Machines de l'île park, the result of a clever conversion of an abandoned industrial area into cultural project powerful. The park is home to mechanical machines and animals inspired by the marine worlds imagined by local writer Jules Verne, the machines of Leonardo Da Vinci and many others.
For a gastronomic stop, you can decide whether to make a stop on the island of Nantes, where there are good places - we highlight in particular the Hangar à Bananes with a bar and a restaurant with a romantic panoramic view of the river - and above all the Parque Beaulieu, always open, large forest and "wet" area of natural interest with games for children and a barbecue area available to citizens and tourists traveling through France.
After leaving the island of Nantes via the Willy Brant bridge, walking along the Erdre and reaching the cultural center of Unique Place, near the train station, former site of a small baking industry (cookies were made) and today an interesting artistic space where you can attend avant-garde theater shows. It is equipped with a bar, restaurant, bookstore and hammam.
You are practically in the Old neighborhood from the city. From here, you can reach in a short time the most important places in Nantes from a historical-artistic point of view: the cathedral of Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul of Nantes, the castle of the dukes of Burgundy, the Basilica of Saint-Nicolas, the church of Sainte-Croix, but also the botanical garden of the Jardin des Plantes.
The beautiful one is dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul. nantes cathedral, whose visit will require time to admire this Gothic-style Catholic church built in successive phases from the first decades of the 15th century until almost the 20th century. The wonderful work of the artists, craftsmen, sculptors, architects who worked on the work of this cathedral can be seen in the wonderful façade, in the interiors, in the details of the funerary monument to Duke Francis II of Brittany and Margaret of Foix. ...
Also visit the Château de Nantes (castle), entirely surrounded by a moat, which was the residence of the dukes of britain and then prison, barracks and arsenal. The complex was built from the Middle Ages and experienced its period of maximum splendor during the duchy of Francis II of Brittany and his daughter Anne. The structure, which stands out for its light stone and white stone bricks, houses the museum of history of the city.
Among the numerous museums in Nantes, we suggest a visit to the Musée d'arts de Nantes, a fine arts center and museum that collects a notable heritage of modern and contemporary works of art; the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, with an earth sciences gallery and a zoology gallery, and an interesting collection of tree sections from remote areas of the earth; and the Printing Museum, a must-see printing museum for lovers of the "book" as an art object.
