Nantes is a brilliant destination. A cool, laidback, university city with endless, artistic surprises. There is a feeling of dynamic creativity. Ruins and castles jostle with interactive art installations. As an alternative French city break, this is a great choice. We visited in October 2022. It was one of the last stops of a 6-month European road trip.
There are several reasons we chose Nantes for a 24hr burst of cultured city life.
Accommodation
Compared to nearby destinations (especially Eurostar ones such as Lille and Paris), Nantes is an incredibly affordable city. Booking.com offered the most interesting options. We stayed in the garden annexe of a very artistic house owned by Sylvia. Glass walls and skylights opening up on to the garden made the place feel like a secret forest hideaway. We had an en- suite, a breakfast room, on street parking and a very fresh breakfast included for a little over £50 a night.
Transport
Staying outside the main city was not a barrier to enjoying our stay due to the excellent transport options. The city has a cheap, frequent and clean tram system linking each neighbourhood with the city. When exploring the waterfront, multiple ferries offered the opportunity to extend our travels. Transport tickets worked on both the ferries and trams so if you buy a multiple trip ticket you can set out with no fixed plan in mind and see where your day takes you.
Thursday Evening
Entertainment
After a long drive and arriving late on Thursday evening, we headed out on a tram to find a cinema. Gaumont Nantes has more charm than most modern multiplexes. Red draped walls, a vast glass atrium and cushioned seats; lovely. We finally managed to see the film Don’t Worry Darling (2022). Even though the film had had mediocre reviews and had been out for weeks, the screening was packed with young students who audibly gasped and threw their hands in the air at each plot twist. It was definitely worth waiting to watch it with such an engaged audience.
Friday Morning
Coffee shops
There were a lot of choices but we enjoyed a great coffee at Le Café des Pangolins (Jon even did a happy dance when he saw V60 on the menu). The café also had plenty of healthy salads, homebaked cookies and wine. Posters adorned the walls advertising all the live events they hosted. We made a note to come back for live music later!
Tv Quiz
We ambled past all the venues noting how many live events we could choose from that evening. One, named mysteriously ‘TV Quiz’. It seemed shut but a very friendly man named, Owen, opened up and was eager to tell us about his venue. TV Quiz is a new escape room style night out where friends can play a mash up of their favourite quiz shows in a very well built replica studio. Owen was so enthusiastic about his concept that he put the music on and added our names to the screens to demonstrate what the experience would be like. If only we had some friends to play with!
L’ile’ Les Machines
I was also really excited to finally visit ‘Les Machines de L’ile’, the home of the city’s iconic mechanical elephant and many other creatures. I had no idea the huge scale of the project and we ended up spending hours in the workshop (former dockyard warehouses) where enthusiastic guides demonstrated part theatrically, part the technicalities of the wonderful menagerie of automatan animals. For each demo they asked for volunteers. We were so lucky to be chosen for the heron as we strapped into the steampunk style baskets beneath its wings and were treated to a flight around the greenhouse. In the adjacent warehouse, the team of artisans were at work on yet more creatures to join the crew. Photography wasn’t allowed here as the new additions are top secret. The attraction surpassed my expectations and would be worth a visit to Nantes for that alone.
Friday Afternoon
The Green Line
The island had many more sights to enjoy though as a walking trail threaded through the repurposed docks and art installations. We enjoyed the lunar landscape trampolines and enjoyed watching the seagulls interacting with the coloured hoops that ran the length of the promenade. Reaching the very end of the peninsula there was a big top circus school with toddlers learning to flip through hoops. Sadly, we were too big to participate in this class.
Brewery
Taking the short and very scenic ferry across the Loire, it docked by an independent brewery: Le Atlantique. The cavernous space provided plenty of choice from stouts and IPAs to local specialties and sours. All brewed in the vast copper vats behind the bar. The outdoor space offered the best views of the sunset. We hadn’t eaten all day so thought we’d better grab some food online our stomachs before trying any of the beers. We ordered some jalapeno peppers. “They are very spicy.” The barman warned us. We reassured him that was fine, and after three more warnings he eventually took our order. We should have listened to him. The peppers were delicious but we couldn’t finish them and Jon entered à funny spice fuelled daze (definitely the spice, not the alcohol).
Friday Evening
Jardin Extraordinaire
The nearby Jardin Extraordinaire was the perfect spot to walk off the beers and food, hidden behind graffiti covered walls and beneath layers of housing. Once inside, paths carried us across lakes and to a very impressive waterfall creating pools of mist below. It seemed unbelievable that Nantes could contain so many landscapes.
Laser Game Nantes
Across the road was a laser quest site. And we couldn’t pass it by without a go. Entering, I was sure we’d be told that we needed a bigger group or to book a session. But the man behind the counter was very happy for us to get involved. We asked how many were playing. “You two,” he nodded, “and twenty one.” We followed his gesture to see the 21 teenagers already socialising, eating pizzas and bantering. I didn’t fancy our chances. We were put in the blue team with 9 of the teens. I felt really sorry for them being stuck with us, but they all said hello and one girl very kindly explained the main instructions in English. Finishing with “We will win!”
Once released into the dark, neon space the teams scattered searching out hiding places. They clearly knew the layout well and very quickly in was hearing the electronic sensors alerting me to being hit. I quickly ran for cover. The next 20mins was a hot frenzy of squealing and running whilst trying to avoid hitting teammates. I kept running into the same floppy haired boy who’d obviously marked me out as an easy target. I only saw Jon once and we scared each other whilst running around a tight corner. He hadn’t even realised it was me!
Jon and I were pleasantly surprised that we weren’t bottom of the leader board.
The 20mins game time flew by. We thanked them for welcoming us and waved goodnight. Jon and I were pleasantly surprised that we weren’t bottom of the leader board.
With the days running out before our departure we were both sad we couldn’t stay a lot longer in Nantes, but we had managed to fit a lot in just over 24hrs.
Lauren
Lauren is a qualified teacher, theatre practitioner and writer. Her proudest moments include taking a student expedition team to Ecuador, drafting her first novel and recently reaching the top of a climbing wall. Lauren loves travelling, having treated herself to a trip of the Trans-Siberian railroad for her 30th birthday, she is now looking forward to being in Japan for her 40th. Together with Jon, Lauren has enjoyed plenty of adventures from a road trip around Cuba to diving in the Galapagos Islands. Lauren is now working hard to write full time whilst being available for teaching and tutoring sessions, specialising in Shakespeare.