Nantes Holidays

Nantes is a city with French flair and a twist of the unexpected. Stylish, arty, and packed with personality, it's a Loire Valley city you won't want to overlook.

Highlights of your Holidays to Nantes

• 🐘 Les Machines de l'île – Ride the 12-metre-tall mechanical Grand Éléphant through a steampunk fantasyland on the old shipyards.

• 🏰 Château des Ducs de Bretagne – A proper castle slap bang in the middle of the city.

• 🎨 Voyage à Nantes art trail – Follow the painted green line on the ground past 70-plus art installations, free year-round, with new summer commissions every July to September.

• 🍷 Muscadet wine country on the doorstep – Crisp local whites grown right outside the city, with vineyard day trips and tastings throughout the year.

• 🦪 Atlantic seafood and Loire produce – Oysters from the coast, beurre blanc sauce that was invented here, and weekly markets that anchor the food scene.

• ✨ Passage Pommeraye – A three-tier 19th-century shopping arcade with sculpted statues and a glass roof, properly photogenic and central.

Good to Know

☀️ Weather – Summer highs around 22°C, winters around 8°C, and rain showers possible year-round given the Atlantic position.

💶 Money – A sit-down lunch runs around €15-€20, a beer €4-€6, and a coffee at a café is €2-€3.

🐘 Fun Fact – The Grand Éléphant at Les Machines de l'île weighs 48 tonnes, carries 49 passengers at a time, and has been powered by a hybrid eco-motor since 2018, making it (officially) the world's first eco-friendly mechanical pachyderm.

Where to Stay

Where you pick changes the feel of the trip.

🏛️ Bouffay – The medieval quarter, all cobbled streets, half-timbered houses, and most of the wine bars, brasseries, and late-opening cafés. Picks here put you within a 5-to-10-minute walk of the Château, the cathedral, and Passage Pommeraye. But, of course, it might be a little noisier of an evening.

🎭 Graslin – The 19th-century theatre quarter centred on Place Graslin, home to La Cigale and the Opéra. Slightly more refined than Bouffay, still very central, and the natural pick for couples wanting Belle Époque atmosphere.

🚉 Around the Gare – Practical territory. The train station is a 10-to-15-minute walk from the historic centre, so you're a bit further out but great if you want to do a few day trips. Hotel prices tend to be gentler too.

🏗️ Île de Nantes – The arts and design quarter on the island, home to Les Machines de l'île, the Carrousel des Mondes Marins, and Hangar à Bananes nightlife. Stays here suit anyone whose Nantes trip is built around the creative scene rather than the medieval centre. A short walk or tram ride across the Pont Anne-de-Bretagne to the historic side.

🏨 Hotels

See all hotels in Nantes at the full hotels page or browse our top picks below...

💑 Couples

• Mercure Nantes Centre - Grand Hotel is the city's main 4-star anchor and the smartest central stay. A 10-minute walk to Les Machines de l'île, the Château, and the cathedral, with a sauna, trendy bar, and on-site café for the slow-mornings part of the trip.

• OKKO Hotels Nantes Centre Ville is a contemporary boutique-style stay with a club-area lounge that runs as a bar, café, gym, and reading room rolled together. Sauna on-site, individually controlled air-con in every room, and 4 minutes' walk to the Cathédrale Saint-Pierre.

• Amiral Nantes is the eco-conscious pick, with an organic breakfast spread, sleek air-conditioned rooms, and a 3-minute stroll to Passage Pommeraye. Properly central and on the boutique-feeling end of the city's mid-range stays.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Families

• Aparthotel Adagio access Nantes Viarme has a children's playground on-site, fitted kitchens in every apartment, and multilingual staff. The kitchen alone makes the trip cheaper if you've got fussy eaters who'd rather have pasta than another bistro tasting menu.

• Citadines Confluent Nantes - Europe offers studio apartments with full kitchens, an indoor heated lap pool, a sauna, and a gym. Trams a hop away, and 22-28 square metres of space per studio is more breathing room than a standard hotel room provides.

• Ibis Styles Nantes Centre Gare keeps things simple and reliable with a TV lounge, lounge bar, and a location 5 minutes from the train station for easy in-and-out with kids and bags.

💰 Value

• ibis Nantes Centre Gare Sud is the budget central pick with a hot tub, solarium, and massage services on-site. Strong reviews for a 3-star at this price point, and close to the train station for short stays.

• ibis Styles Nantes Centre Place Graslin sits right on Place Graslin in the theatre quarter, with newly renovated rooms, Comfy Sweet Beds, and wheelchair-accessible options. Belle Époque atmosphere at a 3-star price.

• Campanile Nantes Centre St Jacques is 4km from the centre but 10 minutes from the airport, making it a strong pick for short or arrival-night stays. On-site restaurant, 24-hour lounge bar, and a healthy breakfast buffet included.

👉 All hotels in Nantes

Local Lingo

French everywhere, and while younger Nantais will often switch to English, the city is genuinely proud of its local heritage and locals appreciate the effort of a few words. "Bonjour" on entering any shop or restaurant is borderline mandatory.

• Bonjour, bohn-ZHOOR, Hello / Good day

• Merci, mair-SEE, Thank you

• S'il vous plaît, seel-voo-PLAY, Please

• Une bière, s'il vous plaît, oon bee-AIR seel-voo-PLAY, A beer, please

• L'addition, s'il vous plaît, lah-dee-see-OWN seel-voo-PLAY, The bill, please

Travel Guide - Things to do on your Holidays to Nantes

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Families

• Les Machines de l'île – Ride the Grand Éléphant, tour the Galerie des Machines workshop, and spin on the Carrousel des Mondes Marins.

• Île de Versailles Japanese garden – A peaceful island park in the middle of the Erdre river with bamboo, ornamental ponds, and Japanese-style paths. Free entry, properly child-friendly, and a calm half-hour after the buzz of the medieval centre.

• Jardin des Plantes – The botanical garden has giant cartoon-style plant sculptures, a tropical glasshouse, a playground, and a small petting zoo. Free, central, and one of the city's underrated picks for younger kids.

• Castle moat at Château des Ducs de Bretagne – Climb the ramparts for free (the museum inside is ticketed). Older kids will get the most from the Musée d'histoire de Nantes, which covers the city's seafaring history and its colonial slave-trade past in a thoughtful, age-appropriate way.

💑 Couples

• Wine bars in Bouffay – The medieval quarter is full of tucked-away wine bars where Muscadet, the local white, gets the run of the menu. Stop, share a board of charcuterie and oysters, then keep walking.

• Le Nid rooftop bar – Up at Tour Bretagne, this sky-high bar is shaped like a giant bird's nest with views across the rooftops. Best at sunset, drinks priced for the view, and a Nantes classic for a date.

• Voyage à Nantes green line walk – Follow the painted green line that snakes through the city past 70-plus art installations, free year-round. The summer edition (4 July to 6 September 2026, theme Earth) adds new commissions across the city, with full programme details from May.

• Dinner at La Cigale – The Belle Époque brasserie on Place Graslin has been running since 1895, with a listed Art Nouveau interior that's worth the visit even if all you order is dessert.

🎉 Groups

• Hangar à Bananes nightlife – Old banana warehouses on the Île de Nantes now host cocktail bars, late-opening clubs, and DJ nights right on the Loire. The 18 illuminated Anneaux (the Rings) installation on Quai des Antilles glows at night and makes the walk between bars a feature in itself.

• Muscadet wine tasting and vineyard day trips – Several local operators run half-day or full-day tours into the Muscadet vineyards south of the city, combining cellar visits with regional food. A genuinely underrated French wine region and easy to arrange as a group.

• Escape Hunt and Le Lieu Unique – Themed escape rooms for one half of the group, and a former biscuit factory turned cultural centre (with one of the largest traditional hammams in France) for the other half. Le Lieu Unique also has a waterside bar and restaurant for regrouping after.

• Loire river cruise on the Navibus – The local public-transport ferry doubles as a cheap river cruise across the Loire. Plenty of operators also run longer cruises down the Erdre and toward Saint-Nazaire and the estuary for a proper boat day out.

More Destinations

• France – Everything from the French Riviera and the Côte d'Azur to the Loire Valley and the Atlantic coast.

• Paris – The Louvre, Notre-Dame, the Seine, the views, the lights, and food that justifies the reputation (as they say, the path to the heart is through the stomach).

• Bordeaux – France's wine capital is a UNESCO-listed city of grand 18th-century squares, riverside walks, and Saint-Émilion and Médoc tasting trips on the doorstep.

• Toulouse – France's "pink city" pairs a lively student-and-cafés feel with the Cité de l'Espace aerospace museum.

• Lyon – France's gastronomic capital, with bouchon dining, two rivers, and easy access to both the Alps and Beaujolais wine country.

• Nice – On the Côte d'Azur with Mediterranean beaches, a proper old town, and easy access to Monaco and Cannes.