If you're reading this, you're probably planning a weekend in Nantes and looking to get off the beaten track. Good news: you're in the right place. I've lived in Nantes for years, I've made it my playground, and showing it to visitors has even become my job. In this guide, I share with you my real addresses: the ones I recommend to my friends when they arrive, the ones where I take travellers on guided tours, and even my secret spots that few tourist guides mention.
Whether the sun is shining or the Nantes rain decides to join in (because yes, it happens), you'll find here plenty to fill your weekend. Let's go.
What to do in Nantes when the weather is nice?
When the sun peeks out over the banks of the Loire, Nantes transforms. The city becomes one giant terrace, the parks fill up, and there's a special energy you won't find anywhere else. Here is my ideal itinerary to enjoy the city in the sunshine.
🌿 The Jardin des Plantes and the Café du Jardin
This is where I always start my tours in good weather. The Jardin des Plantes is one of the most beautiful botanical gardens in France, and it's completely free. You'll find the sculptures of Claude Ponti (the melon-bench, the giant chick), magnificent tropical greenhouses and corners that are perfect for reading.
Right next door, the Café du Jardin has an ideal terrace for a coffee or a healthy lunch surrounded by greenery. Allow a good two hours to wander without looking at your watch.
🌳 The Jardin Extraordinaire and its viewpoint
Head to the opposite bank to discover the Jardin Extraordinaire, laid out in a former granite quarry in Chantenay. With its 25-metre waterfall, its banana trees and its lush vegetation, you'd think you were in another country.
Then climb up to the Belvédère de l'Hermitage just above: the view over the Loire and the shipyard sheds is worth the detour, especially at sunset.
🍺 A hoppy break at the Little Atlantic Brewery
Not far from the Jardin Extraordinaire, I warmly recommend the Little Atlantic Brewery. This craft microbrewery serves its own beers brewed on site, in a relaxed atmosphere with a large terrace in fine weather.
Ideal for a pre-dinner drink before continuing the walk.
🚢 Trentemoult, the colourful village
If you've never crossed the Loire on the Navibus, now is the time. From the Gare Maritime, in just a few minutes you land in Trentemoult, this little former fishermen's village with colourful houses that seems frozen out of time.
Lose yourself in the alleys, have a drink on a terrace facing the Loire (Le Réfectoire, La Civelle…) and look at the city from across the water. It's one of my favourite Sunday strolls.
💡 Guide's tip: the Navibus is included in the TAN pass and runs all year round. Round trip in under 30 minutes!
⛵ Saint-Mihiel, the Île de Versailles and the Ruban Vert boats
On the Erdre side, the Saint-Mihiel district and the Île de Versailles (a Japanese garden right in the heart of Nantes, yes really) offer a real change of scenery. But the must-do is renting an electric boat from Ruban Vert: no licence, no noise, you cruise peacefully along the Erdre, which François I considered the most beautiful river in France.
Bring a picnic, it's the perfect activity for couples or families.
🍹 A drink by the water: La Casa or Lune Froide
Still on the Erdre, two spots for a drink with your feet (almost) in the water. La Péniche La Casa serves tapas and cocktails in a festive Latino atmosphere, and the Terrasse de Lune Froide offers a more intimate setting, perfect for a quiet late afternoon.
Book if you can: both spots fill up fast as soon as the weather is nice.
🎡 The Hangar à Bananes and the Cantine du Voyage
On the Île de Nantes, the Hangar à Bananes has become a must. Former port warehouses converted into bars, restaurants and cultural venues, this is where it buzzes on summer evenings. The Anneaux de Buren light up at nightfall and it's a free show worth seeing.
Right next door, the Cantine du Voyage serves simple, generous food made with local produce, at large convivial communal tables. The guinguette spirit in all its glory.
🌇 Gare Sud and the LU Terrace
For a drink up high, head to the Terrasse du LU at the Lieu Unique. The panoramic view over the city and the castle is breathtaking. And down below, the Gare Sud district is becoming livelier and livelier with its bars and restaurants. A good option to start the evening.
🎶 La Chaumière, the institution
If you want a taste of the authentic Nantes spirit, I'll send you to La Chaumière. A legendary guinguette on the banks of the Erdre, where people dance, sing and share.
It's festive, popular in the best sense of the word, and terribly endearing. It remains one of my favourites.
🍓 An ice cream at La Fraiseraie to finish
And to end the day in style: an ice cream from La Fraiseraie. This Nantes institution (originally from Pornic) makes artisanal strawberry ice cream, their signature, as well as a whole range of flawless flavours.
Don't leave Nantes without trying one.
What to do in Nantes when it rains?
Let's be honest: it does sometimes rain in Nantes. But the city is so rich in indoor spots that you cope with it just fine. Here are my favourite refuges when the sky turns grey.
🎨 The Fine Arts Museum
Recently renovated, the Nantes Fine Arts Museum is one of the finest regional museums in France. The collection spans from the 13th century to the present day, in magnificent architecture blending old and contemporary.
Allow two to three hours for the visit, and don't miss the courtyard of the Chapelle de l'Oratoire to catch your breath between rooms.
🏛 The Passage Pommeraye
This covered passage from the 19th century is quite simply one of the most beautiful in Europe. Three levels of monumental staircases, statues, shops, soft light filtering through the glass roof… It's a feast for the eyes.
Even in pouring rain, it's a pleasure to wander through.
🥞 A crêperie in Bouffay
We're in historic Brittany, so a crêpe is a must. Head to the Bouffay district, the medieval heart of Nantes, where the crêperies cluster in charming cobbled lanes.
My favourites change with my mood, but the essentials are there: a dry cider, a galette complète (a buckwheat pancake with ham, egg and cheese), and a salted-butter caramel crêpe to finish. Simple happiness.
🏰 The Château des Ducs de Bretagne
You can't come to Nantes without visiting the Château des Ducs de Bretagne. The fortress houses the Nantes History Museum, genuinely fascinating and beautifully done, which retraces the city's history (including the dark chapters linked to the slave trade, handled with rigour).
The ramparts are free to access and offer a superb walk, even in the rain thanks to the covered passages.
💡 Guide's tip: I offer the "Old Nantes" tour that takes in the castle and its history, perfect for discovering the medieval quarter with a local guide.
🍜 Magmaa Food Hall for lunch
When it's raining and you're hungry, Magmaa Food Hall is my favourite solution. Several street-food stands (Asian, Venezuelan, Italian, burgers, desserts…) in a large, convivial space.
Everyone chooses what they like, and you share a table. Perfect for families or with friends when you can't agree on where to eat.
🎭 Stereolux, the venue that mixes it all
On the Île de Nantes, Stereolux is a hybrid venue: concert hall, exhibition space, talks on digital cultures…
Check out their programme, there's almost always something to discover. It's also an excellent way to take the pulse of the current Nantes cultural scene.
🐘 The Machines de l'Île Museum
The must-see. The Machines de l'Île and their famous Elephant are the visual identity of Nantes (and of my website, as you'll have guessed).
Whether you ride the Elephant or visit the Galerie des Machines with its mechanical creatures inspired by Jules Verne, it's a one-of-a-kind experience. In the rain, it's even particularly magical.
My hidden corners of Nantes
Now that we've covered the must-sees, let me take you to my secret places. The ones I like to keep a little for myself, but which truly deserve to be shared with those who take the time to read this far.
🌅 The Parc des Oblates
On the heights of Chantenay, the Parc des Oblates is a former convent park opened to the public a few years ago.
The sweeping view over the Loire is striking, especially at sunset. Very few tourists make their way up, so it's almost always quiet. My spot to breathe.
🌉 The Chaussée des Moines in Vertou
About ten minutes from the centre, Vertou is home to a little treasure: the Chaussée des Moines. A 12th-century stone structure spanning the Sèvre Nantaise, in a bucolic setting worthy of a postcard.
Several waterside guinguettes offer a drink or a meal. Ideal for a country interlude without leaving the metropolitan area.
🚶 A walk along the banks of the Erdre
Beyond the Île de Versailles, the banks of the Erdre offer kilometres of shaded paths, beautiful bourgeois properties (the "folies nantaises"), and a soothing atmosphere.
On foot, by bike or by electric boat: choose your mode and lose yourself. It's probably the walk I recommend most often.
🍸 Rue Léon Blum: Sœur Carnage and Oneul
Here is a Nantes secret that few visitors discover: rue Léon Blum, in the Madeleine-Champ-de-Mars district. Two addresses facing each other that I recommend with my eyes closed.
Sœur Carnage is a creative cocktail bar, with a cosy, rock atmosphere, where the bartenders are at the top of their game. And right across the street, Oneul serves authentic and delicious Korean barbecue.
The perfect combination: dinner at Oneul, a nightcap at Sœur Carnage.
🎪 The Les Nantais guinguette at the Carrière de Saint-Herblain
A little outside the centre, but worth the trip. Les Nantais is an XXL street-food guinguette set in the Parc de la Carrière in Saint-Herblain, an unusual site combining a lake and former rocky quarry faces.
Neapolitan pizzas, burgers, sharing boards, concerts, pétanque… It's open roughly from April to October, and the atmosphere is unbeatable on summer evenings.
☁️ Station Nuage on the Île Forget in Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire
My favourite of the summer. Station Nuage is an artwork by the YokYok collective (as part of Le Voyage à Nantes) turned into a guinguette, set in the former cowshed of the Île Forget, in Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire.
An entirely blue building topped with a netted cloud, with a panoramic terrace over the Loire. You drink, eat and listen to music there, all in a peaceful park at the gateway to the estuary.
Open from April to mid-September.
Nantes is also events all year round
As you'll have gathered, you never get bored in Nantes. And what I've just shared with you is only a small selection. There's always something going on in the city: concerts, exhibitions, festivals, special nights.
🎸 The concert halls and cultural venues to follow
Before you come, I strongly recommend taking a look at the programmes of:
• Le Ferrailleur — rock, metal and electro concerts
• L'Agronaute — a hybrid cultural venue on the Île de Nantes
• Stereolux — contemporary music and digital cultures
• Portevent — concerts and events in the west of the city
• Le LAB — a hybrid venue in Saint-Herblain
And not forgetting the big summer event: Le Voyage à Nantes, which turns the city into a giant art trail every summer.
