{"id":3592,"date":"2021-11-02T12:23:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-02T11:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rochelets.plune.fr\/a-day-in-nantes-6-must-do-activities\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T16:03:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T15:03:15","slug":"a-day-in-nantes-6-must-do-activities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochelets.com\/en\/a-day-in-nantes-6-must-do-activities\/","title":{"rendered":"A day in Nantes: 6 must-do activities!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Surprising, teeming, astonishing Nantes… When you come to spend a vacation on the Atlantic coast<\/a>, just a few kilometers fromone of France’s most beautiful metropolises<\/strong>, we suggest you spend at least one day in the city of the Dukes of Brittany<\/strong>. A proud estuarine port in the middle of the land, Nantes<\/strong> is a city of history, which has managed to show off its finery in a quirky way, without forgetting its heavy colonial past. From Jules Verne’s extraordinary journeys, which can be seen everywhere in the city, to the atypical cultural emergences, Nantes<\/strong> has everything to seduce. Your Les Rochelets campsite<\/a> in Saint-Br\u00e9vin-les-Pins<\/a> has concocted a program to make sure you don’t forget a thing and spend a memorable day in Nantes<\/strong>. Let’s go!<\/p>\n\n

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1 – Visit the Ch\u00e2teau des Ducs de Bretagne<\/h2>\n\n

The Ch\u00e2teau des Ducs de Bretagne<\/strong> is the city’s oldest monument, along with the Cathedral. This Renaissance fortress, the work of Fran\u00e7ois II<\/strong>, stands in the heart of Nantes<\/strong>. Originally intended as a military defense for the city, the ducal palace was embellished by his daughter, Anne de Bretagne<\/strong>, on the death of Fran\u00e7ois II.<\/strong> Unique in France,<\/strong> she was twice Queen of France<\/strong> through her successive marriages to Charles VIII<\/strong> and Louis XII<\/strong>. The monument, listed in 1862, is open to visitors every day (except Mondays). And don’t miss the big slide at the side of the ch\u00e2teau! <\/p>\n\n

2 – Recharge your batteries at Nantes’ Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul cathedral<\/h2>\n\n

Listed as one of Nantes<\/strong> ‘ most beautiful monuments, the cathedral is home to many treasures, including the famous tomb of Fran\u00e7ois II<\/strong> and Marguerite de Foix<\/strong>, his second wife and parents ofAnne de Bretagne<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

Built in 1434 by Duke Jean V<\/strong> of Brittany<\/strong>, the first place of worship on this site dates back to the 6th century. Built in the flamboyant Gothic style, with a neo-Gothic choir, it took over 400 years to complete! Today, it houses the largest choir organ in France<\/strong>, with 32 stops and 2,400 pipes. It accompanied the majestic Grand Orgue<\/strong> on the upper floor, which unfortunately caught fire in the summer of 2020. It is due to be rebuilt in the coming years. <\/p>\n\n

3 – Explore the superb Jardin des Plantes<\/h2>\n\n

As big as twenty soccer pitches (7 hectares) in the heart of downtown Nantes<\/a>, with over 10,000 living species, 50,000 flowers planted each year and 800 square metres of greenhouses, the Jardin des Plantes<\/strong> has been awarded the Jardin remarquable label and is one of France’<\/strong> s four great botanical gardens. Numerous artists, such as Claude Ponti<\/strong>, exhibit their ephemeral or permanent works here.<\/p>\n\n

4 – Marvel at the island’s machines<\/h2>\n\n

Can you imagine coming face to face with a 12-metre-high elephant on theIle de Nantes<\/strong>? You just might. The current Hangar \u00e0 Bananes houses the incredible renovation of the Nantes<\/strong> shipyards .<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n

Here, curious machines have come to populate the island. Somewhere between the “Invented Worlds” of Jules Verne, the mechanical universe of Leonardo da Vinci<\/strong> and the industrial history of Nantes<\/a>, these machines are born in the hands of Compagnie La Machine, and come to life in those of Machines de l’\u00eele. <\/p>\n\n

The Galerie, the Grand El\u00e9phant, the Atelier and the Carrousel des Mondes Marins offer children and parents alike an extraordinary adventure… A few steps away, the Jardin Extraordinaire will be home to the Arbre aux H\u00e9rons (Heron Tree). The latest addition to the Machines de l’\u00eele project. <\/p>\n\n

5 – Stroll through the Passage Pommeraye<\/h2>\n\n

Designed in an elegant Renaissance style, the Passage Pommeraye<\/strong> is a covered shopping street. Listed as a historic monument, it is particularly famous for its splendid marble staircase, statues and glass roof. It houses 25 stores on three floors. <\/p>\n\n

6 – Finishing in style at the Nest<\/h2>\n\n

Perched on the 32nd floor of the Tour de Bretagne<\/strong>, the Nest<\/strong> is home to an immense bird, half stork, half heron. It’s a permanent work of art designed by artist Jean Jullien for the Voyage \u00e0 Nantes<\/strong>. From here, you can enjoy an extraordinary panoramic view of the city. <\/p>\n\n

photo@Ueli\/Pixabay<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Surprising, teeming, astonishing Nantes… When you come to spend a vacation on the Atlantic coast, just a few kilometers fromone of France’s most beautiful metropolises, we suggest you spend at least one day in the city of the Dukes of Brittany. A proud estuarine port in the middle of the land, Nantes is a city […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3593,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochelets.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochelets.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochelets.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochelets.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochelets.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3592"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochelets.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3592\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3594,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochelets.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3592\/revisions\/3594"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochelets.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochelets.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochelets.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochelets.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}