Nantes Travel Guide

Pack your bags and come over for a pleasantly surprising stay in Nantes. Be enchanted by the Dukes of Brittany Castle, fall under the charm of the Elephant and let yourself be won over by the fascinating Loire valley Unesco. The place to come for antiques, designer goods and fashion outlets. Taste the Loire valley wines and the traditional beurre blanc' sauce. And a stone's throw away from Nantes are the famous seaside resorts of La Baule and Pornic.
Nantes has a particularly rich historical heritage, dating right back to the Gallo-Roman period, remains of which can still be seen at the St. Lupien site at Rezé. But the first written records were absent until the Middle Ages. At that time, it was the capital of the independent Duchy of Brittany, and it grew up around its castle, the last on the Loire. The building of the castle was started in 1466, and completed by Duchess Anne, whose statue stands at the drawbridge entrance. Its severe ramparts hide a sumptuous white limestone palace, a forerunner of the sophistication of the Renaissance. A few steps away, the Gothic Cathedral holds the amazing black and white marble tomb of the parents of Anne of Brittany, ornamented with allegorical statues, the meaning of one of which, with the faces of an old man and a young woman, remains a mystery. Near the castle, the medieval quarter of Bouffay has retained all its charm. Its facades with their wooden wall sections, half-timbering and corbels, some from the 15th Century, will carry you back to the past.
The 18th Century was the golden era for the people of Nantes; It was the main port trading with the colonies, and its ships would come in from the "Islands" with cargoes of spice, coffee, sugar, cotton and indigo, mooring at the quai de la Fosse with its sailors' bars. The richest shipowners constructed buildings on the l'île Feydeau, where you can see their fine freestone facades trimmed with ironwork and ornamented with figureheads. That golden age the Siècle des Lumières can also be seen at the Place Graslin, where the theatre was designed in a semi-circle like an amphitheatre, and the Place Royale, where the statue of Nantes dominates the Loire and its tributaries stands.
The heritage of Nantes has treasures from every century. The 19th Century was the century for follies. The best known are the magnificent passage Pommeraye, combining neoclassical style with a sumptuous decoration, and La Cigale, undoubtedly the finest brasserie in the world with the 1900 style. The LU Tower and the Titan Crane are reminders of industrial dynamism and the era of the first naval shipyards. The Chantenay quarter, its Butte Ste-Anne and the delightful "guinguettes" of Trentemoult, brings back the memories of this era.
The urban landscape is freely integrated with the contemporary design. Le Corbusier made his mark with the imposing Cité radieuse at Rezé. The newly-built Palais de Justice by Jean Nouvel triggers the metamorphosis of the Ile de Nantes into a new modern centre for the conurbation.

Source : Nantes-tourisme.com