Nantes
Sacks of raw beans waiting to be roasted fill one corner of this specialist coffee shop, a five-minute walk from Les Machines de l'Île de Nantes. Patrice and Beatrice are the knowledgeable baristas behind the contemporary space where families mingle with hipsters for a salted caramel-laced Latte Maria or coconut-milk Latte Créole spiced with vanilla and lime zest.
The cafe cooks up great homemade cakes, too, and runs coffee roasting workshops (1½ hours, €29).
Les Machines de l’Île de Nantes
0.21 MILES
Nantes' quirkiest sight is this fantasy world – a serious and seriously wacky workshop with mechanical contraptions galore displayed in plant-filled…
0.91 MILES
Forget fusty furnishings – light-filled rooms inside the Castle of the Dukes of Brittany house multimedia-rich exhibits detailing the city's history. Look…
1.14 MILES
A six-year renovation job by London architects Stanton Williams has done wonders for Nantes’ art museum, open again since 2017 inside the historic Palais…
0.75 MILES
Overlooking the river, this is a magical museum with 1st-edition books, hand-edited manuscripts and cardboard theatre cut-outs. Child-friendly interactive…
1.3 MILES
Opened in 1860, this exquisitely landscaped park is among France's most interesting botanical gardens. Century-old magnolia and mulberry trees, Japanese…
Mémorial de l’Abolition de l’Esclavage
0.11 MILES
Down by the water, 2000 brick-sized glass plaques embedded in the quay-side pavement scream out the names of slave-trading ships that regularly set sail…
Cathédrale St-Pierre et St-Paul
0.99 MILES
Inside Nantes' Flamboyant Gothic cathedral, the tomb of François II (r 1458–88), Duke of Brittany, and of his second wife, Marguerite de Foix, is a…
0.27 MILES
Edgy temporary art exhibitions, events and happenings fill this old industrial slipway, shaped like a wedge of cheese at the foot of Île de Nantes'…
1. Mémorial de l’Abolition de l’Esclavage
0.11 MILES
Down by the water, 2000 brick-sized glass plaques embedded in the quay-side pavement scream out the names of slave-trading ships that regularly set sail…
2. Les Machines de l’Île de Nantes
0.21 MILES
Nantes' quirkiest sight is this fantasy world – a serious and seriously wacky workshop with mechanical contraptions galore displayed in plant-filled…
0.27 MILES
Edgy temporary art exhibitions, events and happenings fill this old industrial slipway, shaped like a wedge of cheese at the foot of Île de Nantes'…
0.33 MILES
Nantes' Natural History Museum has a fascinating collection of minerals, fossils, stuffed animals and an impressive whale skeleton. There are frequent…
0.75 MILES
Overlooking the river, this is a magical museum with 1st-edition books, hand-edited manuscripts and cardboard theatre cut-outs. Child-friendly interactive…
6. Château des Ducs de Bretagne
0.91 MILES
Forget fusty furnishings – light-filled rooms inside the Castle of the Dukes of Brittany house multimedia-rich exhibits detailing the city's history. Look…
7. Cathédrale St-Pierre et St-Paul
0.99 MILES
Inside Nantes' Flamboyant Gothic cathedral, the tomb of François II (r 1458–88), Duke of Brittany, and of his second wife, Marguerite de Foix, is a…
1.14 MILES
A six-year renovation job by London architects Stanton Williams has done wonders for Nantes’ art museum, open again since 2017 inside the historic Palais…