Nantes - the most livable city in Europe

History of Nantes dates back to Prehistoric time, when region of current city and its neighborhood was populated with miners. First city was founded and named Namnetes, by the Gauls, and was later conquered by Caesar in 56 BC. With fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476, whole region went under control of Franks.

In the Middle Ages, Nantes was capital of region called Breton March, whose purpose was to prevent Breton expansion from Armorica. When Breton expansion was at its peak whole region of Breton March and Nantes as its capital were integrated into Brittany.

Next 6 century Nantes went from hands of Brittany to the hands of France, followed by two wars of succession, until 1532 and union between France and Brittany. That was period when port cities, like Nantes flourished.

During the Wars of Religion, Nantes supported the Catholic League in its fight against the Protestants. In 1685 Louis XIV announced Code Noir, by which Nantes became commercial hub for sugar, tobacco and slaves trading.

Nantes was the only supporter of new government in its surrounding region, during French revolution.

With the start of industrial revolution, Nantes soon became industrial city. First omnibus service was established in Nantes in 1826, before Paris, London or New York.

Castle of the Dukes of Brittany is located in the city center and today houses History Museum. Every tourist in Nantes should visit it and learn more about history that took place here.

Like most of French cities, Nantes has its cathedral - Saint Pierre Cathedral. It is right next to the castle. Beneath it tourists can visit two crypts where the treasures of the cathedral are displayed.

The Passage Pommeraye is small shopping mall in the center of Nantes. But very special because it was built in 19th century and still has the same look, only with modern day stores.

Isle of Versailles is a peaceful island with a Japanese garden. It is an artificial island built with the material from the digging of local canal, and Japanese landscape was placed there in 1987.

Mellinet square is place with eight perfectly symmetric houses built around an octagon.

Bouffay square is a beautiful pedestrian area between the Castle of the Dukes of Brittany, Saint Pierre Cathedral and Commerce Square. It is known for its Breton culture and lots of pubs and restaurants.

Maillé-Brézé is a warship, that never saw battle, but it was moored in Nantes for many years and since 1988 it is ship museum open to visitors.

The Jules Verne Museum is just by the port in Nantes. It offers view of the collection dedicated to Jules Verne.

Machines of the Isle of Nantes is an exhibition of fantastic mechanical animals, made as a tourist attraction. It includes the Great Elephant on which you can take a ride.

Nantes and this region of France are famous as the origin place of crêpes. Almost every restaurant in Nantes offers them in their menu. Also, as the city near ocean, Nantes is well known for the seafood. There are many restaurants in Nantes. Those little bit expensive are in the center and most of them have preserved their “turn-of-the-century décor”. Cheaper ones are usually hidden in small streets, but they also offers great choice of food. You should try croques-monsieur, which is open-faced sandwich with ham and melted cheese. Nantes is known to have mostly cloudy days, so if it’s sunny be sure to get table outside and enjoy it.

City of Nantes has lots of pubs and bars, and most of the restaurants turns into bars during evening. Bouffay square is center for the nightlife. Be sure to try Breton cider, which is similar to beer. There is a variation called kir bréton, which is cider mixed with a fruit liqueur. Nantes is also known for its Muscadet wine. It is not very expensive wine, but very delicious and goes well with seafood.

Buck Mulligan's bar is well known because every Wednesday students from around the world, who are studying on Nantes University, gather here to meet new people and socialize. In Nantes there are several Irish bars where the bartenders speak fluent English.

If you want to get out of Nantes and see something nearby, you should definitely visit Grand-Lieu, nature lake park. Its vast space is hard to understand, as it is a 6,000 hectares of flat land covered with lakes, marshes, pastures and reed beds. It is home to second largest range of birds in France. A perfect way to spend your day is to take a boat and explore these waters and its flying inhabitants.

Nantes is bike friendly city. All over city there are bike stations where you can rent bikes and drive through out town on well organized and marked bike trails.

During summer main event for tourist is 'Voyage à Nantes' that takes poetic discovery in a single 15km trail of 30 stops. It allows strangers to visit, understand and learn about Nantes. There are always unexpected stops and interesting sights to see and thing to do along the way.

Also during summer there is festival based on different cultures from near and far, every year with different theme and venue.

August is reserved for jazz lovers. Jazz festival takes place by the river and combines music with landscape, creating great atmosphere.

In November, international film festival takes place in Nantes. It shows cinematography of Africa, Asia and Latin America. It is called Festival of 3 continents.

If you’re coming by plane Nantes has international airport with regular connections to Paris, Lyon and other French cities, as well as flights from UK.

Nantes is connected by train with Paris and Charles de Gaulle airport. It takes 2 hours to get from Paris to Nantes. You can also use train from Nantes to visit Lille, Grenoble, Lyon and Marseille.

If you decide to come to Nantes by car, use L’Oceane highway which connects Paris with Nantes.

Since Nantes is located on the river Loire, near the ocean, there are many cruises that visit Nantes. Also river cruises for the Loire valley starts from Nantes port.

Then book a hotel in Nantes, Pays de la Loire, France and check it out.

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