Nantes France
192
Cruises availables
At departure or passage at this port
CroisiEurope (190 Cruises)
MS Lafayette
65 Cruises
Image not available
| 19 June | 5 days | Round-trip The Loire Valley, a Royal legacy |
| 24 June | 5 days | Round-trip The Loire Valley, a Royal legacy |
| 29 June | 5 days | Round-trip The Loire Valley, a Royal legacy |
Ms Loire Princesse
125 Cruises
Crystal Cruises (2 Cruises)
Frequently Asked Questions
In the heart of the city, on the Loire. River ships coming downstream land passengers at the ideal starting point for a full day: the château, the Île de Nantes and the 19th-century centre are all walkable.
This is the real trade-off: either the château and the historic centre, or the Machines de l'Île. The Machines need half a day on their own; trying to do everything means rushing and seeing nothing.
It is Anne of Brittany's fortress in the city centre, setting its granite curtain walls against the white tuffeau façades of its inner courtyard. The ramparts are freely walkable and a museum of urban history occupies the interior.
Yes, without concealment. It covers the role of the triangular trade that enriched local ship-owners in the 18th century. The memorial to the abolition of slavery, built beneath the Quai de la Fosse, continues that reckoning facing the river.
A mechanical bestiary housed in the former shipyard halls, inspired by Jules Verne and by Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks. The Grand Elephant carries passengers in a breath of steam, and the marine worlds carousel spins its deep-sea creatures across three levels.
The writer was born on the Île Feydeau in 1828. A museum is devoted to him on the Butte Sainte-Anne, and his imagination runs through the whole staging of the Machines de l'Île.
It is a shopping arcade of 1843, stacked over three levels of statues and wooden staircases, in the 19th-century city on the right bank. The Graslin quarter, with its colonnaded theatre and listed brasseries, surrounds it.
It is the former ship-owners' islet, two streets from the Passage Pommeraye, whose buildings with bulging balconies and carved mascarons lean slightly on their made ground.
It is a line painted on the pavement linking the stops of an art trail that scatters works and surprises as far as the rooftops. Following it at random remains the best way to feel the spirit of the place.
Beurre blanc was born on these banks and Loire pike-perch still suits it. Muscadet from the nearby slopes goes with oysters and eel, and gâteau nantais, soaked in rum from the old trade routes, is sold in every good patisserie. Talensac market shows the full range.
