Mes Endroits Préférés à Nantes

Nantes was the perfect sized city for study abroad. Not as big and busy as Paris, but not small enough where you know every single person in town. It is the sixth biggest city in France, boasting a population of approximately 300,000 people.

There is enough to see and do in Nantes and the towns around that make you want to stay there for several weekends and explore, but also just enough where you’re not missing out on things if you travel for several weekends as well. I feel like I found a happy medium this semester of traveling and staying in Nantes. Contrary to a lot of others in my program, I traveled more the first half of the semester, rather than the second. The weather was worse the first half in January and February, so it motivated me to go explore other regions of France. For me, this worked out well, as the last four weeks of the semester, when things started to get really busy, I was in Nantes making the most of the better weather and all the things there are to do. That being said, there is no right or wrong way to organize your travel while abroad. Do what makes you feel comfortable.

During my weekends in Nantes, I explored several interesting places, and have compiled a list to share with you:

1. Parc de Procé — this beautiful park was right near my host family’s house, so I spent a lot of my free time walking and running the trails of the Chézine and the park itself. It is also a prime spot for pick nicking and hanging out with friends when it is sunny.

    

2. Jardin des Plantes — another great green space is on the other side of Nantes, closer to the Château des Ducs de Bretagne. It is a beautiful little garden with lots of ponds and flowers. Definitely one of my favorite places to pick nick once again or spend an afternoon with friends.

    

3. L’Île de Nantes — this island in the middle of the Loire is where you can find a lot of fun things to do. The Machines de l’Île are over there, right next to a really great food hall called Magma. There are also countless walking and biking paths, as well as many green spaces and bars to hang out with friends. This place was definitely the closest feeling to a proper U.S. college campus in Nantes, as people would hang out on the banks of the river when the weather got better, just as you would on the quad at a U.S. campus.

    

4. Columbus Coffee — located right in Centre Ville, Columbus was a favorite coffee shop of mine to study and chat with friends at. In France, you can be hard pressed to find a cafe that allows you to study, and so Columbus was my favorite spot to grab a fun caffeinated drink on the way to Nantes University or to study at.

    

5. Trentemoult — Trentmoult is a little colorful neighborhood across the Loire River from Nantes’s centre ville. It is home to many wandering cats, cute restaurants, and a little shopping. To get over there, you have to take a ferry called the Navibus across the river from the Gare Maritime. Well worth spending half a day there wandering the colorful streets and exploring.

I could give endless recommendations of things to do and places to go in Nantes, but these five are definitely the ones that stuck out to me the most during my time abroad. Go explore them with friends and you won’t be disappointed!