I visited Paris in 2012 and although was a pretty city it din’d impress me. The people were so cold, that you ask something on the street and just ignored you and was packed with mass tourism. I decided to give France another shot and I didn’t regret it.

2 days before departing I was looking for cheap flights for a city break and the city of Nantes popped.

The flight from/to Lisbon with Easy jet was less than 70€ return and I found a small hotel right in the centre that was recently remodeled for 65€/night.

I stayed 3 nights that was plenty of time to explore the city.

Arriving to the centre

It’s very easy to arrive to the city centre. Just outside of the airport there’s a bus for 9€ and you pay to the driver and has 3 stops. It only takes 20 min to arrive at the centre. It doesn’t worth to go by taxi at all.

Transportation

In this city all transportation you need are your feet. You can do everything walking but if you’re tired they have a good surface metro service.

The food 

Wow the food here is amazing. In Paris I went mostly to fast food restaurants so I decided to try the local food now. Food here is not cheap but the quality is very good. Usually at a restaurant expect to pay at around 25€ per person.

Some of my recommendations for traditional dishes are the Les Pieds dans le Plat and Aux Petits Oignons.

If you want something cheaper (around 15€) I recommend Ramen Ya, the restaurant Pitaya and the Bagelstein.

If you are here you need to try the pastries the dough is amazing! The Galette de Rois (around christmas time), the eclaires, the crepes, the macarons, and of course the bread!

The Locals

The best part of Nantes was that was barely any tourists! I really felt like a local. And contrary to Paris here the people were sooo nice. A lady on her bike stopped and asked us if we were lost and needed some help because she saw us with the map opened!

My french is far from perfect but here if you can’t speak well the language they automatically switch to Spanish or English. In Paris even if you speak french most likely they just ignore you anyway…

What to do

This city has something that I’ve never seen. It has a green line painted on the floor that connects the attractions for 12km so no one gets lost.

Nantes has a lot of amazing cathedrals spread among the city, a nice castle Château des ducs de Bretagnea and big park named Jardin des Plantes de Nantes.

If you come to Nantes you need to cross the bridge to Ile de Nantes and go see the mechanic animals. I couldn’t see them in action just passed by because they “rest” in January.

I couldn’t also visit the Ile de Versailles because it also closes in this time.

I recommend you to go to the last floor of the Bretagne Tower. At the 32 floor you can have an amazing view of the city at the Nid for only 1€.

In conclusion if you want a true french experience, with amazing food and nice places to visit head to Nantes!