Entertainment In Nantes

Nantes offers visitors the chance to experience its cultural highlights all year round as well as numerous shopping and dining experiences. Theatre and music are largely centred on the university, although the cultural scene does attract world-famous icons.

Eating out

You will never be short of places to eat on your visit to Nantes. There is a large assortment of traditional, international and exotic restaurants located throughout the city. Regardless of whether you have a large or small budget, you will find delicious food that you can afford.

Many of the top hotels offer excellent restaurant facilities and eateries in the centre of town, which are often run by top chefs. If eating at an upmarket restaurant is out of your budget, you will find a delightful range of traditional creperies and cafs offering a cheaper selection of dishes.

Local cuisine

Nantes is renowned for beautiful lakes and marshes, and therefore can offer fresh eels and frogs legs with parsley, garlic and wine. Another local speciality is roasted duck breast cooked in Muscadet. Traditional Nantes recipes boast simple yet delicious flavours that will always leave you craving for more. Another local speciality is the crepe. Crepes are filled with a wide range of fillings, both savoury and sweet, and make a great meal or snack at any time of the day.

Theatre and music

The University of Nantes Theatre is located on campus. It hosts over 70 events every season (September to April) by a wide variety of directors and is also home to several workshops and courses. Every April, the students of the university have the chance to showcase their work at the annual university festival.

Dance lessons are offered to all by the universitys dance school, which also brings together students, actors and musicians to create a dance show that is performed across the world.

The university choir offers many performances throughout the year, while the Symphony orchestra offers concerts mainly during the summer. Both are held at various locations across the city.

Shopping

Nantes is home to the famous shopping centre, Passage Pommeraye, with its elegant and expensive boutiques. Many people enjoy a spot of window shopping here, with few choosing to part with any money. If you prefer to shop somewhere that offers more reasonably priced items, the city hosts a market every day of the week.

For true bargain hunters, the market on rue Jean Jaurs is full of antiques, bric-a-brac and local art. This street is also home to the Nantes Flea Market, held every Saturday morning.

There are over five shopping centres in Nantes offering a range of high street stores as well as cafs and eateries. These centres can get very busy at weekends, when many locals come out for their weekly shopping.