Flights to Nantes with Air France

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Nantes - stay in the city that's perfect for lovers of science fiction!

Nantes is a city with a steadily-growing international profile. It has attracted attention for its innovative urban planning strategies and emphasis on the environment, which helped win it the prestigious European Green Capital Award in 2013.

Nantes proper has a population of just under 300,000. Located on the Loire River a few miles before it enters the Atlantic, this north-western French city has a Maritime climate with mild winters and moderately-warm summers.

It's served by Nantes Atlantique Airport, which is around 10 miles from the city centre, which may be reached by shuttle bus.

Like all locations in France, Nantes is one hour ahead of Irish time. Flights to Nantes from Dublin take as little as 4 hours (via Paris or Amsterdam), and there are multiple departures each day.

As well as being an immensely pleasant city to spend a little time in (it's been rated very highly in multiple international surveys for 'liveability'), Nantes has a special appeal for science fiction fans. It's in Nantes where sci-fi legend Jules Verne was born and brought up, and his legacy marks the city to this day. An entire museum dedicated to his life and works exhibits books, manuscripts, illustrations, posters, portraits and items belonging to the writer.

Verne has also had a direct influence upon the creation of one of Nantes' most popular - and unusual - attractions, the 'Machines de l'Île'. Located in the old shipyards on the Ile de Nantes, this attraction is directly inspired by many of the fantastical man-made creations which appeared in Verne's novels. The centre houses a walking mechanical elephant, a mechanical aquarium, a 'heron tree' and a spider which can seat four people, amongst others.

And it's surely no coincidence that Nantes plays host to Europe's largest annual science-fiction festival, Utopiales. It covers science-fiction from all perspectives: comics, video games, film, novels and more.

Nantes - a compact city centre that's packed with world-class attractions

Although it has a world-class public transport system, it's also easy to get around the centre of Nantes on foot. The historic old town contains many of the biggest sights within a relatively small area. These include:

• The Château des Ducs de Bretagne (the castle of the Dukes of Brittany)
• the cathédrale Saint Pierre et Saint Paul
• the Jardin des Plantes (the botanical gardens)
• the Place Royale
• the tour Bretagne (a huge skyscraper with an observation platform)
• le Lieu Unique arts centre with its stunning art nouveau tower

The town centre is excellent for shopping, with all the brand-names you'd expect to see in a modern European city, but a favourite retail experience in Nantes is actually to go back in time to visit the magnificent Passage Pommeraye. This lavishly-decorated shopping mall was built in 1840 and its general appearance has little changed since that time.

Nantes has a reputation as a very green city, and there are squares and public parks dotted all around. The Parc du Grand Blottereau, the Japanese garden on the Ile de Versailles and the Parc de Procé are all accessible quickly from the town centre either by tram or on foot.

Hiring a car is a great idea if you'd like to explore more of the Loire valley area or get to the sea. A number of excursions may also be booked through the Air France website including trips to the Muscadet vineyards and the Guérande salt marshes.