Nantes Arrival, information and accommodation
France > Brittany > Southern > Nantes > Information
Nantes' gare SNCF, a little way east of the centre, is served by a dozen TGVs daily from Paris (just 2hrs away). It has two exits; for most facilities (tramway, buses, hotels) use Accès Nord. There are two main bus stations. The one just south of the centre on allée Baco, near place Ricordeau, is used by buses heading south and southwest, to Pornic for example, while the one where the cours des 50 Ôtages meets rue de l'Hôtel de Ville serves routes that stay north of the river. Modern rubber-wheeled trams run along the old riverfront, past the gare SNCF and the two bus stations. Flat-fare tickets, at €1.50, are valid for one hour, rather than just a single journey, though one-day tickets are also available for €3.50.Nantes' tourist office, in the foyer of the colonnaded Palais de la Bourse, in place du Commerce (Mon–Sat 10am–8pm; tel 02.40.20.60.00, www.nantes-tourisme.com), provides free book-size guides to local hotels and restaurants, and runs various guided tours of the city. They also sell the Nantes City Card, available in 1-day (€14), 2-day (€24) and 3-day (€30) versions, which grants unrestricted use of local transport, including river cruises, and free admission to a wide range of museums. The bulk of the palais itself is given over to a FNAC bookstore. A subsidiary information office is located alongside the Château at 1 rue de la Château (July & Aug daily 10am–7pm; Sept–June Mon–Sat 10am–7pm, Sun 10am–noon & 2–6pm). Cyber City, 14 rue de Strasbourg, offers Internet access (daily noon–midnight; tel 02.40.89.57.92; €4 per hr). Although it holds plenty of hotels to suit all budgets, Nantes is one of those cities where you won't necessarily stumble upon a suitable place just by walking or driving around at whim. Instead, there are two main concentrations: one, as ever, in the immediate vicinity of the gare SNCF, and one in the narrow streets around the place Greslin. The hostel, La Manu, in a postmodern former tobacco factory at 2 place de la Manu (tel 02.40.29.29.20, [email protected]; €8.08 per night;), is a few hundred metres east of the gare SNCF, and accessible by taking tramway #1 towards Malachère and getting off at "Manufacture".
Pages in section ‘Information’: Hotels.
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