With its dramatic bridged moat, looming stone-brick watchtowers and gleaming white tufa, the Château des Ducs de Bretagne (Castle of the Dukes of Brittany) is a glorious amalgamation of a grand ducal palace and medieval military fortress, set at the crest of Nantes’ Old Town. This is Nantes’ most impressive historic site, originally built in the 15th-century by François II, the last Duke of Brittany, and it’s an impeccably restored Gothic-Renaissance residence, surrounded by 500-meter-long curtain walls and atmospherically illuminated at night.
Today, visitors can follow the sentry walkway around the castle’s 7 towers, affording impressive views over the city and the manicured lawns and moat below, then find a picnic spot below the walls or dine at the central courtyard restaurant. The extensively restored castle interiors now also house the Nantes History Museum, where a series of exhibitions explore the castle’s former importance, Nantes’ merchant history and colonial years, and the future of the modern city.
