Walk Nantes along its green line
Nantes sits on the Loire with a castle in the old town and a former shipyard island turned into a playground of art and machines. FOG hides the map until you walk it, and the city spreads wide enough to keep you busy.
Old town and castle
The Chateau des ducs de Bretagne has a walkable rampart walk and a moat garden, and it sits beside the Bouffay quarter, the medieval core of narrow streets and half-timbered houses. The Cathedral of Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul is a short walk north.
West of Bouffay, the Ile Feydeau was once an island and is lined with eighteenth century merchant houses that lean slightly on their foundations. The Passage Pommeraye, a three level shopping arcade from the nineteenth century, links two streets on a slope.
The island and the river
Cross to the Ile de Nantes, the old shipbuilding island, where the Machines de l'Ile workshop is home to the Grand Elephant, a huge walking machine that carries visitors. The Hangar a Bananes and the quays at the western tip look out over the Loire, with a line of large rings set along the waterfront.
A painted green line on the pavement links many of the city's sights each summer. Following it, then wandering off it, is a good way to cover the centre, the Jardin des Plantes by the station and the river.
Wide, flat and rainy
Nantes is mostly flat, with a gentle slope up from the Loire. The centre is easy, and the island adds a lot of new ground on its own.
Atlantic weather means frequent rain and mild winters. Light layers and a waterproof are normal kit year round.
How FOG keeps score here
FOG starts with the whole world under fog. Every place you physically walk clears a circle of roughly 120 metres around you, and that ground stays clear for good. It keeps working with the app closed and the screen off once you allow background location, so the walk to dinner counts as much as the planned loop.
There is no account, no sign-up and no cloud. The trail lives on your phone and nowhere else, and you can export a GPX backup whenever you like. Exploring is free; one purchase of FOG Unlimited adds the higher ranks, all five character paths and history import, with no subscription.
Questions people actually ask
Can you walk the walls of the castle in Nantes?
Yes, the rampart walk and the courtyard of the Chateau des ducs de Bretagne are open to walkers.
What is the Ile de Nantes?
A large island in the Loire, once shipyards, now home to the Machines de l'Ile and new neighbourhoods.
Does FOG work for running and cycling too?
Yes. It clears fog for walking, running and riding, anywhere on Earth, in the same way.
Start with a dark map.
FOG is free to explore. No account, no subscription, and your map never leaves your phone.
free to explore · one purchase unlocks everything · never a subscription