France · Pays de la Loire · Nantes
île Feydeau, Nantes — Area Guide & Where to Stay
A former Loire island in the centre of Nantes, île Feydeau was laid out from the 1720s under the intendant Paul Esprit Feydeau de Brou.
About île Feydeau
Where to stay in île Feydeau
Not every neighbourhood fits every trip — here's what each one is good for.
Only a few streets make up île Feydeau. Its plots were laid out from the 1720s, so a stay here puts the centre of Nantes at the door, with Basilique Saint-Nicolas and the Nantes Museum of Arts within a level walk. Choose by which edge suits.
Some want the Loire quays where the Maillé-Brézé lies moored, others the ground running toward the Château des ducs de Bretagne and the Tour LU beyond it.
About île Feydeau
What are the main landmarks in île Feydeau?
Step off the old island and the monuments begin. The Château des ducs de Bretagne stands a short walk away, while the Nantes Museum of Arts, the Musée Dobrée and the Natural History Museum of Nantes hold the city's collections within the same reach. Basilique Saint-Nicolas is closer still. Église Sainte-Croix sits among the old streets, the Maillé-Brézé lies moored on the Loire, and the Tour LU rises beyond the castle.
What is the history of île Feydeau?
Water once ringed this ground. The Loire held a strand here, known also as the grève de la Saulzaie, and its building plots were only marked out from the 1720s, when the whole island was developed as one planned subdivision rather than piece by piece. Paul Esprit Feydeau de Brou gave the scheme his patronage.
He was a conseiller d'État who served as intendant of Bretagne from 1716 to 1728, and the island has carried his name ever since.
Where is île Feydeau?
A former island of the Loire, île Feydeau forms a compact block of streets in central Nantes. Its ring of water is gone.
Good for
More areas in Nantes
Updated September 2026