Angers Guide. Leisure Guides.

History, from Roman, Viking and medieval times through the Revolutionary era, stalks the atmosphere-laden cobbled streets of Angers, yet, with a large student population, a brand-new tramway system and all the modern amenities, it's a thoroughly contemporary city too.

Getting around

Angers is a very walkable city, although it’s also inordinately proud of its new tramway system, completed in 2011 with some 25 stops. A 15-kilometre B line will open in 2015. To avoid overhead lines through the centre of Angers and its Avrillé suburb, a revolutionary ground-level power supply has been used for part of the route. The tramway supplements existing bus services, which use efficient and well-maintained vehicles. Taxis are freely available and metered.

Getting here

Getting here could not be any easier. We offer many frequent flights from London City Airport and plenty hotel packages. To book flights and hotels please click here.

Hotels

Angers has a clutch of reliable hotels clustered around the vast, flower-bedecked Jardin des Plantes, right at its heart. Named after the city’s most renowned daughter, the four-star Hotel Anne D’Anjou (1 boulevard du Maréchal Foch) is a classic French provincial grand hotel; a member of the Best Western chain. The lobby is imposing but the guestrooms are on the small side. Take care booking online as several websites will guide you to the identically named but unassociated hotel in nearby Saumur. Close by, the Hotel de France (8 Place de la Gare), another 19th-century edifice, offers similar 19th-century elegance.

The reliable Mercure brand has two thee-star hotels in Angers (at 2 rue du Grand Launay and downtown at 1 place Mendès France). Just 25 kilometres out of town, the stridently modern Interhotel les Jardins de L’Anjou (Chemin du Vaujou, La Pommeraye) is set in lush gardens and has exceptional leisure facilities.

Nightlife

A city of over 155,000 inhabitants, Angers has a student population of 30,000 at its two universities and several colleges, ensuring things stay lively after sundown. There are plenty of cheap eats to be had along boulevard du Maréchal Foch, rue Saint-Laud and rue Saint-Aubin. Popular late-night drinking places include Safari (23 rue du Mail), Le Boléro (38 rue Saint-Laud), VIP Café (5 rue Montauban) and Le Studio 49 (8 place Victor Vigan).

The Fnac record store (25 rue Lenepveu) posts flyers for live gigs. Four Irish-style pubs – L’Inishmore, Le James Joyce, Matt Murphy’s and L’Kent – stand close to each other just off boulevard du Maréchal Foch. Free salsa lessons are available at Casa de Cuba (23 boulevard du Maréchal Foch), while Le Chabada (56 boulevard du Doyenné) is a favoured haunt for music buffs.

Restaurants

The Anjou region provides a wealth of superb produce that is fully exploited in Angers by some of France’s most inventive chefs. Following the seasons, their offerings include such local specialities as rillettes (minced pork pâté), freshwater fish such as zander (pikeperch) and an emergent lighter, healthier cuisine.

There’s a range of restaurants to choose from in Angers, from the formal to the delightfully casual, and café society flourishes on the pavements, as on the lively square outside the Brasserie du Theatre (7 place du Ralliement), a traditional late-closing, Paris-style venue that offers a massive plateau de fruits de mer (seafood platter) and other classic dishes. For the more adventurous, Le Relais (9 rue de La Gare) offers its own take in modern gourmet cooking styles while the grandiose La Salamandre at the Hotel d’Anjou (1 boulevard du Maréchal Foch), with its recreated 15th-century ambience and groaning cheese and dessert trolleys, is wonderful for a special occasion. Anjou rosé wines are an excellent accompaniment to local fare.

Shopping

Like any self-respecting French town, Angers has a range of enticing street markets – and it is market day every day of the week somewhere in town. Saturday’s Grand Marché – which incorporates a renowned flea market – sprawls over place du Maréchal Leclerc, place Louis Imbach and place La Fayette.

Angers boasts an imposing branch of the upscale Galeries Lafayette department store (6 rue d’Alsace) – there’s an exceptionally good wedding gift section and look out for the store’s mind-blowingly opulent 19th-century glass wall. Hypermarkets ring the outskirts while downtown has a host of boutiques and speciality shops.

Treat yourself to unctuous chocolates at Chocolat Benoit (1 rue Lices) and a wide selection of coffees at Brûlerie du Pilori (6 rue Saint-Étienne) or try the cookies at La Mie Câline (43 rue Saint-Aubin). For everything else, Espace Anjou (75 avenue Montaigne) is a strikingly modern downtown mall.

Top 10 sights

Top 5 sights for first-timers

Terra Botanica

Opened in 2010 and with its plants now coming into their best, Terra Botanica is dedicated to fostering a discovery and understanding of plant life and the ways in which humanity interacts with it. Designed to be great fun, as well as educational, this quality theme park features various rides and attractions, as well as an eco-friendly restaurant who claims to serve 100% fresh, 100% natural and 100% French produce.

Route de Cantenay Epinard
www.terrabotanica.fr

Château d’Angers

Strategically set on a rocky bluff overlooking the broad Maine River, the Château d’Angers was begun in the 9th century by the Counts of Anjou and expanded to its present size 400 years later. While it subsequently partly fell into ruin, the castle’s formidable round towers are mostly intact as are the central residential portions which today provide a display space for the outstanding Apocalypse Tapestry, completed in 1382 but with its colours still remarkably intact.

2 promenade du Bou du Monde

http://angers.monuments-nationaux.fr

Old Town

Book a guided walking tour of the OldTownthrough the tourist information office and take in the cathedral, the cobbled streets and the picturesque Adam’s House, with its ornately carved facade. Learn of the English royal connections and the slate industry, which earned Angersits early fortune and the sobriquet ‘The Black City’.

Office de Tourisme d’Angers, 7 place Kennedy
www.angersloiretourisme.com

Galerie David d’Angers

Born Pierre-Jean David (1788-1856), David d’Angers was an inspired sculptor, ranking with the likes of Rodin. The gallery is like a roll call of the great and good Frenchmen of his age and earlier. The spectacular collection is housed in the former Toussaint Abbey.

33 bis rue Toussaint
www.musees.angers.fr

Collégiale Saint-Martin

This chapter church has stood for more than 1,000 years, dating back to the Carolingian era – but recent digs have revealed a much longer history, with brickwork and artefacts dating back to the Roman era. Bizarrely, this summer the knave has been the setting for an exhibition of Tour de France winning bicycles.

23 rue Saint-Martin
www.collegiale-saint-martin.fr

Top 5 sights for old hands

Musée Jean-Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine

The famed Bayeux Tapestry is not a tapestry at all but an embroidery. Learn the difference here and marvel at some amazing workmanship. All the greats of this very French art form are on display while the soaring vaulted ceiling is breathtaking in its sheer majesty.

4 boulevard Arago
www.musees.angers.fr

Carré Cointreau

At the distillery which still produces the famed orange liqueur, discover the secrets of the Cointreau family’s 130 years of success. Vast showcases display former products of the company, posters and other memorabilia. At the end of the visit, savour a tasting of exciting new cocktails based on the product.

Saint Barthélémy d’Anjou
www.remy-cointreau.com

Château de Brissac

Set in 80 hectares of parklands just a short drive from Angers, this seven-storey stately pile is the tallest chateau in France. It has been home to the dukes of Brissac since 1502 and contains an impressive array of artworks, tapestries and furniture as well as having remarkably ornate painted ceilings. Visitors can view drawing rooms, galleries, bedrooms, kitchens and vaulted cellars.

Brissac-Quincé
www.chateau-brissac.fr

Puy du Fou

Already attracting 1.5 million visitors a year, this medieval theme park in the historic Vendée region of western France– an easy drive from Angers– is an unforgettable family attraction with a whirlwind of extraordinary shows.

Les Epesses
www.puydufou.com

Musée Régional de l’Air

Arrive at the airport for your return flight with an extra hour to spare and invest it wisely just across the street at this fascinating nostalgic collection, staffed by knowledgeable and enthusiastic volunteers who have lovingly restored more than 40 historic aircraft, including the plane in which René Gasnier made the first flight in Anjou, back in 1908.

Angers Loire Aéroport
www.musee-aviation-angers.fr

Top 5 activities

Cycling

Rent a bike and take to the ‘Loire à Vélo’ network of dedicated motor traffic-free and clearly waymarked cycle routes – 800 kilometres of them and growing fast. Specially recommended is the Natura 2000 route beside the Loire River. A tip: if you are only riding one way, make it upriver. The uphill gradient is barely noticeable and, travelling in that direction, you will usually have the prevailing wind right at your back.

Wine tasting

The Loire wine district stretches for many kilometres to either side of you and most producers are happy to let you sample their wares, with no obligation to buy. The Domaine du Closel (Savennières) is unusual because the winemaker is a lady – the welcoming Viscountess Evelyne de Jesse Pontbriand.

Canoeing/kayaking

This is a land of wonderful rivers. The Maine runs through the centre of town, the Mayenne is close by and they both run into the mighty La Loire whose similarly named but far more modestly sized Le Loir tributary provides some of France’s most delightful paddling and is user-friendly for novices.

Horse riding

France’s finest studs are in neighbouring Normandy and this too is equine territory. Mounts can be hired by the hour or the day and there’s a wide selection of guided treks available.

Angling/birdwatching

The Loire and its tributaries are renowned for both coarse and game fishing and there are also many lakes and ponds to welcome the visiting angler, with low fees and few formalities. Though the French have a penchant for shooting, there are masses of waterfowl and other bird species to keep ardent twitchers happy.

Top 5 events

Festival Premier Plans d’Angers

Staged at venues across town, this iconic cultural event is an incubator and showcase for competing young European film producers and also features lessons in film-making, discussion groups and previews.

Date: January

Venue: Various venues

Fête du Vélo

With upwards of 35,000 participants, this is the largest annual gathering of cyclists who come from across Europe to enjoy 140 kilometres of guaranteed car-free pedalling along the banks of the Loire, France’s longest river.

Date: June

Venue: Loire riverbank

Tempo Rives

Tempo Rives offers an eclectic programme of 10 free concerts featuring world music, classic music, dance and humour from performers from around the world.

Date: July-August

Venue: Cale de la Savatte

Les Accroche-Coeurs

More than 30 troupes and six brass bands take a noisy three-day parade through the streets for this perambulating spectacle, with street theatre, dance, music and open-air cinema transforming the city. Dance floors at the open-air cafés ensure everyone can take part.

Date: September

Venue: Citywide

Soleils d’Hiver

Angers’ squares light up the winter gloom for this heart-warming winter sun festival, featuring a 45-stall Christmas market, entertainment, exhibitions, shows and Father Christmas’ workshop.

Date: December

Venue: City squares

Written by World Travel Guide

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