Cultural festival Le Voyage à Nantes, runs until 28th August 2016, and is a tour de force of creativity. The city is vibrant with contemporary, site-specific works highlighting the city’s cultural and historical riches, free to access and accessible to all. This quirky art trail is complemented with a multitude of exciting events, making for a truly unforgettable journey.

Nantes is set between Brittany and the Loire Valley, and is perfect for those who want to escape the UK and enjoy the charms of a cool city that celebrates creativity on every corner. What’s more, the Nantais’ love of fresh food is apparent through an explosion of fabulous restaurants, and the local Muscadet vineyards provide the perfect accompaniment. Direct flights take only one hour, from major airports Liverpool, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Southampton and London. Time to book those tickets!

Artists, designers, gardeners, cooks, DJs and graffiti artists have been invited to express their creativity in public spaces throughout the city. With 40 amazing steps to link up the whole cultural package the town goes a little bit further off-beat than normal. Ephemeral installations, works of art, and unique experiences together help to animate the fabric of the city to create exciting places to meet people and enjoy new experiences.

The ‘Jardins des Plantes’, for example, is a magical place thanks to the great children’s writer and illustrator Claude Ponti, who has given life to his dreamlike world in the botanical gardens. London-based Nantais, graphic artist Jean Jullien, holds his largest ever public exhibition this Summer showing 200 of his graphic works on billboards across the city. A new large scale installation from Le Gentil Garçon is both intriguing and challenging as he takes over a former palace – accessible to the public for the first time, while Corsican artist Ange Leccia shows his beguiling works, often featuring Letitia Casta, that play with ideas of femininity and place.

To tie everything together a green line is painted on the pavements; it stretches 12 km and forms a loop that encompasses all the main attractions of the festival and the historic places of the city. This playful signage means visitors can always be sure to be discover something exciting, and never be lost, from the historic Castle of the dukes of Brittany to its Jean Nouvel courthouse, and to ‘take the journey’ in Nantes with confidence.