Place Stanislas, an open-air salon
Listed as UNESCO World Heritage since 1983, Place Stanislas is bordered by honey-stoned pavilions, two monumental fountains and ornate gates signed by Jean Lamour. You meet near the king’s statue in the centre, then pass under the Héré Arch towards Place de la Carrière. A drink on the terrace of a grand café, then the summer illuminations projected onto the façades: a grand, memorable date.
Ducal city, Old Town
Around the 15th- and 16th-century ducal palace, now the Lorrain Museum, Nancy’s Old Town lines up mansions, churches and old-fashioned shops. You pass through the Craffe Gate, a powerful medieval entrance flanked by two round towers, then walk down the Grande-Rue to Place Saint-Epvre. A hot chocolate in a Belle Époque brasserie does the rest: conversation unspools unhurried.
The Pépinière, Nancy’s garden
Right behind Place Stanislas, Pépinière Park, laid out in Stanislas’s time, unrolls lawns, a rose garden, a little zoo and a bandstand. The people of Nancy meet here as soon as the sun returns, for a lunch break or an evening stroll. On Lyad, locals share their favourite benches; it is up to you to find someone to sit on one with.
Date ideas
- Place Stanislas
- Héré Arch
- Place de la Carrière
- Place d’Alliance
- Ducal Palace
- Craffe Gate
- Pépinière Park