Puy du Fou, Nantes

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Hello,

Does anybody have any experience of Piy du Fou themepark and/or Nantes region in general?

Thinking of taking the kids (ages 10 and 7) at some point this year.

Easter (April) probably be too cold? So probably July.

We would be planning to fly over and hire a car. Does anybody have any recommendations of where to stay and any other good days outs?

We have done eurocamp a lot over the years and fancy a change. So a gite or apartment or something would be good. Eurocamp type place is ideal I just want a break from the caravans!

Any tips gratefully received!

We stayed in an AirBnB just cycling distance from Puy de Fou at Easter 2025. (And they even lent us bikes!) We did sit outdoors for lunch each day and our gite had access to an indoor pool. There are a few towns to visit but the markets are not operational until later in the season. We stayed in Les Herbiers. Puy de Fou was amazing - I took my 17 year old and his girlfriend and my 13 year old and his friend. Definitely don’t miss the chariots or birds of prey shows!

Yes, Les Herbiers is where I am looking! And I am thinking July might be best.

Having a look on Airbnb just now but happy to look direct if anybody has any recommendations.

Thank you for the chariot and bird of prey tip!

OMG it’s brilliant. My teens were extremely disdainful of the whole idea but LOVED it and one even said ‘thank you so much for taking us there’ in the car on the way out!

Get the fast passes. You can fit much more into your day!

Puy du Fou is amazing. We've been 3 times with children. The last time was a few years ago and I would definitely recommend getting the Emotion pass (priority) We only went for 1 day but with careful planning and a picnic lunch in queues we managed to see all the shows. It's unlike anywhere else I've ever been!!

It’s amazing. Can’t really describe to anyone who hasn’t been. Honestly great for kids and teens.
Yes to Emotion fast passes.
yes to picnic lunch. We bought baguettes from the ice cream sellers in the grounds without queuing, but some food stalls do have a bit of a queue.
If you go in the week and can stay for the NightShow (July, not Easter I don’t think) it’s brilliant. It’s not on quite as late as the weekend night show (more like 8pm) and is included in your ticket (unlike the “bigger” night show at the weekends).

we just booked a local ish B&B via Booking.com and had a lovely stay with a French couple hosting.

parking is free and spacious. You queue to get in to the parking and the gates but it’s all managed very efficiently.

Definitely go! If you fly into Nantes you can stay there too and go to the Jules Verne carousels at Les Machines. That’s worth a bit of a day.

I've not been to Nantes but there is a huge mechanical elephant that you can ride on, which I would love to see.

A bit more stylish than the giant shopping trolley of Las Vegas!

Thanks all

Is there enough to do in the area to keep kids occupied for a weeks holiday?

One day at the theme park? Or maybe two?

couple of days at the gite (or similar) in the pool

couple of day trips somewhere?

I highly recommend Les Machines de I'lle and Le Grand Elephant. We didn't get to have a ride in the Elephant but it's an incredible sight and so are the various other creatures in Le Machines de I'lle. A must see if you're near to Nantes.

https://www.lesmachines-nantes.fr/en/

There’s definitely enough to do for a week or more if you also like the beach. The coastline is great near La Baule. Sandy beaches and generally great weather in July.

Would definitely head to the Vendée coast either before or after Puy du Fou, which we loved by the way. If you can afford it, staying in the park is great as all the hotels are themed and then it’s easy to see a night show etc.

Check out La Garangeoire in the Vendee - about an hour away from Puy du Fou, lovely family run campsite with lots of facilities, perfect in the summer. Has some nice cabins and safari lodges. https://www.camping-la-garangeoire.com/en/

Seconded, we went years ago and it’s wonderful. Highly steam punk!

Hi all,

Thanks for all the advice…. I have just booked flights and am very excited!!

However, due to a couple of commitments in the summer, I have had to book for Easter. Early to mid April

Very much hoping the weather is ok!

However, as @JuniperBerry1said, I can see a lot of gites which have access to heated, indoor pools, which just seem perfect, particularly if there are any rainy days.

Going to have a proper look at accommodation this weekend.

Thanks also to the posters who mentioned tue mechanical elephant - that’s definitely on my list!

Wonderful!!
It’s not just the mechanical elephant, though that’s wonderful - there are amazing two storey carousels with all crazy beetle sea creature contraption rides instead of horses to sit on, submarines, octopuses etc - it’s like if Cirque du Soleil did fairgrounds!

Hi again;

does anybody have any recommendations for towns to stay in other than Le Herbiers?

Le Herbiers looks lovely, and there is some beautiful accommodation, but I can’t find something that ticks all the boxes so thinking of casting net a bit wider.

It’s entirely possible that I won’t find something that ticks every box in which case I will go for one of the Le Herbiers ones but I might as well look….

At the risk of sounding really fussy, these are things I would like:
— Heated, covered pool. A lot of them have pools inside little kind of greenhouses and I think these would be ideal for keeping a bit of heat in, as it will be April and not very warm.

— Pretty and French looking. Ie not to modern / sterile looking.

: Grounds good for kids. Ie garden toys, grass etc. one place I saw had an old fashioned bowling alley set up in a barn

: 2 separate bedrooms, with doors. This is the one that’s proving difficult. We have done camping holidays with the kids for years, all in one tent. We now really want a big of privacy at night. Many of the lovely gites I’ve seen are a bit open plan / mezzanine bedrooms.

: a bath would be nice, but it’s not a deal breaker.

Maybe I am asking the impossible but any recommendations gratefully received!

Ediyed to add - we are hoping to do 2 days at Puy du Fou and might stay overnight, the kids love the look of the red and blue Tudor tents

price is mounting up though! The emotion passes pretty much double the price but I know they are very much recommended. Are they just fast track passes?

We stayed in Flèche in the Loire valley so did chateaus and canoing on the river then a day trip to puy. There’s a great zoo there too. It was May half term so nice weather was pre covid. Drove and ferry. Was a great trip.

thanks @TheaBrandt1ill check out flèche

Puy du Fou is incredible. We did two nights in Le Citadel - it was great fun. I reckon Easter is the perfect time to go. We went in August and it was incredibly hot.

Nantes was fab - the elephant is amazing and Machine des Isles is interesting. Well worth a visit.

It really is an amazing place to visit

Have been twice, it’s a fabulous place. We stayed at the campsite Breteche in Les Epesses in ready set up tent. Traffic can be terrible in and out of PDF so we actually walked.

Just to say we had 2 days there, we had emotion passes for the first day but not the second, and that was perfect as we ticked off 2/3 of the shows on our first day and then had a slower paced day the second. So you don’t necessarily need the emotion pass for both days.

The emotion pass means you have reserved seats (generally the best spot) so you can turn up to a show just 10 min ahead and will definitely get a good spot. Whereas otherwise you really need to be there at least 30 min ahead to be sure of a seat and obviously it may not be such a good seat. This means you can fit more shows in much more easily. The schedule has shows overlapping so it’s impossible to see everything in a day but with the emotion pass we managed to see about 2/3 as I said, we saw the rest the second day and repeated a couple of our favourites from the first day.

A lot of the shows are indoors so if the weather is iffy, try to time the indoor shows for the worst weather! The app will show the schedule for all the shows the night before so you can form a rough plan.

We stayed in the Tudor tents and our girls loved it. The dinner (we chose the roman restaurant) was a bit disappointing though.

The emotion pass is a fast-track pass - you bypass the main queue for all the shows. If you are going at a busy time (ie school holidays) I highly recommend it. I nearly wept at the cost but we visited in the summer holidays and I was so thankful for it. I don't think we would have been able to get into many shows at all otherwise. We stayed at a campsite in the Vendee and did a day trip so not sure about local towns.