Angers

Angers is a medium-sized French city which is the capital of the Maine-et-Loire département in the northwestern region of Pays de la Loire. It offers the traveller a mixture of a typical French night-life, historically rich street-scapes and great shopping opportunities.

Understand
Located in the French region which was known as Anjou in the Middle Ages, today Angers is a bustling French city, home to around 150,000 people in the city and roughly 270,000 people in the greater metropolitan area. It's a place with great appeal to historians and travelers interested in discovering France's rich medieval history.

By car
Like most French cities Angers can be easily accessed by motorway. The A11 connects Angers to the French capital Paris and nearby Le Mans. By car Angers lies roughly 295 km west of Paris and 95 km west of Le Mans.

Angers is also close to Nantes, Tours and Rennes, all of which are connected to Angers by motorway. Many of the motorways charge a toll which can vary from €2 up to €25.

By train
TGV offers frequent rail-links between Angers and many of France's major towns and cities. The trains are generally of a very high quality, offer very comfortable seating and have suitable storage spaces for luggage. Trains are quite regular and generally depart on time. Ticket checks take place on every journey, as a result it is very important that you are in possession of a valid ticket at all times. Smoking is not permitted anywhere on the train and the use of mobile phones in the seating area of the carriage is frowned upon by other passengers.

Angers is...


 * Roughly between 90 minutes and 2 hours from Paris. (The train can be found in Gare Montparnasse in Paris)
 * Around 45 minutes from the city of Nantes.
 * 40 minutes from Le Mans (on the same line as the Paris-Angers route)
 * 55 minutes from Tours.

By plane

 * Nantes
 * Paris (CDG)
 * Paris (Beauvais)
 * Bordeaux

See more details at the airport website

Get around
Due to the plan "vigipirate", the national anti-terrorism policy, all possibilities to store luggage consignment around the train and bus station have been suspended.

By bus
Public buses are widely avaliable in Angers. Whether you arrive by train or bus, your arrival point in Angers will be at the Angers-Saint-Laud train station, where local buses (and tramways) run frequently, connecting you to the city centre.

Tickets cost €1.60 for a 1-hour unlimited ticket (€14 for 10 tickets), or €4.50 for a whole-day pass (Dec 2023), and these can be bought from vending machines at tram stations, or from some shops. Single tickets can also be purchased on buses but at a cost of €2.00.

On the urban bus network (lines 1 to 12), you can pay for your journey using a contactless bank card. In this case, the fare remains at €1.60 per 1-hour journey, but is capped at €4.50 per day, so as to not exceed the price of the whole-day pass (Dec 2023).

By tram
The city has three tramway lines (A, B and C), which provide access through the city, cross the river and connect the city centre to the suburbs of Avrillé, Monplaisir and Roseraie. Lines A and C link the network to the Angers-Saint-Laud train station and lines B and C also serve the Belle-Beille campus of the University of Angers.

Tickets are integrated with the bus system and it is also possible to pay by contactless bank card on all tramways.

By taxi
Taxis cannot be hailed on the street, however there is a taxi point next to the train station. One of the main taxi companies is Allo Anjou.

By foot
One of the best ways to experience Angers is by foot and generally all of the main tourist attractions and shopping areas are located in close proximity to one another. One exception to this is the nearby lake, Lac de Maine, which is roughly 30 minutes from outside of the centre of town. It is located to the north of Parc Balzac, west of the banks of the Maine river. However, on a summer evening a walk out to the lake and back can be quite pleasant.

By bicycle
Angers has dedicated bike routes all along the town. People with local address can rent bikes for free from the two Velocite office near ESSCA and Rue Lorraine from Tuesday to Friday.

See




Do

 * Cinemas are Gaumont Variétés (Blvd. Foch), Les Quatre Cent Coups (Rue Clavell) and Gaumont Multiplexe (St. Serge).
 * Football: Angers SCO were promoted in 2024 and now play soccer in Ligue 1, the top tier. Their home ground Stade Raymond Kopa (capacity 18,700) is 1 km southeast of town centre.

Buy
Atoll is a big edge-of-town shopping mall, on the ring-road 5 km west of the centre.

Drink
Since Angers is a university town, there are a lot of bars thronged by young people. Passing via the chateau during night one can see groups of young students going to bars. Soft and Bolero are few notable ones and popular among students community.

Sleep
There is a campsite called Ile du Chateau to the south of the town near the river and for the camper-vanner there is an Aire de Camping-cars.

Connect
As of June 2022, Angers has 5G from all French carriers.

Connect
As of June 2022, Angers has 5G from all French carriers.

Go next

 * Nantes - The historical capital of the region.
 * Le Mans - A nearby town best known for its annual 24-hour automobile race.