Les Machines de l'Île — Attraction in Nantes

Les machines is a place with mechanical machines, from a huge elephant to an ant, to a spider, a plane and a few other machines, the staff members walk you around and talk about the machines whilst demonstrating them, the staff will pick out children to help demonstrate them, me at 45yrs of age wasn't going to be out done by these children so i asked if I could ride the ant one to which they said yes to, so me and 4 other children sat on this ant and moved it's legs about to make it look like it was walking while going along, but the thing is we knew you had to pay to get in to see the machines and also if you wanted to you could pay extra to ride on the mechanical elephant and also extra to go on the carousel, we just wasn't expecting this, we expected it to all be in this big enclosed place but it wasn't, the elephant walks outside where you queue up to pay to see the machines and walks along out to the river bank and back again so if you didn't want to ride on the elephant or even see the machines you can see the elephant walking about for free and also the carousel is outside by the river Bank too and not in with the machines, if you want to ride on the elephant you have to queue in the same one as the machines queue, we got there about 1 o'clock and queued for an hr or so, I would also advise if you wanted to ride on the elephant to book inadvance as they sell out quickly on the day so you're not disappointed otherwise I'd recommend getting there early to get tickets, if you want to go on the carousel you can pay at the carousel without having to queue up in the machine queue, if you do go and see the machines and keep your card you get a discount for the carousel, it was good and I do recommend seeing it but it is one of those places where you've been there done that and don't need to go...

Machines de l'Île is an exceptional adventure for those who love Jules Vernes, steampunk and mechanics in action. This was on my list for a long time, and I was surprised that this visionary project is already running since 2003. If you can plan ahead buy tickets online 48h ahead. You cannot buy tickets in advance the day before you go or the same day. We did have to queue, but even with a large crowd waiting, we got tickets after only 45 to 50 minutes wait. The wait is somewhat eased by very attentive staff, well-designed booklets in various languages and the mechanical elephant which will pass by, if you are lucky.

The whole experience consists of three separate attractions you can buy combo tickets for the exhibition and the elephant ride at the booth, yet for the carousel, you will have to queue again at the venue. I recommend to visit all three, especially with children as the carousel will allow them some activity by riding one of the mechanical sea creatures. Just mind the opening hours of the carousel rides before booking as during school holidays these might differ.

The exhibition is a guided tour in French, but it is done in such a jovial manner that you can easily follow without understanding every word (or none at all). The arboretum is not too special, though.

The elephant ride is worth the wait. The mechanical giant circles the premises in 1.5h hours. Each ride lasts 30 minutes and there are three points to (dis)embark depending on your slot. Also waiting in the main hall for the elephant to arrive is great fun. The driver can splash water out of the gigantic snout amd children love getting soaked! And do not miss the video about the history and vision of the project. There is still so much more that is dreamt of.

I cannot comment on the carousel, as we did not make...

The imagination and creativity of these machine animals is amazing. I can't understand some other reviews who say there's not much to see. Yes you have to pay but the workmanship that has gone into these displays is unbelievable. The level of detail on each machine is incredible. The style is very art nouveau / vintage / steam punk and based loosely on Jules Verne. Everything is beautifully crafted: even seat belts are quality leather with metal buckles, gates are curved worked iron and there are lovely carvings on the side of the giant elephant. We booked a ride on the elephant in advance - this is advised as the day we were there the rides had sold out. We also queued and paid to go into the Gallery, where a guide described several more machine animals. It's interesting to watch even if you don't speak French. People were chosen from the audience to manipulate the machines. We paid for a tour of the 3 storey carousel. You can choose whether your ticket includes a ride or not; if you do, be sure to watch all the rides on each level before you choose which one you want to go on. Each ride has controls where the rider moves the machine's head/tail/fins etc. They were all fascinating. There is also a single storey carousel which is for kids under 10, you pay per ride. The site is quite open so you can wander around and just do as much as you want in the order you want. The large carousel broke down on the day of our elephant ride so we came back for that another day. There is a shop as well as toilets, cafes and ice cream stalls onsite but you can also pop over the road for other food options. We went to Poke Bowl but came back for ice cream at La Fraiserie. We parked in the Parking Machines de l'Ile,...