Visiting solo – Disabled visitors

The Château des ducs de Bretagne was awarded the Tourisme & Handicap label for being accessible to all four disabilities (motor, sight, hearing, mental). It is a rare example in France of maximum accessibility in a 15th century building. And, though certain restrictions for accessibility linked to the historical monument remain, the Château is working hard to offer the best access possible to all of its content.

Free for visitors with disabilities and guests accompanying them.

If you have a motor disability

You’re tired or easily tired

Seating and rest areas are available in the Château courtyard, in the Museum (rooms 6, 17, 22 and 30) and in the temporary exhibitions. Wheelchairs and strollers can be borrowed from the museum and temporary exhibition reception desks.

Portable seats are available at reception, in room 5, and on the footbridge between rooms 17 and 18 of the museum, as well as in the temporary exhibitions building.

If you have reduced mobility

Most of the Château des Ducs de Bretagne is accessible to guests with reduced mobility.

• The courtyard surface is flat and stabilized.

However, each building is surrounded by a cobblestoned square. Part of the ramparts is accessible via elevator.

• 28 of the museum’s 32 rooms are accessible, as are the exhibitions in the temporary exhibitions building.
• The moat garden is also accessible

Signs and the specially designed map make it easy to get around. You can visit the museum and exhibitions in complete autonomy.

If you are visually impaired

A tactile, audio-guide tour of the Château and Musée d’histoire de Nantes

This itinerary has an audioguide made especially for it, as well as tactile and sound devices throughout the different rooms.

63 listening stations are available, each describing the room and themes explored, along with tactile texts with suggestions for what objects to touch, maps in relief, and large print, as well as audio descriptions.

Audioguides can be borrowed from the reception desk. They are free of charge.

This “relatively autonomous” itinerary can be taken without the assistance of museum staff. For your safety and comfort, we recommend you come accompanied. The guest accompanying you can play a vital role by guiding you around the museum, helping you find objects with commentaries, maps, drawings in relief, or what objects to touch.

Guide dogs are allowed.

New: tactile tables allowing guests to discover the collections in rooms 4, 7, 10, 11, 13, 19, and 25 have been developed with the support of the Pays de la Loire Regional Cultural Affairs Department (DRAC) and the French National Accessibility Fund.

If you find the texts too small to read

Magnifying glasses are available at reception.

You can also request an audioguide with commentary.

If you are accompanying a visually impaired or non-sighted person.

At reception, ask for one or two audioguides, with or without headphones, and a map.

You can take guided tours, attend lectures, concerts, or shows.

You are hearing impaired

Are you hearing impaired? You can use one of our technical tools adapted to your needs.

• Both ticket offices, as well as the bookshop, are equipped with a hearing induction loops.
• The videos in rooms 4, 8, 13, and 20 are subtitled in French.
• To listen to films about Anne de Bretagne, the history of the castle, and post-war newsreels, you can use an audioguide equipped with an induction loop necklace.

Discover the castle in FSL (French sign language)

A tour of the Château and Musée d’histoire de Nantes in FSL is available via visioguide (i.e., “video-guide”) allowing you to discover the castle on your own, alone, or with others. The tour includes around 30 filmed commentaries interpreted by deaf actors.

FSL translations are visible on video screens in rooms 2 and 6.

Guided tours in FSL are regularly scheduled.

You are intellectually disabled

Autism

We have specially designed documents, a sensory map, and a photo booklet for autistic people to make their visit enjoyable.

Before your visit, you can use them to prepare for your tour.

During your visit, they’ll help you structure your itinerary.

We can also lend you sound-blocking headphones. You can also bring your own tools (sunglasses, timer, etc.).

Tools in Easy Read (in French)

A booklet has been designed to help visitors get to know the Château and its museum.

Informational cards called “Les œuvres à la loupe” (i.e., “art works up close”) in Easy Read (French) make it easier to discover a selection of museum objects.

The variety of complementary media (simplified maps of Nantes, films, interactive elements, Easy Read cards) and informational tools (touch, image, sound) allow everyone to enjoy the site and its rich content. In temporary exhibitions, Easy Read info cards (in French) and interactive play areas are at your disposal.

Useful information

 • Open Tuesday to Sunday, and 7 days a week in July and August.

• The museum is free of charge: for the physically disabled and those who accompany them; on the first Sunday of each month (except in July and August); every day for under-18s.

For all groups (of 5 or more), prior reservation is required from the “Service groupe”.