Saint-Nazaire: Guide, Hotels, Map & Photos
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EUR 36 - 42 Hotel De Touraine
 Located in the heart of Saint Nazaire, the Hotel de Touraine offers a warm and friendly welcome close to the train station, only 5 minutes from the be… MoreEUR 50 - 67 Hotel De L´Europe
 In Saint-Nazaire’s city centre, next to the historic sites and boatyards, the hotel provides comfortable accommodation.
The staff offer a warm wel… MoreEUR 70 - 145 Hotel Du Berry
 Near the harbour, and TGV train station, the Hotel Du Berry provides peaceful accommodation in the centre of Saint Nazaire with free parking on site.
… MoreEUR 40 - 60 Hotel Restaurant La Luna
 Hotel La Luna is located in the heart of Saint-Nazaire, 300 metres from the beach and a 10 minute walk from the harbour. It offers rooms with free Wi… MoreEUR 50 - 113 Park & Suites Elégance Saint Nazaire
 This Park & Suites Elégance is located in the heart of Saint-Nazaire. Rooms have a kitchenette, satellite television and free Wi-Fi.
The Park & Suit… MoreEUR 64 - 130 Inter-Hotel Anaiade
 The brand-new Inter-Hotel Anaïade features comfortable rooms with flat-screen TV and free Wi-Fi internet access. It welcomes you at the entrance of S… MoreEUR 68 - 150 Holiday Inn Express Saint-Nazaire
 Close to Saint-Nazaire´s 20 beaches and within walking distance of the city centre, the Holiday Inn Express offers high-quality, comfortable acc… MoreEUR 47 - 65 Hôtel Le Dauphin
 The staff of the hotel Le Dauphin will do its best to make your holidays a dream. The hotel Le Dauphin and its staff are pleased to welcome you.
The… MoreEUR 60 - 165 Au Bon Accueil
 Situated in the heart of Saint-Nazaire, this stunning and imposing establishment offers a convivial atmosphere and excellent gourmet cuisine.
Au Bon… MoreEUR 59 - 195 Aquilon
 Hotel Aquilon Saint-Nazaire is located just 5 minutes away from La Baule and offers free parking. It is close to Saint-Marc beach and a shopping centr… MoreEUR 79 - 194 Best Western Hotel De La Plage
 Situated 10 minutes from the business centres of Saint Nazaire and La Baule-Pornichet, this Best Western is Saint Nazaire’s only ocean front hotel. … MoreEUR 46 - 64 Citotel La Belle Epee
 The Citotel La Belle Epée is located in the city centre of St-Nazaire, a 10-minute walk from the beach. It offers rooms with free Wi-Fi internet acce… MoreEUR 38 - 75 Hôtel Le Bretagne
 The Bretagne Hotel is a charming hotel, ideal for a stopover in the city centre of Saint-Nazaire. A warm and pleasant welcome will make your stay as e… MoreEUR 55 - 98 Appart´city Saint-Nazaire
 Appart´city Saint-Nazaire is located in the town centre within the Villeport new district of Saint-Nazaire. In the vicinity, you will benefit fr… More | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Saint-Nazaire: Guide
Saint-Nazaire (commune in the Loire-Atlantique Département in France|département of France, of which it is a sous-préfecture. It is a major harbour, on the right bank of the Loire River estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean. The town is at the south of the second major swamp in France "la Brière".
As such, it has a long tradition of fishing and shipbuilding.
History
The building of the French ocean liner German Navy and was as such the target of Allied operations. A heavily fortified U-boat submarine base was built shortly after occupation. Its 9-m (30-ft.) thick concrete ceiling was capable of withstanding almost any bomb in use at the time. (The 1944 British Tallboy bomb|Tall Boy or 1945 Grand Slam bomb|Grand Slam might have dealt with it). The base still stands today, as its extremely sturdy construction makes demolition uneconomical.
The Bismarck and German battleship Tirpitz|Tirpitz. This gave the port a massive strategic importance to both the Axis Powers and the Allies during the Second World War.
On March 28, 1942, a force of 611 British Commandos launched a raid against the shipyards of Saint-Nazaire, codenamed St. Nazaire Raid|Operation Chariot. The commandos succeeded in destroying the Normandie dry dock, preventing its use by Germany during the war.
The U-boat threat to supply convoys across the Atlantic made Saint-Nazaire a constant target of Allied air forces. To minimize civilian casualties during air attacks, the Allies eventually devised a plan to force evacuation of the town. For three days in 1943, British and American aircraft dropped scores of leaflets warning the population of a planned firebombing raid. At the end of the third day, the raid came and burned the entire city to the ground. Casualties were light as most civilians had heeded the warning and fled to the safety of the countryside. Except for the self-contained submarine base, Saint-Nazaire remained abandoned until the end of the war.
After D-day and the liberation of France in 1944, German troops in Saint-Nazaire's submarine base refused to surrender and holed up (as did their counterparts in the La Rochelle and Brest, France|Brest bases). As the Germans could no longer conduct major submarine operations from the bases, Allied commanders simply bypassed these and focused their resources on the invasion of Germany. Saint-Nazaire and the other two German "pockets" remained under German control until the last day of the war.
The town was rebuilt in the late 1940s in a minimalist, somewhat drab style that belies the natural beauty of the area.
Economy
First port of France on the Atlantic side
Shipyard - Saint-Nazaire suffered heavily from the downsizing of shipbuilding activity in western Europe in the 1960s and 1970s|'70s. For a long time in the 1980s, it remained an economically depressed area with unemployment rates above 20%. Today, the local economy is more diversified and its situation is more in line with that of France as a whole. The local shipyard (Chantiers de l'Atlantique) has completed a successful reconversion to cruise ship building and is now one of the world leaders in this sector. The Cunard Line's new flagship, RMS Queen Mary 2, was built in Saint-Nazaire.
Site of a major factory of Airbus, responsible for the construction of fuselage sections.
Cultural References
In the Franco-Canadian CGI Cartoon Skyland, Saint Nazaire is the name of the pirate flagship.
The video game opens with the British raid on St. Nazaire.
Perrett, Bryan (2003). For Valour: Victoria Cross and Medal of Honor Battles. Wiedenfeld & Nicolson, London. ISBN 0-297-84662-0
This "Travel Guide" section is drawn from the Wikipedia article "Saint-Nazaire". We hope you will edit and improve it. It is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.See also
1942 raid on the Normandie dry dock - see St. Nazaire Raid
Skyland Cartoon - see SkylandExternal links
References
Guériff, Fernand. Saint-Nazaire sous l'occupation allemande: le Commando, la Poche. Éditions du Paludier (In French)