Nantes Airport to Rennes: Every Way to Make the Trip
Nantes Atlantique (NTE) and Rennes are about 106 km apart, and there is no single public service that links the terminal to Rennes city center. By public transport you take a shuttle or bus, then sometimes a train, which usually takes between about 1 hour 20 minutes and 2 hours. A private car takes the road time and nothing else. Below we compare each option on time, price, luggage and delay risk. We also clear up a common mix-up: many people searching this phrase actually mean Rennes’s own small airport.
TL;DR
- Nantes Atlantique to Rennes is roughly 106 km. Public options run from about 1 h 19 to 1 h 30 for the ride itself, but direct airport-to-Rennes departures are thin, so check your connection before you land.
- Cheapest: an advance-booked intercity bus from about 5 €, or the airport shuttle to Nantes (10 €) plus a train.
- Easiest with bags, children or a tight schedule: a pre-booked private transfer, door to door, with the driver tracking your flight.
- If you actually need Rennes Bretagne Airport (RNS), it is small, and the C6 bus reaches the center in about 20 minutes.
- Zont Cab does not publish a Nantes to Rennes price. For long-distance transfers you request a quote.
Table of Contents
- First, which airport do you mean?
- Your options from Nantes Atlantique to Rennes
- When a private transfer is worth the price
- What to expect at Nantes Atlantique on arrival
- If you meant Rennes Bretagne Airport (RNS)
- Choosing between Nantes and Rennes airports
- Our perspective: the last leg is where trips go wrong
- Booking a private transfer from Nantes to Rennes with Zont
- A checklist before you go
- FAQ
- Sources
First, which airport do you mean?
The query “Nantes airport Rennes” covers three different trips, and the answers differ.
- Landing at Nantes Atlantique and heading to Rennes. This is the main case, and most of this article.
- Going from Nantes or Rennes to Rennes Bretagne Airport (RNS) to catch a flight. It is a much smaller airport. The airport code for Rennes-Saint-Jacques is RNS.
- Choosing between the two airports for a trip to Brittany or the Pays de la Loire.
The size gap is large. Nantes Atlantique handled around 7.19 million passengers in 2025, and it serves over 90 direct destinations with 20 scheduled airlines, including Air France, Transavia, Volotea and easyJet. Rennes is a regional airport with far fewer routes, so many travelers to Brittany land at Nantes, especially on international or long-haul connections.
Your options from Nantes Atlantique to Rennes
| Option | Typical time | Typical cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intercity bus (direct, when available) | about 1 h 30 | from about 5 € in advance | Solo travelers with light luggage and a flexible schedule |
| Airport shuttle to Nantes + TER or intercity train | about 1 h 55 to 2 h door to door, more with waiting | about 10 € shuttle plus a train fare | Travelers comfortable with a transfer |
| Rental car | about 1 h to 1 h 20 on the road | rental, fuel, tolls, parking | Drivers who need a car in Brittany anyway |
| Private pre-booked transfer | road time, no connections | quote based | Families, business travelers, late arrivals, heavy luggage |
The times and prices above are indicative. Timetables change by season, so check the operator before you travel.
By bus
The bus is the cheapest way. Omio lists the trip at about 1 h 30 for the ride, over roughly 106 km, with prices from 5 € when booked in advance. The catch is frequency. Aggregators show very few departures per day on this route, and some days none at all from the airport itself. That matters because a delayed flight can make you miss the one bus that suits you, and a bus ticket is tied to a departure time.
If you go this way, book a refundable or flexible fare, and build in at least an hour between landing and departure for baggage and the walk to the stop.
By airport shuttle and train
The usual public route goes through Nantes. The airport shuttle connects the terminal with the city, and Naolib lists the ticket at 10 €, with a trip of about 20 minutes between the airport and the station. It runs every 20 minutes in summer and every 30 in winter, from about 4:30 a.m. to midnight, according to the same page.
From Nantes station you take the train to Rennes. The Rennes tourist office gives the Nantes to Rennes train at about 1 h 15, with a full fare of 18 €, though that page is older and fares move with booking time. Advance and average fares are lower: Omio puts the average train ticket near 12 €.
Add it up: shuttle, waiting, train, then a local bus or tram or taxi in Rennes. On paper it is cheap. In practice it is two transfers, with bags, and neither the shuttle nor the train adjusts to your flight.
By rental car
The drive is straightforward, around 1 hour to 1 hour 20 depending on traffic, and makes sense if you will tour Brittany by car. For a two-day business trip it rarely does. You pay for the rental, fuel, tolls where they apply and city parking in Rennes, and you take on a drive after a flight. Many travelers also arrive tired, or after dark.
By private transfer
A pre-booked driver meets you at arrivals and takes you directly to your address in Rennes. You skip the shuttle, the station and the second leg. Your schedule is no longer tied to a bus timetable, which is the real advantage when flights run late.
When a private transfer is worth the price
Public transport wins on cost, and we will not pretend otherwise. A bus fare of a few euros is hard to beat for a solo traveler with a backpack. The balance shifts in a few clear situations.
You are traveling with children or a lot of luggage. Moving a stroller, two suitcases and a tired child through a shuttle, a station and a train is a different job than catching it alone. The tourist office’s own guidance for Rennes notes that public transport options require juggling local buses and trains, which is fine for a light traveler and tiring for a family.
You land late or the flight is delayed. Public schedules do not move with your plane. A driver who follows your flight number does. The last shuttle from the airport leaves at midnight according to Naolib, so a long delay can leave you without a public option and with a 106 km gap to cover.
You have a meeting. If you must be in Rennes at a set time, a fixed-time pickup removes two points of failure: the connection and the wait.
You are a group. Splitting a van between four to seven people often brings the per-person cost close to the public fare once you add the shuttle and the train for each traveler. Always compare the all-in total, not the headline fare.
If you are weighing the same question for early-morning arrivals, a guide from another luxury travel advisor on why booking private airport transport 48 hours ahead pays off is written about a different airport, but the logic of reserving early carries over to any busy hub.
What to expect at Nantes Atlantique on arrival
Nantes is a busy airport by regional standards, with more than 61,000 movements recorded in 2025, according to the airport operator’s activity page. Planning for a bit of extra time after landing is sensible at peak hours, particularly in summer and on weekend evenings.
A practical sequence:
- Land and check your phone for your driver’s message, if you booked a transfer. With a public route, confirm the shuttle stop instead.
- Collect your bags. Baggage waits at a mid-sized airport can still reach 20 to 30 minutes at busy times.
- Meet your driver in the arrivals hall, or head to the shuttle stop.
- Allow roughly 1 h to 1 h 20 for the road to Rennes by car, more in rush hour around either city.
Because the airport links to Rennes mainly through other cities, this is where delays add up for the public route. The Nantes airport page confirms that the shuttle serves the Nantes agglomeration and city center, so any trip further than Nantes needs a second booking.
If you meant Rennes Bretagne Airport (RNS)
The other half of this search is people trying to reach the Rennes airport itself. It is simple by comparison.
- Bus C6: Rennes Bretagne Airport describes the C6 as reaching the city center, République station, in 20 minutes, every day.
- Train: the Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande stop is a 5-minute walk from the terminal, which avoids road traffic entirely. The same guide cites a single bus ticket at about 1.50 € and a TER ticket from the airport to the city at around 5 €.
- Private car: worth it for late arrivals, groups or onward travel to the coast.
From Rennes, many visitors continue to Mont-Saint-Michel. We wrote a separate walkthrough on cutting hours from the Rennes Airport to Mont Saint Michel trip.
Choosing between Nantes and Rennes airports
If your final destination is in Rennes or Brittany, compare both airports honestly.
- Rennes Bretagne is small, close to the city and easy to leave. It is the better choice when a flight from your origin exists at a sensible price. Rennes handled 512,000 passengers in 2024 against 7 million for Nantes, according to the press coverage that ranks in search results, so route choice is narrower.
- Nantes Atlantique has far more routes and airlines, which often means cheaper or more direct flights. The cost is the 106 km overland leg.
A lower airfare can disappear once you add ground transport. Price the whole journey, flight plus ground leg, before you decide.
Our perspective: the last leg is where trips go wrong
We handle airport transfers for a living, and the pattern is always the same. The flight is the part travelers plan carefully. The last 100 km is the part they leave to chance. Then the plane lands 50 minutes late, the one useful bus is gone, and the family is standing in arrivals with three suitcases and no plan.
That is why our service is built around the things public transport cannot do: we track your flight so the pickup follows your actual landing time, the driver meets you personally, and the price is fixed when you book, with no hidden fees. Our vehicles run from Mercedes and BMW sedans to vans for larger families.
We will also say plainly when we are not the best choice. If you are traveling alone, light, on a flexible schedule, and a few euros matter most, the intercity bus or the shuttle and train combination is a fair answer. We are the better answer when time, luggage, children or a fixed appointment are in the picture.
Our published pricing today covers the Paris area. Nantes to Rennes is a long-distance transfer, so we quote it individually rather than printing a number we cannot stand behind.
— Arthur
Booking a private transfer from Nantes to Rennes with Zont
We offer long-distance luxury transfers, private airport meet and greet and full-day chauffeur service. Because the Nantes to Rennes route has no published fixed price, you should ask for a quote before you book, with your flight number, passenger count and luggage. Our service includes real-time flight tracking, 24/7 support and booking management through the app. You can see the countries and cities we cover on our all destinations page.
If you are also visiting Paris on the same trip, our Paris airport transfer page lists published fixed fares, for example from 65 € from Paris CDG Airport to the city center and from 45 € from Orly.
A checklist before you go
- Confirm the flight number and terminal with your booking, and share it with your driver or your transfer company.
- Count your bags honestly. A sedan and a van are different budgets. Ask for a van if you travel with more than about three large cases plus passengers.
- Check the last public departure. If your landing might push you past midnight, the public shuttle may not be an option.
- Save the address in Rennes in a form the driver can use, with the entrance or access code.
- Keep a backup. Download the operator’s app and keep the support number handy.
- Compare totals. Add every leg for every traveler, including the Rennes local ticket.
FAQ
How far is Nantes airport from Rennes?
About 106 km by road, according to Omio’s route data. The drive usually takes around 1 hour to 1 hour 20, depending on traffic. Public options typically take 1 h 20 to 2 hours.
What is the cheapest way from Nantes airport to Rennes?
The intercity bus, which Omio lists from about 5 € when booked in advance. The airport shuttle at 10 € plus a train ticket is another low-cost route. Both are tied to fixed timetables.
Is there a direct train from Nantes airport to Rennes?
No. The airport shuttle links the terminal to Nantes, and you then take a train from Nantes station to Rennes. The shuttle ticket is 10 € according to Naolib, and the train is a separate fare.
What is the airport code for Rennes?
Rennes-Saint-Jacques Airport uses the code RNS, while Nantes Atlantique uses NTE. Check which code is on your ticket, since the two airports are more than 100 km apart.
Can I get a private transfer from Nantes airport to Rennes?
Yes. We arrange long-distance chauffeur transfers on request, with flight tracking and personal meet and greet. Contact us through our concierge services page to get a quote for your date and group size.
Sources
- Activité de l’aéroport, Otana
- Nantes Atlantique Airport, VINCI Airports
- Bus Aéroport Nantes Atlantique Rennes, Omio
- Airport shuttle, Aéroport Nantes Atlantique
- Se rendre à l’aéroport Nantes Atlantique, Naolib
- Rennes Métropole Tourist Office
- Rennes Bretagne Aéroport: le guide pratique, Office de Tourisme
- Bus, Aéroport Rennes Bretagne