The French city of Nancy is a little off the beaten track. But it deserves to be better known. Those who visit are universally impressed by its striking architecture which sweeps from elegant 18th-century classicism to art nouveau. Nancy’s pre-eminent position in architecture and the decorative arts has earned it a place on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The star of the show is the remarkable Place Stanislas in the middle of the city. It is locally referred to just as Stan.

With a good range of rail links, Nancy makes an excellent first stop in France as part of a wider European tour by rail. The main railway station is located a short walk south-west of the city centre. It is called Nancy Ville. From here, TGVs leave every two hours for Paris, taking just 95 minutes for the 330-km dash to the French capital. There are twice-daily TGVs to Lyon, one of which continues to Marseille and Nice. A new fast regional rail link with Dijon started in December 2018.

Nancy Ville station is the hub of a particularly dense network of regional rail routes with trains fanning out to Strasbourg, Luxembourg, Metz and Épinal.