justretired

My husband are I are 79 and 81, in good health for our age (minus some orthopedic issues) and are planning a second trip to Brittany for this coming fall. Our usual way of traveling these days is to pick a place (or two) to stay to base ourselves for 2-3 weeks. Sometimes we rent gites, and other times we prefer B&B’s or small hotels, which is what we hope to do for this trip. We prefer our lodging to be no more than an hour or so from any touring destination, like being in the center of a bicycle wheel with the spokes radiating outward.

We visited Brittany 5 years ago. We took the TGV from CDG to Rennes, spent a couple of nights there, and afterwards, rented a car, and spent two weeks based in two locations (about a week each) - Pont Aven and La Trinité sur Mer. This fall, we are planning to return and to concentrate on the northern coast, but are open to returning to the south coast again.

We plan on again taking the TGV from CDG to Rennes. We are thinking of staying several days in the St Malo area, possibly staying in Dinan. We hope to spend an overnight at Mont St Michel. We might like to see the Pink Granite cliffs. Do you think they are as unusual and beautiful as reported? Which towns are charming, interesting, and central to various sights? I have read a little about being near Il de Brehat, Treguier, and Ploumanac’h. . Does anyone know and like these towns or can suggest others?

We are trying to decide the best way to do this, and are having trouble picking some bases to see the sights in that region.

Which two or three towns would you chose? These days, we walk, but are certainly not hikers. In addition to back problems, I also have vison issues, and prefer walking on fairly level trails. We like culture, museums and galleries, beautiful scenery, markets and festivals, and great food. My husband speaks French almost fluently and I can get by slowly. We both love learning about Breton culture, history and language.

Picking lodging often depends on where we are going and time of year. We tend to prefer basing ourselves in or near towns where there are a few choices of restaurants. If they are too limited, or not very interesting or special, we might decide to have our larger meal at lunch, but we are flexible. As examples, we have used Bonnieux and Sarlat in France, and Montepulciano in Italy as bases for past trips. We love the opportunity to walk around a village after dinner, chatting with people, having late night café and dessert, before returning to our rental or inn.

Larry and I are social and love the opportunity to talk with residents and tourists while traveling. It would be great to find a place that serves some family style dinners, where the guests can have lively conversations, though we understand that this style of eating is less likely in France than in either Spain or Italy.

1. Do any of you have suggestions on which towns to base ourselves in both areas?

2. Does anyone have any lodging suggestions?

3. Any restaurant recommendations?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions. And, yes, we do have Stu Dudley’s itinerary, although it's 5 years old. .

AJPeabody

Click my name to access our trip report (Paris and Brittany) for some relevant info.

jpie

Although I may be going against popular opinion here, I much prefer Dinard over Dinan particularly if you plan on staying there long than a night or two and certainly in the fall. Dinard has a wonderful market and will have restaurants and shopping that you can walk to if you stay near the city center. If you like cities larger than Dinard then I think both Rennes and St. Malo are nice places to base. They have the advantage of not really needing a car if you stay close to the center of town and then you can rent a car when you leave. A second base to consider might be Vannes in a different part of Brittany. It is a mid-sized town and very scenic.

To give you an idea of scale the population of Rennes is around 360,000, St Malo is around 48,000 people, Dinard is around 12,000 and Vannes around 54,000 people. So as you see they are quite different in size. Rennes is a college town so has a pretty young feel with lots of restaurants bars, etc. Dinard off season will likely give you more of a feel of a place where retirees live.

The pink granite cliffs are lovely but I have only been there in the summer where you may get more light playing of the cliffs to give more color but the whole area is really nice to explore with lots of nice villages, so I don't think you would be disappointed even if the cliffs don't look "super pink".

Michael

If you rent a car for the whole stay you broaden your possibilities of accommodations. If you like markets and do not wish to eat out all the time a rental with kitchen is easier to find outside towns.

https://www.gites-de-france.com/en

Bed and breakfast, cottage and holiday rental in France

bilboburgler

Tregier is charming
Ile de Brehat is an afternoon visit but you could (before Covid) overnight, check ferry times as well.

shelemm

The Rose Granite Coast is not really cliffs, is it? It is a unique landscape, certainly. The most famous site is the Maison du Gouffre. The entire peninsula of Plougrescant is a marvel. You also might want to check out Les Enclos Paroissiaux, a micro-region of villages with a unique architectural ensemble at the heart of each village:

justretired

Thanks, all.

We are hoping to go to Brittany in September because we hope the weather will be less rainy and warmer. Since we visited Finistere and the Bay of Morbinah also in the fall, we know how chilly and rainy it can be. My husband always says, "there is no bad weather, only bad clothing." The last time we were in Brittany, I bought a rain jacket because my own coat wasn't water proof enough. That being said, we loved the region so much and wanted to finally travel after the pandemic, that we decided on returning to the area. We're hoping that early in September might be netter than October. Are we fooling ourselves?

We are still tweaking our itinerary. .Any suggestions are welcome.

AJ, I have downloaded your papers, which are and will be very helpful.

jpie, you bring up interesting comparisons between the size of the towns and cities. WE have traveled a lot though France, and now we prefer lodging in small towns. We are not only interested in seeing the sights, but absorbing the culture. We are slow travelers. Once, in Bonnieux, we spent time in the local library. I"l have to look closely at the difference between Dinan and DInard. Thank you.

Michael we will probably rent a car for our time in Brittany. Although we usually rent gite, we think this time we will try to stay in a B&B, inn, or small hotel- We don't want to cook.

Biblogurgler, thanks. Nice suggestions. There are lots of islands , and yes, I need to get ferry information.

shelemm, thanks for your info on the pink granite coast.

Thanks all. Much appreciated.
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joannyc

I spent 3 nights in St. Malo and 3 nights in Dinan. Did Dinard as a partial day from St. Malo, sorry to say I wasn’t overly impressed with Dinard. But, I did love St. Malo and Dinan.

Here’s a link to y TR and pics. Maybe something in it will be helpful to you. Happy planning!

Western France - A TR in Pictures

bilboburgler

https://www.vedettesdebrehat.com/

it is special

ANUJ

This is my planning thread from 2019, with a short TR at end, which may be helpful.
Visiting Brittany

We based in Ploumanac'h (Hotel des Rochers) to explore the Pink Granite Coast and I'd recommend it.

justretired

We love open air markets and festivals and wonder if there are there any fall fetes in Brittany. Which towns have you found that have great markets?

We enjoy touring wineries and see how they make the local wines. Are there any cider mills or other farms that offer demonstrations or tours?

Thanks.

ANUJ

We didn't actively seek out markets in Brittany but stumbled upon a few by chance - Quimper, Vannes and the most extensive of them - Rennes. This link might be helpful https://unitedinfrance.com/markets-market-days1/. We enjoyed our visit to Maison du Cidre in Argol, on our way to Camaret-sur-Mer

jpie

Depending on your timing and route you could certainly end or start your trip in Bordeaux and visit the Saint-Émilion area. From Bordeaux you can take a direct TGV train from CDG airport, so if you look at an open jaw ticket where you flew into London and out of Paris you could take the Brittany ferry from the UK to get to Brittany and then take the TGV back to CDG when you leave or vice versa. If you don't want to take the ferry (I can't remember if you mentioned that?) then you could just fly in and out of Paris, starting the trip in either Rennes or Bordeaux depending on which direction you want to make the trip. They both have direct trains to CDG without having to go into Paris.

In terms of festivals, here is site about Saint-Émilion that may give you an idea for their 2024 dates more or less:

https://www.saint-emilion-tourisme.com/uk/7-agenda.html

bilboburgler

If going to Brittany why would you go to Bordeaux?

justretired

jpie,, thanks. We have been to the Dordogne, Bordeaux, and St. Emilion, and although we love the area , we are visiting Brittany for this trip.

zebec

JR, loved your hubbie's comment, "there is no bad weather, only bad clothing!" True that!

We too are Brittany-bound this fall and it'll be our first time. In our research, we've scoured every inch and dredged the entire coastline in search of that 'suitable sweet spot' itinerary-wise. For the first time, blood pressure dizziness plus foot concerns must be respected in our planning.
We also enjoy markets, but you may likely have already been to the ones on our list. Hard to separate Tourism board-hype from reality when reading about them from across an ocean. Also are you aware of the 'Pardons' religious procession 'fests? Most are summer affairs but a couple are in September, including ANUJ's Camaret village. There's some attractive coastal areas near that same Camaret and its neighbour Morgat: the various peninsulas plus Plage des Vierges et al.There's also a cider outfit that operates within Quimper, but apparently tries hard to emulate a rustic setting.

Various & sundry: have you looked into the Ile de Sein? A unique experience with a uniquer recent history (I hr ferry from near Adierne). *Got a killer splurge rental in Vannes if you might ever need. Was it not in AJP's TR, the mention of tiny Combrit (Sainte de Marine) as an alternative lunch visit vs overdeveloped Benodet? Will follow this thread with extra interest, and will also add more suggestions/discoveries as they come to mind.

Oh, Lehon? Thx Cheska.

I am done. the breizh

pgtraveler

I am heading to Brittany in late August for six days, then Normandy for four days, then to Paris for a week. It will be my first time venturing outside of Paris.

What month are you going? I can look up festivals in the Michelin Green Guide.

justretired

For those interested in our perspective to southern Brittany, check out ouor trip report under justretired.

Zebec, on our first trip to Brittany, we concentrated on the south coast, and basing in Pont Aven and La Trinite sur Mur ( near Carnac). Unusually, we did not rent a gite or apartment, preferring to stay in small hotels. We did not take a ferry to any islands' because of the weather, which, especially in Finistere, was cold and rainy. It didn't stop us, but certainly slowed us down. In Quimper, we raced between raindrops. With back and vision problems, I have to be careful where I walk. I'll check out the villages and suggestions you made.

We still might make our way to the west and southwest part of Brittany. I'd love to see the aquarium inBbrest and re turn to Finistere if we can fit it in. although we also love the Bay of Morbihan, I think I was drawn to this region because of its connection to historical artists.

pgtraveler, we haven not made plane reservations yet, but hope to travel in September, possibly, going into early October. I'd like to have as warm and as long a day as possible. I''ve been told my a few friends that we should have gone south to Provence, a favorite region, but we wanted to avoid the crowds and really loved Brittany on our first trip.

Thanks friends.

jpie

Well, in general the trip from Rennes to Bordeaux is only 5 hours and with 2-3 weeks that would make a good one way trip. But I forgot the OP said: "This fall, we are planning to return and to concentrate on the northern coast, but are open to returning to the south coast again." Also, until they said they had already visited Saint Emilion, when they mentioned liking vineyards, I naturally thought of that area.

justretired

Of course, jpie, for most people that would make sense, but we would only tend to do that if we were planning on visiting the Dordogne. I don't think we would travel to see a vineyard. Actually, we like seeing how products are grown and made. In Puglia, we went to an Olive Oil farm, in Provence, and Tuscany, we've visited a few vineyards , and saw how glass is blown in Murano. In general, though, we rarely buy anything.