alainr

We are planning to spend 6 nights in Brittany in May starting on a Wednesday. we will be taking a train from Dijon. we have been before to Mont St Michel and don't plan to return. Our tentative plan is to:

--take train from Dijon to Rennes or Nantes where we would pick up a car
--spend 3 nights on the west/south coast --Where?? pont aven? or ??
--spend 3 nights on north coast--near Dinan/ or emeraude coast or granite coast
--return car in rennes or nantes and take train to paris.

we want to drive the coast from st. malo to perrors-guirec. and then head south to visit Quimper, Concarneau, etc.
We are trying to figure out our 2 base cities and find a charming hotel in the country or on the coast to stay. I'd appreciate suggestions of where to stay--both location and charming inns/hotels.
Does it make sense to stay in one place when visiting the emeraude and granite coasts?

kja

I didn’t file a trip report about my time in western France (including many of the places you plan to visit), but you might find some helpful ideas in my planning thread (which also includes my itinerary) – I am still awed by how many people provided invaluable input!
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-itinerary.cfm

If you decide to stay near the Pink Granite Coast, I wholeheartedly recommend the Hotel des Rochers in Ploumanach, which still gets very good reviews.
http://www.hotel-desrochers-perros.com

FWIW -- I loved Rennes!

Michael

Don't miss the <i>calvaires</i> in western Brittany: St. Thegonnec, St. Guillimau (sp?):

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...7624616164661/ and subsequent pictures.

kja

Oh, yes -- the calvary closes are well worth seeing! I stopped at St. Thegonnec, Guimiliau, and Commana, and enjoyed each for what it offered, as well as for the differences between them.

shamouel

For the first 3 nights, to visit Cornouaille (the Breton Cornwalls), I would advise to base in Concarneau, Bénodet (which looks more like a seaside resort) or Pont Aven if you are looking for a picturesque town not necessary along the coast.

From Quimper, on your way to the north coast, yes, it is worth seeing one calvary and parish enclosure, for example in Pleyben or St Thégonnec. The road through the Breton "monts" (Monts d'Arrée) is beautiful too (but you would need more than a week to explore even only Finistère!).

Pink granite coast and Emerald coast are quite far away. You may see the pink granite coast on your way and then reach your base in the evening, near the Emerald coast (around St Malo, St Briac, St Jacut, Dinan...).

You may find some additional ideas on http://visite.bretagne.free.fr/index...ineraries.html

annhig

We recently stayed in Benodet but much preferred Quimper where we stayed several years ago. Both make very good bases for touring the far west of Brittany; we liked Pont Aven, but we liked Pont L'Abbee more and we loved Loctudy which is a little spit of sand and houses poking out into the sea with some great restaurants at the end of it.

Best of all however was Vannes which was an excellent base for the 4 nights we spent there.

in the north we have stayed in Dinan which was good for a night [and would probably have been just as good for 2-3 more] and in Saint quay Portrieux which was ok but not brilliant as a place to stay though it made a good touring base.

The Green Michelin guide to Brittany has some great suggestions for routes to drive - both round the coast and through the middle.

bilboburgler

Mrs B grew up in Quimper and still thinks it is the best place to stay

Gardyloo

Here's a trip report I filed a few years ago that covered a similar itinerary, although we started in Dinan and ended in Pont-Aven. (There's a lot of other stuff too.) http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-movements.cfm

JulieVikmanis

It sounds to me like you will be spending an awful lot of time in your car to get to all the places you want to see in 6 days. If you can forego the Pink Granite coast sights, I'd say to train into Nantes, move up the coast to Vannes, Pont Aven, or Concarneau (as nice a town as Quimper is, I'd do it as a day trip and stay elsewhere on water--we particularly like La Trinite Sur Mer and the lovely Les Petite Hortensias right on the fabulous harbor there.) Then drive cross the peninsula, stopping at Josselin enroute, to a spot on the Cote d'Emeraude to explore Dinan, St. Malo, Dinard and our favorite Cancale--though hotels in the latter aren't quite as charming as you might find in some of the others we like the harbor, the great dining and the fabulous oysters and stay at the serviceable Mere Champlain. From there it's an easy drive to Rennes for your train ride to Paris.

JulieVikmanis

I also meant to say that if you are determined to see all three areas I'd suggest staying two nights in each of the three to minimize driving back and forth to some extent and cut down your total amount of driving at least somewhat.

annhig

Good ideas from JulieV there.

alainr

thank you for your comments! Julie, i think we will take your advice and spend 3 nites near Lorient on the south coast and 3 nites near dinan/san malo.
we would drive to the coast while staying near dinan or st malo

Is it more interesting to visit the coast near Cancale or go west of Dinard for a day trip?

Can anyone recommend where to stay near dinard/dinan/st malo along the coast possibly? Cancale would add more driving time when we want to head to Dinan and then to the coast west of Dinard.
Les Petite Hortensias looks perfect. is there something like it closer to dinan/st. malo area?

kja

I found my stop along the Pink Granite Coast among the most wonderful and memorable experiences of my time in Brittany.

I enjoyed Vannes, but thought Rennes much more interesting.

And I must admit that I was not enamored of St. Malo.

JMO.

kja

BTW, I would add that for me, other highlights of Brittany included Dinan and the standing stones of Carnac, in addition to the aforementioned stops, including the calvary closes mentioned near the start of this thread.

JulieVikmanis

I'm sorry to have to say that we never took to L'Orient. It is in a good position though for exploration of the south coast so if you can find a pleasant hotel, it might be a good choice especially for driving.

At one point I was looking hard for a good place to stay in St. Malo but then we decided to return to our beloved Cancale. The hotel I was most drawn to was the Hotel France et Chateaubriand. It's a grande dame of a place right in the middle of everything inside the gates but it has a certain charm with wonderful old dining rooms but renovated, modern-looking guest rooms. Being inside the gates, you'd probably have to park in one of the large underground parking lots right outside, but we've always found that pretty convenient--at least during day trips there. We've made several stops in St. Malo and each time have enjoyed it more than the last so I would recommend it.

Dinard has a more "high-brow" vibe IMO but it has some nice waterfront and on our last visit we found that it, too, had grown on us. Sorry, I have no experience with hotels there except for having a lovely but quite expensive breakfast at what I think was the MGallery Royal Emeraud Dinard. Rooms are similarly priced I'm sure but not outrageous.