Making the Most of Your Time

Making the Most of Your Time

If you have just a few days here, choose your coast—Channel or Atlantic! Cliffs and beaches, boat trips, culture and history.. both shorelines offer all these and more. St-Malo makes a good base of you're Channel-bound, handily placed for medieval Dinan; Chateaubriand's home at Combourg; Dinard, the elegant Belle Époque resort once favored by British aristocrats; and the lively city of Rennes, the gateway to Brittany set 354 km (220 mi) west of Paris. Pretty Vannes is a good base for exploring the Atlantic coast. Highlights hereabouts include lively Quimper, with its fine cathedral and pottery; the painters' village of Pont-Aven, made famous by Gauguin; the prehistoric menhirs of Carnac; the rugged island of Belle-Ile; and the picturesque Bay of Morbihan. The third side of the Brittany triangle is its verdant, unhurried hinterland. Charming—but forget it unless you're here for the month.