Have had wonderful advice in the past so need your help again, Fodorites. Husband and I wish to spend 6-7 days in Brittany and Normandy, after a cruise which ends in Nice. We need advice on the most efficient way of touring this area in the time available. We should catch a flight from Nice to WHERE?. We will rent a car at the airport of where we land. Then, what is the best route to take and which towns should we spend overnight in. We will fly out of Paris at the end of the trip, but don't want to drive car into Paris ( too much stress), so would like to drop it off somewhere reasonably close with max of 2 hour train journey to Paris.

I would very much appreciate a rough itinerary of where to start, where to stay, and where to finish.

All advice gratefully received. Thank you.
Irene

We have been numerous times. Always with a Michelin green guide.

Train Nice to Paris, Paris to Caen would be a place to start

What about taking a train to Tours/St Pierre des Corps and driving from there?

Tours is about 3 hours' drive from St Malo in northern Brittany, 2.5 hours from Nantes in southern Brittany, and 2.5 hours to Caen.

There are parts of Normandy about 1.5 hours from St Pierre des Corps, but I know a lot of people use "Normandy" to mean just the landing beaches of WW II and I made that assumption in your case. If I'm wrong and you're interested in beautiful Norman villages and countryside, I can make some suggestions.

Can you tell us more about what you'd like to see in Normandy and Brittany?

well, you could fly from Nice to Rennes or Nantes non stop, according to Kayak which would be a lot quicker and more time efficient than going on the train, bearing in mind you only have 6 days for this part of your trip. Rennes would b more central if you want to see Normandy as well, Nantes would be good for touring southern Brittany then going to the north and finishing at, say, Mont St Michel.

You would then be in a good position for returning to CDG by train.

What do you want to see in these areas? D-Day beaches? Mont St Michel? Countryside? Carnac standing stones? Wild coast? Arthurian legends?
We spent nearly 5 weeks there this summer, and barely scratched the surface.

Brittany and Normandy in the very short time you have available is biting off a LOT! What do you want to do there? Get yourself a few guidebooks and see what appeals to you personally. If it were me, and it's not, I would pick one or the other and actually see a few things. I've spent cumulatively a few months in those areas and still have loads I didn't get to.

Agreed, more information would be beneficial. However, here's an imaginary driving route that goes from Nantes to Rennes via beautiful Pont-Aven, oysters at Belon, then over to Dinan and Mont St-Michele before ending at Rennes, where there are direct trains both to central Paris and CDG airport. You can fly nonstop from Nice to Nantes for €48.50.

Map - https://goo.gl/maps/Rjmey7VRNNN2

Here's an old trip report the covers the Brittany bits, for what it's worth. http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-movements.cfm

Agree with annhig - fly into Rennex, and return to Paris by TGV from Caen. Rennes is also one of our "top 5" large cities in France.

With only 6 days, I would spend 3 of these days near Dinan in Brittany and the remaining time in the beautiful Pays d'Auge near Beuvron en Auge in Normandy. We prefer northern Brittany over southern Brittany.

I have a 20+ page itinerary for Normandy & Brittany that describes our favorite villages, scenic drives, sites, restaurants, chateaux, etc. If you would like a copy, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attach one to the reply e-mail.

Stu Dudley

Most of these suggestions focus on Brittany. Is that what you want? I agree, you really need to do some research to narrow down what you want to see in your limited time.

I try to give a geographical sequence to my pictures; they might be useful in organizing an itinerary:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...7624436592493/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...7624616164661/

I also wrote a few trip reports that include Normandy and Brittany; click on my name to find them.

In any case, Just Fly to Nantes/Rennes, Rennes better if You want to combine North Brittany & Normandy.
If You stick to Brittany, a free motorway is going round, with Most interesting places nearby.
I would add in gardiloo's Pick list old cities like Vannes, Auray, Quimper and Concarneau ville close. Locronan and area near Landivisiau also Nice (check for more détails in guidebook).
If You like coastal scenery, north is Much better.
If You are There in july august, dont miss fêtes (Festival interceltique, fêtes de Cornouailles, filets bleus...)
If You want to combine Brittany Normandy,Stu's recommandation is Great, Rennes, St Malo, Dinan, mt st Michel and then Normandy (alternatively, D day beaches, Honfleur, Deauville...)

Thanks so much for all the suggestions so far. I will consider scaling it down. We love small quaint villages and countryside, but would like to visit at least 1-2 historical sites, but mostly want to enjoy villages and countryside. I will check out cheap flights from Nice to Rennes, and maybe ending the trip in Caen. I will read through some trip reports before deciding. Any further advice will be considered. Thanks so much to all.

irenen - I looked up the flights on kayak.com.

you want flights - one way - non-stop - Rennes - and tick the "nearby" button.

[sorry if you are already familiar with this site].

I agree with WoinParis – consulting a <i>Michelin Green Guide</i> should serve you very well. You have a wealth of options, and NONE of us can tell you what will best suit your interests and preferences. The cost of a good guidebook will be nominal in comparison to the cost of your trip (and might actually end up saving you money because of things you can learn from them), or you can go to your local library instead.

I agree with previous posts : if you want to combine Brittany and Normandy in 6-7 days only, you should consider only the eastern part of Brittany and the southern part of Normandy, which means around Rennes (St Malo, Dinan, Fougeres, Cancale...), Mont St Michel, Granville and Caen (Bayeux, D-day beaches, Honfleur...). Anyway, flying from Nice to Rennes is probably the easiest solution.
If you chose to concentrate on Brittany and keep Normandy for a next trip, you could drive further to the west, to Morbihan, Cornouaille, pink granite coast,etc.

If you fly Nice-Rennes, there are 2 airlines Air France Hop (daily year long) and Volotea (summer only, twice per week).

I am surprised that the usual discussion drive or not in Paris did not surface again...

Getting from Caen to CDG is quite easy especially out of Paris rush hours. Motorway A13, Peripherique and Motorway A1. The only thing to remember on Peripherique is you need to give way to cars entering. So, as soon as you enter Peripherique, go to a middle lane and that is it.

Thanks for the advice re Michelin Guides, airlines and roads. I will buy a Michelin Guide as suggested. And will check out kayak for cheap flights. Much appreciated.