Brittany recommendations
 

We will be spending four days in Dinan in mid-April. (On the four days previous, we will have been in Bayeux, which we will use as a base for seeing Normandy sites, etc.) Does anyone have suggestions for particularly visit-worthy areas/villages/whatever in Brittany? Off the beaten path is fine; we are planning to meander and explore and have no specific destinations for this part of our trip. We have some ideas, but would welcome recommendations. We will, of course, have a car.

Thank you.

You'll find Dinan to be a very complete and picturesque town. It is a town of dozens of Breton creperies offering lunches.
A favorite drive is Cote de Emeraude (the Emerald Coast)...from Dinan head to Dinard , a beach resort with tides so low you can literally walk a mile "out to sea" from the promenade...then head west on the very scenic Emerald Coast road, stopping at some quaint and inviting ports and beach towns along the way. From Dinard to St. Briac to St. Jacut, to St. Cast to striking scenes at Cap Frehel. We stopped at Erquy for a mussel lunch at the one and only hotel at the port.
Don't ignore a few hours within the walls at St. Malo, also. Walking the walls around the town offers some fine ocean views, and bear in mind that the city was almost totally destroyed by the Nazis and painstakingly rebuilt to plan.

Stu T. (If you don't have lodgings, consider Manoir de la Rance , a few miles north of Dinan on the pretty Rance River).

Although some folks disparage St. Malo, I like it the best of the communities I have visited in Brittany and Normandy.

I was only in the old town (where I enjoyed the people, food and shops) and along the shore. This area gets enormous tides. The tides combined with the many rocks, lighthouses, François-René Chateaubriand's tomb, and remains of little forts are fascinating. It seemed like I was taking another photo every 10 feet.

I was there in late March and on the sheltered side of the wall, it was even warm enough for sun bathing.

Keith

We also liked the old-fashioned resort town on Dinard, just opposite St-Malo. There's a nice beach and an interesting walk around the cliffs, going through gardens with plants from various regions of France.

kagoo,

Send me a message at [email protected] and I'll mail you the 3 articles on Brittany that I wrote for the bonjourparis.com web site. There's much to see in Brittany, and we covered only a small portion but hit some of the highlights, including parish closes.

Cancale
Combourg
Dol de Bretagne

All three small towns within an easy drive of Dinan. All three are charming, and have plenty to recommend them, among other things:

Cancale - oysters, view across the bay to Mont St Michel, art galleries and studios, and more oysters!

Combourg - lovely castle and fabulous market (check a local guide for market day)

Dol de Bretagne - Typically pretty little Breton town with medieval buildings, excellent moules frites.

Will you visit Mont St Michel as part of your trip? It's on the border between Normandy and Brittany.

You'll find lots more information at

www.discover-brittany.info

www.brittany-france.com/visitingbrittany

www.brittanytourism.com

Thank you so much -- these are exactly the kinds of suggestions we were hoping for!

Julia, we do plan to visit Mont St. Michel -- probably late one afternoon, as that seems to be the recommended (less crowded) time.

Plan to have supper at Mont St Michel so you can be still there in the evening, which I think is the best time.

I had a very good meal at Hotel Le Mouton Blanc and recomend it, but I think several people on this forum have favorites on Le Mont.

Be sure to stop in front of Mere Pollard and watch them make the famous omlets.

Keith

Both the ruins of the massive castle of Fougère and the standing stones at Carnac are must-sees.

The Emerald Coast is beautiful, though it might be a bit cool that time of year. Be sure to include Fort La Latte (where The Vikings was filmed) and Cap Fréhel for its great view.

In the immediate vicinity you have the Rance Valley where you can visit the tidal power plant (usine marémotrice) and get a stunning view from the dam, as you cross over from St. Malo to Dinard (or vice versa). As you descend down the Rance, you can stop at Pleudihen-sur-Rance to visit the Apple Cider museum (Musée de la Pomme et du Cidre) which finishes up its tour with a cider tasting and if you're lucky maybe the apple orchards will be in bloom. Further on down towards Dinan, stop at l'Ecluse du Chatelier--there is always something so appealing to us about watching the locks work.

If you do go to Combourg, I can recommend the Hotel-Restaurant du Lac for its cuisine and lovely view on the lake. Vitré and Fougères are also not too far from Dinan and rich in history/Breton charm.

Seeing the coast you will have seen the "sea" side (l'Armor) of Brittany. You must get to the "interior" (l'argoat) to see the dual nature of this country and to fully experience La Bretagne of Arthurian Legend. Heulgoat (pronounce ull-gwat) and its surrounding forest are great for this or the forest of Paimpont as well. As has been suggested, try to visit one of the Parish Closes--Guimilau or St. Thégonnec are closer, but we prefer Pleyben where they manufacture the famous Breton Butter cookies and you can visit the confiserie and load up on boxes/tins of these tender morsels. Yum!

If you do head south to visit the megaliths around Carnac, stop off and visit Rochefor-en-Terre...of all the "Villages Fleuries" we've driven through this is one of the most pittoresque and that time of year it won't be too over-run with tourists.

If your weather is really lousy, there is always the larger university city of Rennes and seat of Brittany's parliament where you can visit the lovely Brittany Museum among a host of other sites to visit there.

"Kenavo" (Kay-nah-voh) serves as a greeting or goodby, both, in Breton in case you hear it.

I agree with all of the above, and, here is my trip report from 2004, hope it helps:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...gallic+symbols

marking for my own trip planning!

If you don't mind driving, Pont-Aven is a lovely place to try the belon oysters, the and cider crepes, lots of art galleries and a great museum.

Bookmarking. I had put Manoir de la Rance in the search key (because it's a possible in my tentative trip planning) and was surprised to see someone had stayed there.

Hoping to Travel.....yes, we stayed at Manoir de la Rance a few years ago...charming, boutiqey-type place overlooking the Rance, with walkways and gardens galore...breakfast in the solarium with views all round. Way out in the country and not easy to find...their directions are accurate though. Look it up in Chateux and Hotels of France ([email protected])

Stu T. (see posting near the top)

We drove to Dinard from Mont St. Michelle - it is SO gorgeous, we didn't quite have enough time to also go to St. Malo. But Dinard was lovely (there are photos on my site at neesie.org). What I've read since visiting is that Hitchcock based his Psycho house on a house in Dinard. I am not sure if I've any photos of it, maybe not - but a lot of houses are similar, you can see it in not only my photos, but ones online (any homes along the bluffs). Really well worth the visit!

Stu T, thanks for the quick reply. When you say Manoir de Rance was 'way out in the country' I'm wondering. I thought I had written down somewhere it was about 10-12 miles from St. Malo. Was it quite a long drive inland?

Kagoo, here is my trip report from earlier this year.

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34844858


The village of Locronan was one of the highlights along with the Pointe du Raz an drive from Cancale to St. Malo.

regards Ger

Hoping:

When I wrote "way out in the country" I meant it to describe the very rural surroundings. No, it's a short fifteen minute ride to Dinan, and a bit longer back to St. Malo and Dinard. Being "out in the countryside" gives one a feeling of comfortable relaxation. You'll love it..the rates are very reasonable and the owner is a delightful, helpful lady.

Stu T.

I enjoyed Fougere (and Vitre) very much (and was glad I read about them here.) But was very disappointed at Locranon. It seemed like a tourist town (dead) filled with tourists milling around. There seemed to be no real stores, just tourist shops. Yes, the architecture is interesting but we were in plenty of living towns with similar architecture. (Sorry, Ger.)
Be aware that driving in Dinan is crazy. All of the guide books say so, and it is! Maybe it won't be bad in mid-April. Have good directions to your hotel.
There are so many interesting towns that you can't go to all of them but can't go wrong. We particularly enjoyed Benodet and Perros-Guirec, where we stayed on the eastern side at the harbor at a small, unassuming hotel. Our room had a balcony overlooking the harbor and covered fish market.
Have a great time. CJ