dabodin

We will be in France this coming fall for 3 weeks, with the first week in Paris and the last week in Burgandy. These sections of our trip are booked already. My questions concern the middle week, actually 5 days.

Our tentative plan is to take the train from Paris to Caen, on day one, to visit friends. We have the option of staying with them one or two nights. They will probably take us around to the beaches and other places near Caen.

We'd like to spend the rest of the time in Brittany before we have to be in Burgandy to meet other friends for a barge trip.

I think we need to rent a car, but should it be rented in Caen or perhaps in Rennes, more central to exploring Brittany? We could drop it off at the same place, then proceed by train to Auxerre or Dijon. In reality, we will only have 3 full days to see Brittany. What do you think makes the most sense logistically? Also, would it be cheaper to rent the car once we're over there rather than reserve ahead?

Thanks for any advice on this and also on how to allocate those 3 days amongst all the great places in Brittany, which I've never been to before. I definitely want to see Dinan and the standing stones at Carnac.

Underhill

how would you get from caen to rennes if not driving? if you can get a good train connection, i'd think that renting a car in rennes would put you in a good area for visiting carnac, dinan, vannes--but if you drove you could see mont st-michel on the way.

JudyC

Depends on the time of the year, SNCF has train + bus (change train to bus at Avranches) service between Caen and Rennes, takes about 3 hours.

With only 3 days for Brittany, if you are going to rent a car, perhaps it would be better to travel from point to point, insteatd of staying in Rennes as base, to save the time of backtracking.

Two days for the north coast: Mont-St-Michel, Cancale, St.Malo to Dinan. Cancale or St.Malo for over night staying, as both places have good accommadations and restaurants.

The megaliths in Carnac are impressive, the musuem O.K.; but not much to see in the town and beaches. The sand dunes to Quiberon are expansive. To me, the old town centre and Cathedral in nearby Vannes are worth a visit. Further west Pont-Avon is one of my favorite places in Brittany, but I am afraid there won't be enough time for it.

Train from Brittany to Dijon is a bit awkward, the fastest way will be through Paris.

Michael

I think that you will have to choose between the north coast or the southern coast. I would rent the car in Normandy, drive to the north coast (Mont St. Michel, Dinan), drop the car off in Rennes and take the train to Auxerre, which may involve a Paris connection. Because of the Paris connection with a change in train station, you may want to overnight in Rennes, get an early train, so that you arrive in Auxerre at a decent hour.

It probably would be best to reserve the car from the States. Try AutoEurope.

Keith

It is much more expensive to wait until you are in France to reserve the rental car.

Keith

dabodin

Thanks for the info. I never intended to use Rennes as a base but just the place to pick up and drop off the car. But if it's not much more expensive to pick it up in Caen and drop it off in Rennes, then that really makes more sense. Particularly when Mont St. Michel is on the way.

If we spend the first night in Dinan, is it too much to try to drive the loop west to Brest and back along the south coast to Rennes in 2 days?

Or would it be better to leave Dinan and drive south to Vannes and spend the next 2 days exploring the area around there. Maybe we could drop the car in Vannes?

Which part of the peninsula is the most scenic?

Thanks for all the help.

Michael

It's definitely too much to go to Brest and back in two days. Either you will be taking the limited access roads (not quite autoroutes) and zip by everything--in any case not within sight of the ocean, or you simply will not have the time to get there and back. I would stick to Cancale, St. Malo, Dinan and maybe some of the interior towns (Fougères, Josselin) and on to Rennes.

Keith

I picked up in Caen and dropped off in Rennes, two years ago. It worked well, except that the people at the Caen Avis office coupld tell me nothing about the drop off at the Rennes rail station.

It took a long time to find the drop off and I still wasn't positive I was leaving the car in the right place.

The rental office was closed (it was supposed to be open at that time). I left the keys in the drop box and crossed my fingers that everything was OK.

Keith

dabodin

Michael: I think you're right about Brest. What about my idea of going south to Vannes? That looks like a lot shorter route. I guess this is a decision we could make once we get there.

Keith: How did it turn out with the car drop?

Michael

We went from Quimper to Rennes to Angers. So Vannes is out of my range of knowledge. I would play it by ear, although my feeling is that the north coast (Pointe du Groin) is impressive enough and that there are towns to see in the interior between that coast and Rennes.

Underhill

vannes is an interesting and attractive city, with beautiful formal gardens along the waterway in front of the castle.

Keith

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dabodin, I never heard from them afterward, so either I had it right, or at least was close enough not to get in trouble.

Keith