Saint Malo or Dinan?
 

Trying to decide where to spend 4 nights in a couple of weeks...I can still change our plans. Originally thought Dinan but hadn't really considered St. Malo. I am looking more for an " adult" getaway versus families. We've been in France for about 6 weeks and are in Sarlat now. Charming but I feel like I'm at Disneyland. Maybe we need to get off the beaten path more? Any charming town I may be overlooking?

In Brittany specifically?

Look at Pont-Aven.

Long TR from a few years ago - http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-movements.cfm

We really enjoyed 3 days in St Malo and meant to get to Dinan as a day trip, but had to backtrack to spend a day at Mont Saint-Michel. Looking at the sea always soothes my soul. Now that I look back at that trip, we stayed mostly on the sea or planned a day trip to the sea - Honfleur, Etretat, Bayeux for the D-Day beaches in Normandy; St Malo, Le Conquet, Pont-Aven, and Guerande for the salt marshes in Brittany.

We stayed at the Hotel Beaufort with a sea-view room. Small room but priceless balcony. Short walk to the walled in area.

Gardyloo - just read your trip report; brought back good memories! Seeing Anthony Bourdain's show entranced us as well. I planned a trip for a friend and her husband, took her recommendations and went the next year in 2011.

St Malo can get a little too touristy for me. I think Dinan is more "centrally" located. We spent two weeks in a gite near Dinan and one week near Pont Aven. We much prefer northern Brittany over southern Brittany.

Do you have my Normandy & Brittany itinerary? I've sent my various itineraries to over 5,000 people on Fodors, If you would like a copy, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attach one to the reply e-mail.

Stu Dudley

St Malo is the bigger town and has Dinard across the river (small ferry). I think this is where I'd stay and just go to Dinan for the day, though you may also enjoy an number of the towns along the river. Note that there is nowhere to park a car in St Malo so you have to go under it.

Well, if you think Sarlat is like Disneyland, neither Dinan or St.-Malo will suit you. And, for God's sake, avoid Mont-St.-Michel. Maybe base in Pont-Aven or somewhere along the Emerald (middle north) coast of Brittany.

We based in Dinan and got stuck in a traffic jam going to St.-Malo. So we changed plans. But we found Dinan was a nice place to stay.

I loved Dinan. I liked kerouac's pictures of St. Malo better than I liked St. Malo itself. (I didn't dislike it, I just wan't all that taken with it.)

We stayed several days in Dinan, and went to St Malo for a day trip. If you do this, be sure to arrive before 9am to park close to the city wall; a mid-day arrival has you walking for long distances from the more remote car parks.

When we arrived, we walked around the city walls, and delighted in watching the city within wake and start their day. We almost had the walls to ourselves, and were fascinated to see how the tides changed during the couple of hours this took. There are a number of spots where you can enter / leave the walls, so it's easy to stop for a coffee, shopping etc as needed.

We were surprised at how beautiful Dinan was; the old town and old port were our favourite areas to wander and eat. Di

If you want to get off the beaten path more then neither Dinan or Saint-Malo are the place to be. I love both of those places but off the beaten path they are not. Here are a couple of alternatives you could consider if you really want off the beaten path.

A small town that is 22km west of Dinan but is still reasonably well situated for exploring that area is Jugon-les-Lacs. It has a few nice restaurants and some stores/services but is a quiet and smaller place but super charming.

http://www.jugon-les-lacs.com/en/home.html

A larger town that would be more similar to Dinan in size and have lots of stores, services and restos would be Lamballe. Not quite as charming as Dinan but still a lovely medieval town.

http://www.lamballe-tourisme.com/home_ot

I wrote a photo report about spending five days exploring that area and you can see photos of both these places and much more if you want to have a look. At the end of the report are links to all the major tourist office websites for that area and elsewhere in Brittany: http://tinyurl.com/86s4v8f

Thanks everyone for your recommendations. Still in decision mode ....I think the vacationing crowds are starting to take a toll and we've been traveling for quite a long time now so I am looking for some piece and quiet :)

Peace and quiet :)

If you don’t want to stay in Honfleur and would rather stay in the “interior” of Normandy in the beautiful Pays d’Auge, this hotel/restaurant would be a good choice. We had dinner here when we stayed in the region a few years ago.
http://www.chateaulesbruyeres.com/uk...-normandy.html

Stu Dudley

If peace and quiet are your priorities then Stu's suggestion of the Pays d'Auge is very good and you could also consider Suisse Normande and in Brittany my suggestion of Jugon-les-Lacs and environs would likely suit you well.

Stu, from your link the chateau seems up for sale and may not be open anymore.

Thanks for the info Mimar.

Stu Dudley