I thought of Lyon too. We spent 5 nights there this year. One problem is that the station is in an area that is not really interesting to explore. There are hotels there, but it is a somewhat long walk or a taxi to visit "old Lyon" with all the traboules. Plus, the earliest TGV to Rennes leaves at 1:30 & arrives in Rennes at 5:17 - so they would miss most of the day in Brittany by the time they get to Rennes. By 1:30, there are 9 departures to Rennes from Paris.

Stu Dudley

Plus, the earliest TGV to Rennes leaves at 1:30 & arrives in Rennes at 5:17>

But there seems to be a direct TGV Lyon-Massy-Rennes at 6:38am according to www.bahn.de/en (German Railways pan-European schedule site that is so easy to quickly reference)

And even going to Paris and changing stations for Lyon-Rennes is just a bit over 4 hours all told.

Yes Lyon would make a sweet stopover.

The Part Dieu train station in Lyon is large. You would need to get there by 5:45am, IMO, to make the 6:30 train (I found 6:30 & not 6:38 for a May trip). This is not a time I want to be "up & at'em" on a vacation.

The 7:00 & 9:00 trains to Paris & then Rennes have 50 mins allocated for a station change from the Gare de Lyon to Montparnasse. For the reasons I mentioned above - I think that is "too tight" for a train novice (don't know if she is a novice or not - but she has only been to Europe once before). The trains to Rennes via Marne (Disneyland) at 8:00 & 11:00 have 14 mins allocated for the train change. Again - too tight for a novice, although it's a small station.

Stu Dudley

I agree that early morning train is way too early and changing in Paris a hassle unless you take a taxi and you could wait in a long queue to do that sometimes -build in lots of transfer time and have a coffee in a nice sidewalk cafe by Montparnasse if have time to kill as a result.

Saint Malo is a good base to visit the north coast of Brittany, but too far away from the south coast (day trips to Carnac, or even worse Quimper, would be mean very long drives. A second base and more time would be necessary). There are already many places to discover close to St Malo for 4-5 days. Public transport allows you to easily reach some places like Dinan, Dinard, Cancale, Mont St Michel. But renting a car allows to save time and reach smaller towns, along the coastline (Cape Fréhel, pink granite coast...) or in the inlands. An alternative is to consider guided tours from St Malo over the day.

If in the area for an extended visit there are ferries from St-Malo to Channel Islands like Jersey - a rather unique place in many ways - and Guernsey - each with their own line of cows.