tuscanlifeedit

Any ideas are welcome. We may be able to fly open jaws London <> Paris, but maybe not as we are getting award tickets

I would love any suggestions that could help combine Brittany with London and Paris

OR Brittany with other spots in England and London

OR Brittany with other spots in France and Paris

Any trip reports you can direct me to would be great, or I'd love to hear about trips where you compbined some of these destinations.

thanks

kja

I was glad I visited Brittany, Normandy, and the Dordogne on the same trip -- I found the differences intriguing.

Michael

From St. Malo you can take a ferry back to the U.K.

Possible itinerary: London, Paris, drive to Normandy and Brittany and then take the ferry back to the U.K.

I wrote a trip report that starts in Ghent and includes parts of Normandy and Brittany; click on my name to find it.

kja

Almost forgot: you asked for links. I didn't write a trip report on my time in western France, but you might find some value in my planning thread -- I received an incredible amount of wonderfully helpful information from our fellow Fodorites (including Michael):
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-itinerary.cfm

traveller1959

I have spent many summers with my family in Brittany. We did never stay in hotels but had always rented vacation homes - usually historic stone houses close to the sea. We had stayed in Northern Brittany at Cap Frehel, in Southern Brittany near Pont-Aven, but finally ended up to return to the small village of Plouescat in the North-West, mainly because of the Bay de Kernic, a beautiful tidal bay behind a splendid beach where you can wonderfully walk barefooted through gentle sand dunes and tidal pools with glass eels jumping and a megalithic grave which is half-submersed during high tide.

Brittany is rough. The climate is rough - be prepared for rain which often comes horizontally in Brittany - and the coastline is rugged, with fjords and boulders and sandy coves. Buildings are made of grey granite and you are never far from the sea. So, oysters, crabs and other seafood is abundant and very fresh.

You will see menhirs and dolmens virtually everywhere, many of them being no tourist attractions, not even marked, just standing in the middle of a field or roadside. Most of them are marked in the Michelin maps. The most impressive megalithic sites are Carnac (with hundreds of menhirs), Barnenez (very impressive tombs) and La-Roche-aux-Fees (the most beautiful dolmen).

Also, the churchyards are very impressive in Brittany, especially the calvaries which are carved from granite. One of the most beautiful calvaries you find in St. Thegonnec and Guilmiliau.

To get impressions of marine life, visit the sea life center in Brest (which has more to offer) or the smaller one in Roscoff. Douarnenez is a walled historical town, St. Malo a former corsair town and Pont-Aven a charming artist colony.

See spectacular coastlines at Cap Frehel (do not miss the historical fort there - La Latte) or at the Quiberon peninsula.

Finally, I will mention the celtic culture which is still rife at least in the western part of Brittany. You find celtic symbols everywhere and celtic music, buttery shortbread and even whisky (although I prefer the local Eau-de-vie-de-cidre). A memorable experience is visiting a fest-noz in a non-touristy village. Expect live music, line dancing, abundant food and wine and a lot of fun.

Look into a guidebook for more attractions.

Now, what to combine with Brittany?

When you are coming from Paris, either Normandy or the Loire Valley are practically on the way.

When you are driving the northern route, stop in Rouen and Honfleur - two picturesque historical towns. In Normandy, see the chalk cliffs of Etretat and the Bayeux Tapestry as well as the D-day beaches and Mont St. Michel.

The southern route leads through the Loire Valley. An incredible array of splendid castles will make a lovely contrast to the more barren appearance of Brittany.

ESW

How long is your holiday?
Use Brittany ferries to travel get to Brittany.
http://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/
Porsmouth to St Malo or Plymouth to Roscoff. Try to plan an overnight sailing which 'saves' a day. You can also book accommodation through Brittany Ferries too. We have used them several times and they are good.

We spent three weeks in Brittany in September 2011. Our website of picturees with some information is here:
http://wasleys.org.uk/france/brittany_11/index.html

I wrote detailed trip reports for the three weeks which are here:
http://www.slowtrav.com/tr/tripreport.asp?tripid=1980
http://www.slowtrav.com/tr/tripreport.asp?tripid=1981
http://www.slowtrav.com/tr/tripreport.asp?tripid=1981

annhig

i was also going to mention the possibility of taking the ferry from Roscoff to Plymouth, from which you could see Cornwall and/or Devon, though you might have trouble with one-way car hire, unless you are prepared to do a big loop back to your starting point, in which case a round-trip ticket might be better than open jaw.

to make this worthwhile, you'd need a minimum of 3 weeks I think, especially if you wanted to spend a significant amount of time in London &/or Paris.

annhig

if you were to miss out Paris, and fly into and out of London, a fun trip would be to, say, pick up your car from Gatwick and take the ferry from Portsmouth to Caen, spend some time in Normandy, then work your way west along the north Brittany coast, ending up at Roscoff; then get the ferry to Plymouth, and drive back through Devon and Dorset to ?LHR for your flight home.

If you wanted to add Cornwall into that, you'd need another week to do it all justice.

tuscanlifeedit

All these replies help; thank you all.

Perhaps I was biting off too much to think of combining another place with Brittany. We probably will not have more than 10 nights on the ground, and that would include our airport city.

I'm also being just a little silly in trying to preplan a trip based on air that might be available. More crazily, I'm keeping files for each destination that we may fly to.

We have been to London and Paris several times, as well as Cornwall and Devon (would go back to either) and I hope we can see some areas that we haven't experienced.

I've always been attracted to Brittany. That's why I'm asking. I will read the reports above and ask lots more when the tickets are secured, which will be very soon.

It sounds like we wouldn't want to visit Brittany in shoulder seasons, but I'll have to do some weather research.

annhig

tuscan - with only 10 days on the ground, I'd just do Brittany and be done with it. My favourite bits are the rose granite coast in the north, and the part round Vannes in the south. My only caveat is the time of year - it is a good place to visit in summer but it can get crowded then. May, June and September would be my favourite time to go there.

tuscanlifeedit

annhig, that is so helpful. Thank you.

Huggy

Tuscan:

I agree with annhig. My wife and I spent a little over a week last April in Brittany in a rental northwest of Rennes. We did not have nearly enough time to see the region. We especially liked our coastal visits including St. Malo.

We had tied in with a visit to Dordogne. Stu Dudley was a great help to our planning process.

H

tuscanlifeedit

Huggy, thanks. I think I'm beginning to get a better idea of what it's like to visit Brittany.

immimi

What surprised us about Brittany was its size...we did a lot of driving in the 8 days we were there and we still only saw a fraction.

We visited in May - and it was wet! Since we're from the Wet Coast we know wet! But still a lovely and interesting area of France.

annhig

yes, it's a big place [divided into four counties as it were] and apart from the odd motorway, not blessed with the fastest roads. the best bits [IMO] are the coasts and of course they take the longest to negotiate.

you really have to decide whether you're going to stay in a town like Morlaix [which is slightly inland and a good base for touring along the north coast but not particularly picturesque] or Lannion further to the east, but still in Brittany, or to stay right on the coast which may be prettier but make exploring more difficult.

Then you have the same conundrum to face with the south coast [assuming that you want to split your stay between the two].

A third alternative would be to tour with one-two night stays in each place. Chambres d'hôte [B&B] is increasingly popular in France, and we stayed in a very good one in Paimpol. As you seem to be travelling in the shoulder months you could probably travel on spec, and TIOs are usually very helpful if you turn up in a place needing accommodation. But I know that's not for everyone. The other end of the scale might be a couple of gites; off season they may be available for less than a whole week.

immimi

although inland, Rochefort-en-terre is a gem...

ESW

As pointed out, Brittany is big and there is no central place to do it all from. Possibly split it into two, spending time in the north (either around the rose granite coast or further west either Morlaix or Quibron areas). The rest of the time head south and base yourself around Vannes/Josselin area. You can visit the prehistoric sites around Carnac from either of these places.

Eyewitness Brittany is an excellent resource as it has a lot of pictures, enough information to whet the appetite and covers many sites ignored by Lonely Planet and Rough Guide.

kja

Another excellent source of information for Brittany is the Michelin Green Guide.

ESW

"Another excellent source of information for Brittany is the Michelin Green Guide."

It is - once you have decided where to go. It is not the most user friendly of books to use. The Michelin 1:200,000 maps are excellent, both for planning and navigating.

Michael

<i>It is - once you have decided where to go.</i>

Agreed that the Green Guide is not what it used to be. But I think that it still has itinerary maps with a rated sights system.