10-11 nights to allocate - Brittany and Normandy?

Posted by SafetyInNumbers (Jude) (New Orleans, LA, USA) on 01/04/24 10:00 PM

Hi y'all, we're taking the summer to drive around France and I've been trying to think through where we should base ourselves for 7 nights, perhaps in Brittany? and then 4 in Normandy? If in Brittany - where would you recommend for a longer stay and base for sightseeing? We will have a small van and are big road trippers so driving is fine, just looking for affordable accommodations and interesting towns.

We have been to Normandy before, just hoping to dip back into that area for a shorter stretch again and not sure a week there makes sense for us.

Thanks!

Posted by balso

Paris

01/04/24 10:14 PM

7300 posts

Brittany is too large for a single base. I would choose a base in the west, around Quimper or Concarneau for example, and a base in the north east, on the coast west of St Malo for instance.

Posted by Suki

01/04/24 10:48 PM

11569 posts

Two bases: Quimper on west coast and Dinan near St-Malo.

Posted by Pat

San Diego, California

01/04/24 10:52 PM

5604 posts

When is this trip? The 80th anniversary is next year, and folks are reporting that lodging is already filling up. Not to mention the Olympic folks coming in early.
Good luck!

Posted by AbbyO

Atlanta, GA

01/05/24 02:02 AM

207 posts

We stayed in Dinan over Thanksgiving and just loved it! A charming old town surrounded by a modern large town. We found it a perfect location for several convenient day trips.

Posted by Judy

Long Beach, Ca, usa

01/05/24 02:53 AM

1327 posts

Brittany is wonderful! Quimper is a charming town. Going to the "end" of France in the Finistere section, looking out over the Atlantic Ocean really gives one a feeling of the majesty of the sea, the sky and the weather. Brittany feels truly ancient. Definitely go to see the cairns/dolmens around Carnac. Visit the parish enclosures. Buy some pottery that is typical of Brittany. Explore the coastal/fishing towns and eat lots of good seafood. Cider is popular here, as it is in Normandy. Far Breton, a popular cake, is delicious. Listen, if you get a chance, to people speaking Breton, a Gaelic language that can be understood by some Scots and Irish.
(By the way, Brittany has a special dispensation...no toils on any roads there!) If you are there when a festival or market are happening, make the most of it. The Fete de Cornouaille in July celebrates all things Breton. It is more Breton than St.Pat's Day is in Ireland. The Bretons are a proud people and they inhabit a part of France, part of the world that makes one think of the mystical.
(Mes deux centimes!)