3days in Brittnay-what to do

Brittany is a big place. Which city (or area) we recommend will most likely depend on what you like to do. What are your interests? Big city or small village? Rent a car or take public transport? Brittany has a wonderfully scenic and wild coastline best seen with a car. It also has some of the most scenic small villages in France that also are best seen with a car. It also has some nice historic cities with great architecture, medieval churches/cathedrals, etc. - Rennes for instance - that can be easily reached by train from paris. The St Malo/Dinan area is popular and also easy to get to and from Paris.

I am thinking of staying in Dinan and going to places by bus.

We stayed in the walled part of St Malo in September which is bordered by the sea so you have nice views and it is on the waterfront,very nice walks,you can also walk the city walls.We drove to Dinan for a day and enjoyed the town,lots of half timbered buildings.We also went to Cancale which is the oyster capital of France and drove the Emerald Coast which is a rugged and picturesque coast line.We enjoyed our stay there.
Mike

Dinan is a nice place to stay. For one day you could take train or bus to St Malo, spend 1/2 day, then take ferry (or taxi or bus) to Dinard for a couple of hours and then take bus back to Dinan. A pretty long day but you'd get to see some scenic and historic places so might be worth it. Another maybe long day would be to go to Mont Saint-Michel (if that's of interest to you). You could take the train to either Dol de Bretagne or Pontorson and bus from there to Mont Saint-Michel. Dol de Bretagne is an interesting little town itself with an historic cathedral with architecture from several different centuries/styles, I believe the oldest is 13th c.. I stayed near there and enjoyed the area but I had a car. I'm sure you could find plenty of places you could get to by train or bus.

I am thinking of staying in Dinan and going to places by bus

Dinan would not be high on my list of places to stay if I was relying on public transit. It's a beautiful town, and I stayed there with a car, exploring the surrounding area each day. I guess if you do enough research you can figure out bus schedules.

If it was me I'd pick a larger city such as Rennes as a base since it is going to have more frequent trains to surrounding areas than a small town and is easily reachable by TGV from Paris. Use it as a base to explore. http://www.rome2rio.com is a great site for looking up connections to at least see what is possible. The Rough Guide to the region will cover many more towns than the RS France book.

Since RS doesn't cover much of Brittany in his guide books I relied on the Michelin Green Guide to Brittany and Normandy - it was very helpful.

Thanks to all for great info

I stayed in Rennes for a week in February, when my daughter was studying abroad there. I enjoyed exploring the city and the parks, while she was in classes. Together, we took a day trip to St. Malo and Dinan with her host mom - beautiful! Mont St. Michel is memorable, and not too far - but perhaps you went there on your Normandy trip. We also took the TGV to Paris, which was really easy, right from the city center of Rennes, to Gare Montparnasse. There is an excellent and extensive market in Rennes on Saturdays, which was a highlight for me. The metro is simple, clean, and easy. If we'd had our own car, I would have loved traveling along the coast more. There are easy bus connections to other cities and towns nearby. I'd like to go back there someday!

Laurie