Brittany

What kinds of sights are you interested in?

IF you are looking for Megalithic sites, with a car you can access a lot more. Definitely go to Carnac and Locmariaquer but I also went to a couple of sights on a small group van tour that were fantastic. We walked the stones along the ridge outside Saint-Just as well as another couple in the area if you are interested.

I loved Saint-Malo and it's one of those places that can get overwhelmed with tourists during the day but is really cool in the later afternoon/evening. Do wait to watch a tide change as the tide either comes in around the 3 islets in the bay or recedes to reveal the paths out to them.

Hi. There are many resorts on the south coast. It's very densely populated, and for example, between Finistère and Morbihan, there's a port every five kilometers. It would also be helpful to know if you're interested in the beach or swimming, because in that case, it might be better to choose the coast between Quiberon and the Loire estuary. In any case, here's a first selection in southern Finistère. These are lovely family resorts, and some are important ports: Lesconil, Loctudy, Île-Tudy, Sainte-Marine, Bénodet, Beg Meil, Concarneau, Le Cabellou, Port Manech, Riec-sur-Belon, Doëlan. And in Loire-Atlantique: Mesquer, Piriac-sur-Mer, La Turballe, Le Croisic, Batz-sur-Mer, Saint-Marc-sur-Mer. Perhaps by searching with these names on a search engine, you'll find what you're looking for!

Thanks so much for your replies. We are not interested in resorts, nor swimming beaches. Our love for travel in France is mainly for historical and cultural highlights as well as scenic drives. Perhaps we should concentrate more on the northern coast as the south sounds very commercial.

In May there is the Fete de la Bretagne throughout Brittany.
Last time in Brittany we stayed in Le Conquet, a nice area which really gives you the connection toi the Atlantic Ocean. We also stayed in Pluneret and Dinan. Really, all parts of Brittany have their own charms. I found Quimper to be a lovely and lively town. Don't skip over it.
Be sure to have some cider and some Breton crepes!

@jeffery Hi I think there's some confusion about the word "resort." I'm French, and I wasn't talking about large seaside resorts. For example, Île-Tudy and Sainte-Marine are very small villages. There aren't many very large seaside resorts in southern Brittany, apart from La Baule. It's also worth noting that fishing in Brittany is concentrated in the south. So there are also many small ports that are also small, family-friendly seaside resorts. Southern Brittany isn't any more commercial than the north, and everywhere it caters to tourists on a human scale. What differentiates southern and northern Brittany is more the tides, which are much stronger in the English Channel, agriculture, which is more developed in northern Brittany, and the climate, which is warmer in the south. And if you're looking for a historic town, why not Concarneau, which is close to several other historically interesting towns like Quimper, Locronan, and Pont-Aven?

We had made a similar roundtrip a few years ago, and stayed in Dinan, Lannion, Concarneau and Vannes. Of these four, we liked Dinan and Vannes best. A few hints:
1. Concarneau and St Malo are very similar (we found the latter a little better, it can be made easily from Dinan with a car)
2. Look into Dinard when you are in Dinan as part of a day trip, even if you pass on St Malo
3. Quimper might have been a better base than Concarneau, despite not being a seaside town actually
4. Driving dragged a little more than we anticipated - be aware of this when planning to switch between bases.

Another option if visiting or staying in St. Malo is to take a ferry across from there to Dinard. The ferries run frequently and only take 20 minutes or so each way. I did this in June 2024 and loved staying in Saint-Malo. In St. Malo you can also walk out to some outer islands at low tide—the path for which is covered during high tide.

This past June we spent a week in Brittany. Here's a list of what we enjoyed - there are a few places here that have not been previously mentioned. Rochefort-en-Terre was the most beautiful village we visited. Flowers everywhere......In Carnac we stayed at Hotel Tumulus which has an excellent restaurant....We enjoyed the boat trip to the Gavrinis Cairn.....The port area of Auray is very interesting......Saint Cado is a beautiful small village....Pont Aven is definitely worthwhile even though it is quite popular with tourists....we did not go farther west on this trip, instead headed to the north coast.

On the north coast we stayed in Saint Malo at the Hotel Noveau Monde which is directly across the road from the ocean....we day tripped to Dinan. We stayed there on our previous trip, but found Saint Malo to be a much more interesting choice on this trip...If Mont Saint Michel is of interest it is only 33 miles from Saint Malo. We stayed there at Hotel Mercure which is very close to the shuttle and causeway.

All of these places are well worth a visit. I’ll also mention Locronan which I found charming and the château de Josselin.
Each town or village has a different feel, I think. Vannes felt more upscale than Quimper, for example, but I liked both. You’ll have to decide how important it is to you to be in a place where you have a wide choice of restaurants or whether you’d be happy in a smaller place with limited choices - if you want to eat near where you’re staying, which of course is not necessary. Driving can be quite slow so be conservative in your time estimates (and we found Google Maps seriously underestimated how long it would take to get from A to B).
No doubt you realize it rains in Brittany but it’s not a bad idea to allow some wiggle room in your schedule in case of bad weather. We were perfectly willing to walk around outside in a drizzle but unfortunately got to Locmariaquer during a torrential downpour, which was a shame.