Brittany Bound!

Eighty or so kouign amanns? Well, maybe not; that's a pastry. But I might be tempted.

I'm sure a car will be helpful in some cases, but this is what I've done solely via public transportation:

2017: Rouen - Caen (side trips to Honfleur, Deauville, Cabourg and Falaise) - Bayeux (commercial D-day tour) - Rennes (side trips to Fougeres and Vitre) - St.-Malo (side trips to Dinard and Dinan).

2019: La Rochelle - Quimper - Vannes (side trip to Belle-Ile) - Nantes (formerly part of Brittany).

I know people have spoken highly of the northern coast of western Brittany. I think it's a challenge to get the best of that area without a car. It's generally a challenge to string together visits to multiple small towns. None of the places I went were really small. The Breton coastline is indented, which would add to the travel time if you wanted to go from one coastal town to another.

Except for Falaise, which I visited to see a WWII-related museum, all the towns listed were very attractive and worth a visit. St-Malo was the most touristy by a considerable margin, enough that it bugged me. Many other folks here have liked it a lot.

1. We had a rental car the whole time in 2008, following the Tour de France in Brittany and then going to Normandy/D-Day landing sights. More recent trip, again the whole visit, we rented and returned the car in Brest. Some favorite towns included Josselin and Quimper.

2. My souvenirs are generally below $300, so I can’t offer my many recommendations. Something involving Kouign-amann would be a notable souvenir, though, at any price. I don’t know whether a Breton flag would be of any interest (again, probably date cheaper than €300 over there), but would be very characteristic!

3. Haven’t done any GR34, but hiking some of the Granite Rose Coast, farther west, was spectacular.

I can't speak much to Brittany, but I can't imagine a trip to Normandy without a car. Most of the smaller villages and interesting sights simply are not served by public transportation. If you just want to hang out in one of the larger cities (Bayeux, Caen, Rouen or Cherboug) and not get out into the country, you will be extremely limited without your own transportation.

While it may be possible to do this without a car you would be more limited in terms of places to go and beholden to train or bus schedules. We had a car in Brittany and Normandy and we were able to do things on our own timetable. I know a car isn’t an option for everyone, but if it is I would travel around that way.

Sorry, but I can’t help with the other questions.

Our two most recent trips to France (2017, 2022) were to Brittany. We rented a car both times.
Some of the things we liked are in towns - Quimper's old town is our favorite, and we also like Concarneau and Rennes. But many of the chateaux we visited and virtually all the prehistoric sites are outside of towns, so we needed a car to get to them. The same is sometimes true for museums. I like Abbaye de Daoulas and its interesting museum. It's in Daoulas but I don't know how easy it would be to get to without a car.
If you went without a car, you'd just focus on different things. There's so much to see and do in Brittany that I don't think you could go wrong.
Sorry, i have no familiarity with the GR34. As for souvenirs, we bought locally crafted jewelry and leather goods which are unique but maybe not "characteristically Breton".

Thank you all for your replies! Lots of great information here.

It's looking like we will definitely rent a car.

Keep the highlights coming!

Car is best, but we no longer drive and we spent 4 nights in an apartment in St. Malo in May and then took the train to Auray and hired a guide who took us to the neolithic sites and delivered us back to the train to Paris. It was lovely. From St. Malo (which is stunning and has several very excellent restaurants) we did a bus to Dinan, walked to St. Servan and the tour solidor and walked along the coast north. You can take the boat to Dinard and there is a daily bus to and from Mont St Michel which we had done by car on a previous trip.

If you can drive, do that, but it is possible to visit some wonderful places without.

Our Brittany souvenir was a couple of Quimper plates, bought at their outlet in Quimper. The store had dozens of different designs from which to choose. The store will ship their products for you.

Sacre bleu! You’d all fail the Jeopardy question, “what is the most characteristic Breton souvenir”. La Mariniere, of course! Otherwise know as the Breton shirt with its characteristic 21 stripes of navy blue against white issued as part of the uniform of northern French navy men. I can’t think of anything more classically French and particularly Breton than the quintessential blue and white striped shirt made by Armor-Lux or Saint James. I treasure my Armor-Lux but admit a few too many Kouign-AMann have made it slightly snug over the years.