Brittany driving for 3 days

Working your way along the Granit Rose coast, a walk along the unusually shaped, pinkish boulders is a unique hiking experience. We walked a section north of Lannion, and spent a night in Tregastel.

Farther south, inland, there’s is wonderful village named Josselin, retaining a medieval feel.

West, following the coast, Brest is a large city with a big harbor and big boats. Quimper is smaller, and has an annual festival of Breton music and culture in July. Smaller yet is Pont-Aven, a favorite of Post-Impressionist artists, with a small but worthwhile museum. Lorient is a great town, and we took a 2-day kayak and camping trip to/around the Ile de Groix, but maybe not a good option for your 2-4 days. As you may know, Rick Steves covers very little in Brittany, but the Lonely Planet guidebook was a big help for us.

Breton food includes great galettes and local cidre. Seafood, of course, will be outstanding. For dessert, Kouign Amann (say “queen amahn”) is a cake with a ton of butter that makes the best caramelized sweet roll you’ve ever had seem like a minor baked good.

My recent trek through Brittany was limited to places accessible by public transportation, so you will have a lot more options than I did, but I liked Quimper (arguably cuter and certainly smaller) and Vannes.

I took a passenger-only boat from Vannes to Belle-Ile, but with a car you might prefer approaching the island from Quiberon, which is said to be tacky. I don't know whether there are car ferries from Quiberon. Belle-Ile has more varied terrain than many smaller islands, so I thought it was more interesting than most. There are both full-day and half-day bus tours offered from Le Palais, but day-trippers arriving from Vannes arrive too late for the full-day tour. The tours seemed to be in French only, but I was there for the scenery primarily. If traveling from Vannes you would certainly want to park your car down near tne ferry embarkation point, because there will be no buses running by the time you return, nor were there taxis on hand. It's quite a walk back to town.

The much larger city of Nantes is also interesting. Originally Breton, it is not at this point officially part of Bretagne. I walked around the city a lot. The Musee Dobree, said to have an wonderful collection of art and decorative art, is closed until 2021 for major expansion. Those mechanicaly minded or traveling with children would probably want to visit the Ile de Nantes to see the Machines de l'Ile.

Moving south you have the attractive city of La Rochelle, from which you can take buses (or drive, with toll) to the Ile de Re. I think there are also some boats, but they are less convenient than the buses. Much flatter than Belle Ile, Re is still nice and worth a stop if only to appreciate all the hollyhocks. The buses from La Rochelle stop outside several of the island towns, then you must either hop on a free shuttle bus to the center or walk. Distances are not long, but the two-step process makes it not so convenient to see a bunch of towns if you're just there for the day. A full-day bus pass for Ile-de-Re is 5 euros. Bus rental would be practical here.

Inland from La Rocjelle there are two other cities I visited, Poitiers and Limoges. I'd recommend both but preferred Limoges. In fact, it was probably my favorite stop in eastern France this year. It has a nice historic district, a decent fine arts museum with an impressive collection of enamels, and what I believe must be an exceptional porcelain museum (a subject on which I am not an expert). The history of porcelain is explained in great detail on loaner iPads, and the collection is very large. I can imagine some people spending all day there. Alas, there is not yet a cafe, but one is planned.

Poitiers also has a good historic district. It is especially known for its early churches, including the Baptistere Saint-Jean, said to be the oldest religious building in western Europe.

On an earlier trip (in 2017) I visited and enjoyed Dinan, Dinard, Rennes, Fougeres and Vitres. The first two had a lot of tourists, but on the days I visited, none approached the St-Malo level of overrun. I seem to be the only visitor who was bothered by the number of fellow human beings in St-Malo, though.

I also liked Bordeaux, but I'd call it a handsome city rather than a beautiful one. There's a sort of monumental-ness to much of its architecture, and those seeking "cute" will not love it, though there are some medieval streets that feel more intimate. The Resistance Museum is closed and no one knows when it will re-open. I didn't do anything wine-related at the Cite du Vin. I care nothing about wine but thoroughly enjoyed several hours walking around hilly St-Emilion. It would be a problem for the mobility-challenged, however.

A clarification to an earlier comment: the city of Brest was largely destroyed by Allied (mostly American) bombardment late in WWII as the Allies tried to secure its port facilities for use in the invasion of western Europe. It's a bit otherworldly to see the monument dedicated to the American-led battle for liberation given that the actions of the Allies (and the German who tried to defend their presence) largely destroyed the city and its port. Consequently, most of central Brest is composed of buildings constructed in the 1950s through the 1970s.

Quimper (camp-air), by contrast, retains a quaint medieval core and consequently is often favored by tourists seeking that sort of experience.

If you're interested, and can read French, this linked pdf file Souvenirs de Libération en Bretagne provides a good summary of how the region underwent attack and liberation by the Allies in WWII. Even if you can't read French, the maps and photos might be of interest.

Further down the coast, the town of Rochefort has several naval-related sights that might be of interest. Rochefort was selected by one of the kings of France to be the royal dockyards, and it played an important role in French maritime power for centuries. Sights include the royal rope-making factory (one need only look at the amount of rope on a large military sailing ship to know the importance of rope-making at that time), the national marine museum, a naval aviation museum, and the first school of naval medicine in the world.

Rochefort also hosts a full-scale replica of l'Hermione, the large naval vessel the Marquis de LaFayette sailed in to America to support the American war of Independence against the British.

If you're taking a more inland route south, don't miss the sobering memorial and museum at Oradour-sur-Glane, a town whose population, including men, women, infants, and the elderly, were massacred by the Germans on the afternoon of 10 June 1944. Charles de Gaulle decided that the old, destroyed town would not be rebuilt, but would be left as a memorial to the victims of Nazi actions before and during WWII.

I meant to mention Oradour-sur-Glane. It is easily reached from Limoges, even by public transportation. However, there are basically just two round-trips available. I chose to go in the morning but would recommend the afternoon for folks who like to read all the information in museums. I visited the museum first and had to rush through the site itself, which made me uncomfortable and may well have been somewhat distractimg to others. An afternoon visit allows more time, per the bus schedule. Not a problem for drivers, of course.

There's a really nice Les Halles food market in St. Malo.

Angoulême has a wonderful museum dedicated to comics. A beautiful building too. They had a cool special exhibit when we where there. Good restaurants in the higher part of town.

Comic Musee

When you get to Dordogne, there's a lovely Sunday market in Saint-Cyprien. Not huge and touristy like Sarlat, but worth the scenic "Sunday drive." Reminder - very few things (gas and grocery stores) open on Sunday. Gas up and stock up!

I would not miss the neolithic sites around Carnac if you have an interest in that sort of thing. We did 4 nights in st. Malo without a car and then hired a guide for one day in Carnac to get us to the various sites -- it was great.

Nantes is a nice stop but the Machine des Isles. is fabulous. We just loved our ride on the giant mechanical elephant (reserve that in advance). and the Jules Vernesque Marine Carousel is amazing. Worth the trip to Nantes. We did the Carousel and then the elephant which took us over to the workshop where they are designing new animals for the next attraction and toured that -- all wonderful. The elephant holds about 50 people without being crowded.

Not far from Dinan and St. Malo is Ft. La Latte. It's an old castle that's been used for many different things but now shows as the medieval fortress it was built to be. You can wander and even use a rope to climb to the top where the flag flies (not too scary). Down the road from there (going west) is the lighthouse at Cap Frehel. It's an okay lighthouse, the claim to fame there is seabird viewing on the cliffs.

I drove west to St. Theggonec, Guimliau and Lampaul-Guimliau to see their parish closes. The towns are small and kind of dead. If you want to be off the main tourist route, it's a good choice. Every town (all over Brittany) has a pardon during the summer, a festival of local food, dress, music and dancing. I think you should try to find at least one you can visit.

After that, I drove through Locronan, a really beautiful town that has been used as a backdrop for movies and TV shows. Then east along the southern coast. I skipped the bigger towns and visited smaller port towns, similar in size to Dinan. Favorites were Auray and Vannes. Vannes is a fairly big city. I liked it because it has a huge medieval center with ramparts and a nice port area. Auray is a miniature version of Vannes (if you want a smaller town). Either is a good base to explore the Carnac megaliths.

One of my all-time favorites is Cairn Gavrinis. It can only be reached by ferry from Larmor-Baden and the tour is all in French. Even if you speak no French, it's still worth seeing - comparable to Newgrange in Ireland.

You can't go wrong just driving along the coast, stopping at different "plages." The rose granite coast is fabulous, and Point du Raz is worth a detour. Each section of coast has its own feel: the northern English Channel coast with the rose granite, the Finistere Atlantic coast wild and rugged, the Morbihan Atlantic coast dotted with small bays and villages. The "sentiers des douaniers," or just "douaniers" are the old customs paths along the coastline now provide great seaside walking, punctuated by charming ports and the occasional German blockhaus. Just go to any beach and you'll find one.

Lorient was mostly destroyed in the war because the Allies tried to destroy the submarine base, and ended up destroying almost everything but that. The base is now a museum, with a submarine you can visit. In early August there's the Festival Interceltique, the largest celtic festival in the world, I think. Not a pretty city, though. Try Quimper or Vannes or Rennes for historic cities.

Locronon in Finistere is really charming, with cobbled streets and splendid old buildings; the Nantes - Brest Canal has lots of nice walking paths; Concarneau is a walled fortress on the water; Pont-Aven is picturesque, and has lots and lots of galleries (Gaugin painted there) which are even open on Sundays. Paimpol, Perros-Guirec, Huelgoat, ...

I highly recommend trying a Fest Noz, a Breton dancing fest. Everyone dances, old and young, beginners or experienced, and it's pretty easy to follow along enough and have a great time listening to great music. In the summer you can usually find one every night. Check out www.tamm-kreiz.bzh/festnoz.

Any tourist office can supply you with free booklets of local events. Or if you just drive around on the small roads you'll go through beautiful historic villages with medieval churches and such.

I hope you enjoy your trip!

Thanks to all for great advice on Brittany.