Coastal itinerary in Brittany for 10 days in charming villages?

Quimper does have half-timbered houses!

Dinan has half-timbered houses, cute and quaint town. I think Rennes has some, too, and that would be a good place to pick up a rental car.

Thanks Kathleen & Europefan,
Are there any other towns like those or places to stay that you like?

We stayed here in 2014 and it was a delight: https://rigourdaine.com/en/ (that trip was Dinan, Mont-Saint Michel, St. Malo). Also loved a stop at Cap Frehet and Le Fort la Latte and a nearby beach. We took a train from Paris to rent the car - now that I’m remembering, it was indeed Rennes where we picked it up.

We are finishing 2 M in Bretagne. We visited many many places. Here are the highlights:

1) The "enclose parishes" - these are parish churches with walls, ossuaries, chapels, and calvaires. A calvaire is a statue-based story of Jesus' life outdoors. There are many many of these in Bretagne. For specific cities, look up "7 monumental calvaires Bretagne". We visited pretty much all of these. There is an "enclose parish" route near Morlaix, which has about 12 churches with these features. This is discussed in Guide Michelin Verte, which is a good book to have for France - either in French or English.

2) The Église Sainte-Onenne in Tréhorenteuc, France, known as the "Grail Church" (Église du Graal), is a unique chapel within the Brocéliande forest (Paimpont forest) in Brittany that blends Catholic, pagan, and Arthurian legends.

3) The megalithic field in Carnac: Thousands of megaiiths (standing stones), arranged in rows in Carnac.

4) The Vallee de Saintes: Hundreds of modern sculptures in central Bretagne.

5) The German U-boat base in Lorient

6) The Chateau de la Roche Goyon - a very well-preserved fortified chateau (castle) on the N coast of Bretagne

As to quaint villages, Dinan is very nice, St Malo, Quimper has an old section, Penmarch, Roscoff. Brest was heavily bombed in WWII, and is quite modern. Most of the coastal towns in Finisterre don't have that kind of old section, though. The ambiance of Finisterre in particular is more like Myrtle Beach than the Loire valley - sun, sea, sand, relaxing near the ocean. It's flat as a pancake along the coast, there are a lot of bike riders.

Make sure to find cidre - alcoholic cider, often carbonated. There are 4 cideries within 10 K of our house.

The dish here is the crepe but made of "ble noir" or black flour - buckwheat flour. In Finisterre in particular, the cuisine of fish and other ocean sources is very prominent. Many towns (Dournenez, Roscoff, Penmarch) had huge fish-processing industries, much of which is no longer here. But the area features fishy foods.

Mostly you can get by in English. I speak minimal French. I often find that when I say "Bonjour" the reply is in English - somehow my accent tells the tale. Very funny how quick it is picked up.

Locronan is a small village, 20 km northwest of Quimper. It is one of "The most beautiful villages of France" and very close to the coast and new the fishing village of Douarnenez.

In Finistère, if you're looking for picturesque towns and villages, there's Quimper, of course, but also Locronan, Pont-Croix, Landerneau, Morlaix, Pont-Aven, and Concarneau. Many small fishing ports could be added to this list, but then it would be very long. For example, Lesconil, Île-Tudy, Port-Manech, Riec-sur-Belon, Sainte-Marine, Audierne, Tréboul, etc.

We trained from Paris to Dinan and picked up our car. Drove to Perris Guirec, stayed, and hiked that area (Pink Granite Coast). Then drove to Carcaneau for a week to explore that area, including Carnac. Lovely part of France. Enjoyed the crepes and galettes.

lcmphd,
You may want to stop at Le Conquet on your coastal drive. It is the westernmost point of mainland France. A small town with 15th century architecture and ambience, a nearby lighthouse, a nearby beach and some nicecoastal walks.

Many of the towns and villages here are quite close. If you have 10 days, I would suggest you only stay in 1 or 2 places and just do day trips - taking a picnic, or have your main meal at lunchtime. We spent 2 weeks in Brittany, with just one base and saw an amazing amount. We picked up a car in Rennes.

lcmphd,
Just fyi...the Fete de Bretagne this year is May 14-24. Lots of good stuff happening across Brittany. You might check a tourist website for what's happening. We missed it by a week last time we were there. It should be fun with food, music and cultural activities.

In addition to the towns mentioned in Finistère, you could add Roscoff which also has beautiful heritage (much about granite), or Douarnenez.
In Côtes d'Armor, maybe you would like to take a hike along the Pink granite coast and stop in a town like Trébeurden, Trégastel or Ploumanach (but no half-timbered houses there).
In Morbihan, inland, you would probably enjoy the medieval town of Josselin.