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Looking for tips about Brittany and Normandy

My husband are planning a trip to France for September of 2023. I often use Rick's TV programs to help plan an itinerary, and he does cover Normandy, but I can't find any program about Brittany. Can anyone help us plan our six days in these two regions? Should we share the time equally between the two, or do you like one better than the other? Brittany looks beautiful in the articles I have found, but I don't know much about it. We will have a rental car, so we can get to all the best hidden spots easily.

Thanks for any tips or advice on any of the following! Best village to visit? Hotels you loved? Interesting sites to visit? Any advice about driving? Or anything else you can think of!

Posted by
14799 posts

No advice on driving but I loved Brittany! I was on a Road Scholar tour and really enjoyed Saint-Malo - loved watching the tides change here and cover the causeways to the 3 small islets so I’d give yourselves at least 2 nights here for one full day. Also enjoyed Quimper with it’s slightly wonky cathedral nave and good folk museum.

I did the Road Scholar trip because it also went to the Alignments at Carnac and other neolithic sights in the area which were all I expected and more.

Most people here like Dinan but it didn’t do much for me, however I was just there for an afternoon visit. I was ready to go.

Pont Aven was very cute with it’s artist colony feel.

For Normandie I liked staying in Bayeux better than Caen.

With 6 days you will need to make some hard choices as Brittany is big. I’d do at least 3 nights in Normandy to give you time to do the US landing area one day and the other Allied beaches and Pegasus Bridge the other day …if WWII sights are of interest to you.

This is a really great area to visit!!

Posted by
485 posts

We spent 8 nites in Brittany and felt we had barely scratched the surface....can’t wait to go back. We stayed in Auray, Carnac and Dinan. Went to Vannes for a day trip, More cute towns than you can shake a stick at. Emerald coast and Granite Rose coast are fantastic. Don’t be put off by lack of RS info, it might even be a plus. We had a car, driving was easy. Brad

Posted by
1234 posts

I'd certainly recommend getting a car for these two areas. I have barely scratched the surface of Brittany, but have visited Normandy 8–9 times. Usually for a week or more. Please let us know the things that interest you about these areas, so people can better recommend things you might want to visit. If one area of interest is WWII history, there is a lot to see, and why I usually return to Normandy every other year. Personally, I have also been interested in St. Malo and the standing stones in the Brittany area, but have yet to visit them.

Posted by
7311 posts

Brittany is bigger than it looks, and the roads aren't very fast.
Do you mean 6 days for each or 6 days for both?

If 6 days for both, to minimize travel time from Normandy, I would aim for the region of Saint-Malo and immediately to the west ("Côte d'Emeraude"). Mont Saint Michel can be reached from there, too.
If 6 days for Brittany only, your options open, but I still would not want to go all the way to Finistère.

Posted by
10622 posts

We are currently in Brittany. We came from the Loire on Sunday and spent 2 nights in Vannes. It’s nice, but much was closed on Sunday and Monday, our only days there. We stopped in Carnac on our way to Dinan for 3 nights. We really like it here. Today we did a day trip St. Malo and really enjoyed it too, but we are happy to be based in Dinan. It could partially be due to our great apartment here. This is our first time to Brittany. On Friday we leave for 4 nights in Bayeux. We’ve been there before. I definitely recommend a car as just using public transportation will be very limiting. It’s easy to drive in France. With a car be sure where you stay has parking. Free parking preferably. By 6 days do you mean 6 nights? If you mean 6 nights I would choose 3 nights in Bayeux and 3 nights in either St. Malo or Dinan. They aren’t too far apart so you won’t waste an entire day traveling between them. You could stop at MSM on the way. We are doing that on Friday.

Posted by
407 posts

Since you have a year to plan I suggest getting the Michelin Green Guides for Brittany & Normandy (2 books). They describe virtually every town a tourist might want to visit, and also have some suggested driving itineraries. Also request Stu's itinerary; see https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/normandy-and-brittany-stu-dudleys-updated-itinerary-1670294/ We used these planning our trip to Brittany and Normandy a few years ago. You can also find many videos on YouTube exploring these regions.

If I was doing your trip I would just pick one or the other after going thru the material above. 3 days in each is barely enough to scratch the surface. Each is about the size of Massachusetts or Vermont.

Pick up a car in a city such as Rennes (beautiful and has a pedestrian only downtown) or Rouen. Instead of changing hotels daily I'd pick a place for 2-3 nites and do daytrips.

Posted by
32 posts

Brittany is beautiful. Lots of coastal towns to explore. We took TGV from Paris and spent 7 days exploring from our home base in Quimper. We went to the tourism office in Quimper to get suggestions once we were there. Took day trips to :Point De Pen Hir, Crozon Penninsula, Camarat,, Pointe du Raz, Benodet, Point-l'Abbe, Concarneau, Audierne.
Daughter was with us for 1st trip to France. We "challenged" her to rate each Creperie to find best crepe. They are everywhere as so delicious. RS recorded part of my interview about it for his audio/podcast.

Posted by
10 posts

I too am planning on a 2023 trip to Normandy. It doesn’t look like there are trains from Paris (according to Google maps anyway). Has anyone gone to Normandy from Paris for a day/overnight? TIA

Posted by
28218 posts

There are definitely trains from Paris to Normandy. It's a large region. You need to use the name of a city/town in your search for trains.

It would be best if you started a new thread about your trip so you can tell us where you want to go and we can help you without confusing robslassie.

Go here to create a thread to ask about your trip to France: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/new

The SNCF Connect website is the place to search for trains. You enter your destination first, then it will ask you for your origin. (Yes, that is a bit backwards.)

Posted by
7920 posts

olivepeteymom, you may find some of these discussions helpful. Also check our Host's Travel Tips for Trains:
https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/day-trip-from-paris-to-d-day-beaches-acf8ace3-7773-4e57-b464-b178dcd45e1f

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/normandy-brittany-thoughts

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/london-normandy-paris-help-with-itinerary-transport-options

Note that this thread discusses planning considerable time in eastern France. If you are (perhaps?) only interested in the D-Day beaches, you may wish to mention that in a future post.

Posted by
5 posts

Thanks to everyone who responded for your great tips! I'm thinking we have not allotted enough time for Brittany, but I guess that just means we will have to come back again! Your tips will really help us make the most of the short time we will have.

Posted by
12315 posts

I did a loop from Paris through Normandy, Brittany, Loire Valley then back to Paris.

It was September, the weather was nice and crowds weren't bad.

Some tips:
-Cancale really does have great oysters.
-Brittany has Pardons (local food, music, costume festivals) all summer. There may have been one or two going in September but nothing close to me. It might be nice to plan a loop that goes to Brittany first so you can plan to attend a Pardon.
-MSM is nice in September, high tides are often high enough to wash over the road to the island and the crowds are manageable.
-I enjoyed the cliffs around Etretat and Fecamp in Normandy. If you like WWII history, there are pill boxes along the cliff trail that were abandoned and never destroyed. They are mostly full of dirt though. Regardless, the views are spectacular.
-For me, renting a car in Rouen worked well. I trained from Paris early, spent a half-day in the old center, then picked up a rental and drove to my first Airbnb. I dropped the car in Chinon, traded for a bicycle, then trained back to Paris from Amboise.
-Favorite towns to stay in Brittany were Dinan, Vannes and Auray. Also enjoyed visiting St. Malo and eating in Cancale.
-Favorite non-touristy activity was Cairn de Gavrinis. Took a ferry tour from Lamor Baden. It's all in French but takes you to a passage tomb much like Newgrange in Ireland plus a partially submerged henge. Seeing the tide going out there was pretty amazing, almost like river rapids through the islands.

Posted by
5 posts

Sounds amazing. I don't think I planned enough time for Brittany and Normandy! We are spending almost two weeks in Paris first. I wanted to experience the city without rushing around like a tourist...but now I'm thinking we will have to come back to this area!