Normandy + Brittany intinerary

Month of the year? (weather, seasonal attractions, gardens) Is there an advantage to renting a car before you start in Normandy? Are you returning to Paris by TGV?

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

I don't personally use AirBnb because it harms a local housing market. But how did you select Dinan? I mean, there are lots of half timbered towns in northern Europe, and I find Dinan a little touristy and stage-set ish, but you know what will interest your kids more than I do. I also felt that "historic" Dinan was very much directly-surrounded by low-rise modern redevelopment. There are reasons against staying in (for instance) Dinard or St. Malo, but waking up in one of those is much more like waking up in Paris (yes, difference of scale. But I mean things to walk and see, and real people live there. However, I did read that Dinard has the highest percentage of UK foreign home ownership in France.)

We like open Gardens, and found driving small roads to them rewarding south of Dinard. You don't have to post them here, but it's unclear if you value anything but D-Day in your Bayeux stop. It's good to have a plan because there are so many options. In season, repeated parking can be difficult, a shock to the idea that your car gives you absolute freedom there!

Dont miss the Bayeux tapestry

Hi Tim !
Well we have found a good price on a car rental from Paris so that's the only reason we get the car (and return it) in Paris. Is not in paris but not fra from airport (Tremblay).

We know about AIrbnb and impact they have on local lodging, but choosing hotel in Europe is not easy when travelling in family. An airbnb offer more space, washing machine and kitchen if neeeded and theyr are usually less expensive than an hotel room.

Why Dinan? To be honest there's not a lot of thought behind that choice. It looks cute, gor many restaurant, it's not too far from other sights in that region, and the airbnb we found is not expensive. We have taken a look at St-Malo, but getting in and out can be something not fun at all from what we've read.

And for Bayeux...Parking is hard for the beaches ?

You only mentioned "D-Day Beaches", which I took to mean non-recreational beaches. Of course off-season, the big broad beaches have more parking. But those are the beaches that have no tangible signs of the invasion. But beaches and outlooks directly related to the invasion have much more limited parking. We had to drive around some, like a Mall at Christmas until a space opened up. There are an incredible number of different and detatched sights and museums related to D-Day. We limited that part of our visit to one day.

It is perfectly true that Dinard and St. Malo have peninsula-road access delays. We did not immediately find a paid parking space in Dinan, but perhaps your rental comes with 24-hour parking.

I regretted returning a car near Etoile in Paris. And I drive in New York City twice a week. It was also ... unexpected that I had to drive down a tight spiral ramp to the fifth sub-basement, and that no one inspected my car before I signed the return paperwork. When I came out of the office, a dumpster-exchange job was completely blocking the one travel lane of the street with the car office!

I agree that Dinan is better situated for the gardens we went to see. There are coastal attractions too, but you may be covering them in the western Brittany days. The seasonal steam train in Paimpol was too far for our time available. I suppose you're researching the old villages and neolithic stones you want to see.

Quimper is quite a good base for western Brittany, if you're OK with not being right next to the coast.
But if you'd rather be nearer the coast, look at Concarneau.
Otherwise, inland, Châteaulin would be good to, closer to Crozon.

I disagree on the limited parking at the D-day beaches. I have visited Normandy eight times in the past thirteen years (six of them during D-day anniversaries) and routinely pull up and park at Omaha and Utah Beach with no problem at all. Never have I had to drive around to look for a spot. In fact, I routinely have a picnic lunch in my car in the East end of Omaha Beach, and/or the North end of Utah beach. That being said, there is so so much more to see in the area than the physical beaches themselves (PM me for ideas/info). IMHO, the Caen "memorial" is a waste of time—despite Rick Steves' adoration of this site. It is far from any other significant sights (Caen itself has little to offer and was largely destroyed during the battle of Normandy), and takes a long chunk out of a day much better spent elsewhere. I will add that I have not (yet) visited Honfleur, but I would think three days would be excessive. I'm planning on trying to fit in a short mid-day visit there while driving through his May from Rouen to Bayeux, but if I miss it, so be it.

I would not spend that much time in Dinan -- I thought it was a classic one afternoon town. I'd base in St. Malo instead -- it has great restaurants, the wonderful beach swimming pool for the kids that time of year, and is well connected by public transport to the region and of course with a car it is easy to visit other towns including Dinan.