Suggestions for getting from Giverny to the Vannes and villages to stay

The closest rail station to Giverny is Vernon. There is bus service to Monet's garden. As so often happens in France, if you want to get from Vernon to Vannes by train, you will be routed through Paris, and you'll need to switch train stations there. It is certainly doable, but not necessarily a great deal of fun with luggage in tow (though you could grab a taxi rather than dealing with the Metro). You can take a look at the schedule on the Deutsche Bahn website. Click on "Details" to see the bit about the station-switch. If you're in Paris for several days, I'd consider doing Giverny as a day-trip and heading off to Vannes on a later date, just to avoid the cross-town, baggage-laden trek with a train ticket hanging in the balance.

The leg from Paris to Vannes will be on a TGV, so you can probably save some money if you buy that ticket soon rather than waiting till you get to France. To check fares and/or buy tickets, use the SNCF website. Bargain-priced tickets are not changeable or refundable, however.

I have not been to Vannes, but I think Brad posted here that he liked it. Probably he will notice your post and comment. I stayed in eastern Brittany, overnighting in Rennes and St. Malo. I found St. Malo's old town one of those areas that is a bit too intensely touristy for me, but it is undoubtedly picturesque if you can squint your eyes and erase the throngs. I preferred the other places I visited: Rennes, Dinard, Dinan, Fougeres and Vitre, but they are all well east of Vannes.

You may need buses to get to some of the smaller places you want to see. Rome2Rio.com will help you determine which places are possible by train and which will need buses. Do not trust Rome2Rio's travel times or fares. I think those guys have a side gig writing fiction. Instead, keep clicking through the website and you'll probably find a link to the appropriate bus company's website where you can uncover a schedule (careful about time of year and day of week/holidays). If that is not fruitful, just Google "bus Vannes to other-town's-name".

I used solely buses and trains in Normandy and Brittany last year, and it worked out fine. You just have to temper your expectations about how many little places you can see in one day. Sometimes it's better to choose your second or third priority destination rather than your #1, because #1 will just take too long to get to. It helps to be willing to skip lunch, too (sorry about that). Another possibility (though I don't know whether Vannes is large enough to offer this option) is to spring for some sort of bus tour that will take you to a bunch of small places that are very awkward to combine by public transportation. Sometimes getting access to a bunch of little places in one day is worth having to adhere to someone else's timetable.

Brittany tends to be coolish and overcast much of the time, even in mid-summer, so be sure you set out every day with layers you can put on and take off as necessary.

Thanks for the info; this is helpful. The idea was to avoid Paris, and just do the countryside and villages, but it appears the trains hub from there, so maybe we go from Giverny or Auvers sur Oise back to Paris, and take the train to Vannes? Wanted to spend a nite in Giverny and Vernon is close but your point about luggage is a good one...Did you book places to stay ahead of your trip, or as you went in Brittany? Gulf of Mourbihan looks lovely and not so touristy perhaps, and that's where we'll be mostly. April is off season, but I don't usually book day to day. Your suggestions?
Thanks, Clare

I am a wing-it traveler, but how far out I make the bookings has crept up from as little as 24 hours to (usually) closer to 72 over the last three years. That has happened because I was finding myself making unpleasant choices about location vs. availability of air conditioning (not your issue!) vs. price. But I travel between May and September, which are tougher than April. Still, anyone limited to using public transportation needs to be cautious about waiting too late to book hotels. Do you want to find yourself staying, say, 2.8 miles from the center of Vannes? Unless there are special events going on, April is pretty far off-season for Brittany, which should make things easy. But miight some of the smaller hotels still be closed, thereby meaning not as much excess hotel capacity as we would expect? I just don't know.

At the least, you should use your phone or tablet to monitor the lodging situation at your future stops by checking a site like booking.com every day or two. That way, you'll know if things begin to tighten up. My biggest issues have mostly been in coastal towns.

Concerning Paris: I omitted it from my trip last year for lack of time. Still, I found myself in the city three times, changing trains.

Again, thanks for the tips. I usually have a town or 2 chosen that I want to see, but not so with this trip. My daughter would be happy in hostels, but not me, so it sounds like picking a town close to Vannes and Arradon and booking it for at least 3 nites would be a good idea. Any suggestions on towns or villages to stay are appreciated!
Clare

Pay attention to French school spring break in April. Vannes is a popular vacation spot with the French.

I hate backtracking so I always avoid going one way out of Paris only to return then catch another train to go a different direction. I probably avoid it more than I should because it's not that hard - I just have a visceral reaction to backtracking or otherwise wasting valuable travel time.

I really liked Vannes. If you go I'd stay close, walking distance, to the port area. It's sort of pie shaped, fairly large, with promenades on both sides and lots of boats in slips in the middle. Adjacent to the port is a surprisingly large medieval town center with fortifications. The entire area has lots of restaurant choices. I gravitated toward the outdoor cafes on the port.

Auray is closer than Pont Aven. I thought it was really nice, essentially a much smaller version of Vannes, with a very quaint port area and old center around it. It seemed like the percentage of tourists was higher in Auray than Vannes though, mostly European tourists.

A car makes things a lot easier. Buses will get you places but I think you will have trouble getting somewhere and back in a day (even harder to see more than one place and back in a day).