Without car, a few days in Brittany in July, arrival from Paris via train

You might take a look at Vannes. It's a different area of Brittany but on the water (Gulf of Morbihan) and reachable by direct train from Paris in 2-1/2 hrs, a little farther than Rennes or Nantes. I wasn't able to fit it in when I was in Brittany but I've heard good things about it for a few days and I would suppose there would be some biking/hiking opportunities in the area.

It's not an argument about your (correct) statement regarding high-season crowds. Note that St. Malo has a ferry port and a huge luxury-boat marina. (I just mean I didn't see any Boston Whalers there.) OTOH, off-season there are retail closures and much less to do. You might consider Dinard, where we stayed at the small Reine Hortense hotel, on the beach. It certainly has strong summer business, but it's not as jammed at (you can see it from the beach) St. Malo.

I do think there is much more to walk around and look at in St. Malo. The beach is ten times as large as Dinard. You should also consider that (car or bike issue maybe) these are two separate peninsulas. There is a 15-minute (car) "overhead" to getting on the one lane "out of town" and similarly "in to town" at the destination, and then on your return. Not a reason to not go, just warning.

Even in Dinard, it was not possible to "walk in" to a seafood restaurant with outdoor seating after 5:30 PM or so. And I was told (did not verify) that Dinard has the highest UK absentee ownership in France. (But, why? The climate is ... the same!) We drove quite a lot from Dinard, one day to MSM, another to Dinan (not worth more than an afternoon, IMHO) and some privately owned, "public" estate gardens, which took a lot of inland, small road, driving. I don't "love" having a car, but one reason we picked the hotel was that it had a parking lot, with padlocked pipe-frames that swung up to block your space.

Do you need to do the "A" list sights if you already have? My friend & his wife met up with me in Paris after I was in Switzerland and they were in Venice. I helped them with their itinerary in Paris, ensuring they scheduled/booked ahead of time for what needed to be, but I did not join them for most of the sights since I was on my 3 trip to Paris. Activities I had not yet done & they wanted to do we did together and would meet up for a meal or two most days.

Enjoy your trip.

Thank you Nancy and Tim for your responses. We both really appreciate it! Nancy, Vannes has us curious and we're reading on it now to learn more. It may be just the ticket to have a lovely city and near enough to the coast that we can perhaps get out there without too much difficulty and off the beaten track so to speak. Hoping to hear anyone else that may have ideas on Rennes or Nantes as comparisons to Vannes. We did on that quick trip years ago to Brittany take a ferry from Quiberon and rode rented bikes on Belle Ile. That was a lot of fun but no need to do it twice. We love exploring beautiful towns and cathedrals and museums in France, along with EATING! : ) Tim, thank you for your suggestion on Dinard! And a healthy reminder that cycling in that area out of St Malo may be a quite foolish and dangerous idea with so many rental cars on the road. Perhaps we'll find a canal or riverside trail if we go inland and only focus on Rennes, or Nantes, or Vannes for our eye candy and wandering without the summer crowds of St Malo. Dinard may be too sleepy for 3 whole nights and we definitely don't want a car on this portion of the trip. Want to keep it a simple escape away from lovely Paris but a quick train ride back to get that flight home.

Hi BrushTim! Agreed, we don't have to do all the A list sights with them, but will be living in an Airbnb with them in the Marais, so we'll be together for meals out and in. Personally we love Batignolles in Paris. Much further out and oh so charming, but I remember my awe the first time we were in Paris and want them to be able to walk out the door and be splashed in all that magic close in to the Ile de Cite and the Marais and getting to the Latin Quarter and St Germain easily, with Montmartre still within reach the other direction. Still knocks me over and we've been to Paris 6 times, so we'll be guiding on some things but no need to go to the top of the Eiffel or into the Louvre for this girl.

we went to Vannes a few years back. It is a smallish town with a great medieval core and has a nice harbor. One thing it isn't, though, is on the water. If you look at the aerial view on your favorite maps site you'll see it's more than a mile along a channel from the harbor to the start of the bay. And the bay seems to be a mud flat and not the same coast you'd get in St Malo.

How about staying the 4 days in Rennes and doing a day or two of day-trips? Rennes has the beautiful Thabor park, a pedestrian-only downtown, a few smallish museums. Another thread with ideas for daytrips is https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/21-day-trip-base-in-rennes-france

I spent a day in Vannes in June. It was pleasant, but there is more to see in St Malo and Dinard. It’s easy cycling around there.

Anywhere on the coast will be exceedingly busy in July. You won’t be able to avoid crowds. Inland cities will be quieter.

Thank you for the addl ideas and post. I think I'm hearing Vannes would be good for a day trip by train but not for the 3 nights we have available to us. Although looking at Concarneau as a day trip and Quimper nearby to Vannes, there is a possibility that it would be a good spot, sans beach though. Rennes would be a good base for the whole 3 nights with day trips to St Malo and Dinard, even Dinan possibly. We did love the romance of the night in St Malo though. This link for 21 days in Rennes is very helpful. Everyone, thank you! Any other ideas surrounding Nantes would be lovely, but I do feel like I'm pushing my luck by asking so many questions. I appreciate your patience. : ) You all have been quite generous with your thoughts.

If it's about staying near the coast, in July you will see a lot of people everywhere (and not just on the Brittany coast). Saint Malo, Dinard, Dinan will be particularly crowded and not really relaxing.

The city of Vannes is certainly pretty, it is a big city with its advantages and disadvantages, however I am surprised that Vannes is recommended on the south coast of Brittany but that nobody mentions Quiberon and especially Belle-île en Mer.

The Quiberon peninsula with its preserved landscapes and fishing villages is particularly ideal for cycling or walking in a very beautiful environment.

https://www.baiedequiberon.co.uk/

Belle-île en mer is a jewel of Brittany, it is wilder and with more than forty kilometers of specially marked paths for walkers and cyclists outside the main roads, it is a paradise for nature lovers ( and you can rent electric bikes) It offers some of the most beautiful and impressive landscapes in Brittany.
There is a train station in Quiberon and regular boats connect Quiberon to Belle-île en Mer in 50 minutes.

https://www.belleileenmer.co.uk/

And if you like typical Brittany seafood to bring back as a souvenir, I particularly recommend "La Belle-Iloise"

https://www.labelleiloise.fr/en/

We regulary go as foot passengers to St Malo for the weekend, but now we stay in Saint Servan next door. Loads of GR walks, markets, eating and sea swimming, really lovely. Also use the buses alot.
Enjoy

We based in Quimper for a week last fall. It is a wonderful little city with a river running through the middle of it (two, actually). No beach but lovely cathedral, really wonderful museum of fine arts, and a lovely wooded hill to hike up and see the city. Beautiful gardens around the cathedral, and the wonderful Quimper pottery store. Walking along the river and poking into small restaurants was lovely. Rennes is also lovely, didn't spend as much time there.

I would not bother with Concarneau. It's not that great, very touristy - lovely location on the water but absolutely full of tourists. On the other hand, Carnac (north of Vannes I believe) with its mysterious rows of standing stones was quite a sight.

All that being said, it's very hard to get to any of the coastal areas in Brittany without a car. We had one for our trip so that we could spend time walking the coastal path, which we did driving out from Quimper and also on the Channel coast from another week's base in Erquy.

So for only 3 days, maybe a lovely town with a river? Rennes, Vannes, and Quimper all fit the bill for that.

Doing this trip in July, ( I would choose that month to be over there too), I would suggest following the Paris stay, take the train to St Malo or La Rochelle or Rennes. If avoiding the heat is a concern, keep in mind that Brittany is the "coolest" region in the summer in France. Historically and culturally (ie, regarding French lit.) , St Malo is worthy of a visit.

Another option you might want to consider is staying in Lannion, a beautiful old town with a direct train service from Paris and regular bus connections to the Pink Granite Coast (provided you will be travelling during the French summer holidays, which will start on 8 July 2023).

You all have been so wonderful. Thank you for the additional ideas and feedback. We really think Brittany and everything discussed here warrants a trip specifically to rent a car and spend a few weeks there, but maybe May, June or Sept, Oct timeframe in 2024. We really just don't want to be with a mass of tourists and know that July is the start of the rush to the sea. 3 nights to relax could be done closer in with perhaps the Picardy region, no beaches but what I've been reading online about Amiens and Lille. Have any of you been to these lovely cities and have a preference? Both are quick to Paris, no need for a car, Lille has a beautiful Beaux Arts museum, each have wonderful cathedrals, and Amiens has the garden islands with the chance to perhaps boat a bit. I know this is a curveball in the planning process but perhaps just the romance and a slower old french city is just what the doctor ordered before we have to leave dear France for another year. Thank you all again. I know I should post questions on these two cities under another question but have really appreciated your knowledge base and help and wanted to leave that parting question. Darla

If you go to Picardy, don't miss the Baie de Somme.

https://www.visit-somme.com/explore

Lille, which is not in Picardy but in the "Hauts de France" (formerly and quite simply the "North") is a very pleasant city just like its inhabitants who have the reputation of being very welcoming (and not only the reputation!) .

However, you will need to take a crash course in the northern patois "Chtimi", which is relatively easy after a few local beers. :))

Regarding your latest post, I don't think you need to worry that much about crowds in July in Brittany, especially if you are able to time your visit to the first half of the month. August is significantly busier.
I really like late May, June and July because of the long days; by late September the weather is typically much less pleasant...

I think Rennes is a nice place to stay, especially if you are older and want to avoid hills. Found that it had a nice old part of town, plenty of good restaurants, etc.
You might also want to think about Quimper. It has a very nice old part of town, although the rest of the town is not much to look at in my memory (was there a long time ago). Peter

We spent 5 nights in Brittany without a car a few years ago. We trained to St. Malo where we spent 4 nights in an apartment near the beach in the old walled town. It was an easy bus ride to Dinan. (in summer there is a boat on the river that takes you there but we were too early). It is an easy boat to Dinard. We walked to St. Servan and the Tour Solidor. https://janettravels.wordpress.com/category/brittany/
Note that St. Malo has some terrific dining but you do need to make reservations as many of the best places are tiny and book up. Even off season we could not just walk in to the good places and get a table.

There is a daily bus service to Mont St. Michel -- a morning bus and and evening return. We had done MSM on an earlier trip to Normandy but didn't try it, but the apartment owner had the details for us in case we wanted to do it. You can also take the bus to Cancale for oysters. and it is nice to just walk along the trails along the coast.

After 4 nights we trained to Auray where we spent one night and I had arranged a private guide to drive us to the neolithic stone sites. That was terrific and he dropped us back at the train to Paris.

I agree with balso, I was in Brittany for 11 days in July and crowds were rarely a problem. I did not go to Dinan or Dinard which I believe can be rather crowded in Summer. Even St Malo was not severely crowded when I was there.

However, I do understand your decision to defer your trip to Brittany to when you have more time and will have a car. While you can see a lot with public transportation, I do feel that a car is best for Brittany. Just my persoanl opinion.

Everyone has given us great additions to what we knew of Brittany. We'll certainly be adding Lannion, Auray, and Vannes to stops on our road tour of Brittany when we go there instead of multiple weeks. Thank you all!!! It really has been considerate of you to take the time to share your thoughts. We are now booked in both Amiens and Lille, two nights each, and training the morning of our flight home out of CDG. Direct train to CDG from Lille in less than an hour. Perfect!