My husband and I are spending 4 days in Normany, 1 night at Mt. St. Michel, 2 nights in Dinan (one day in Jersey). We have 4 days before ending in Paris. Rick Steeves doesn't offer much in terms of sightseeing in Britanny. Would appreciate any suggestions as to what to see there. We will have a car, but don't want to spend all of our time driving.
Posted by
Ft. Worth, TX, USA
45 posts
We are doing a similar trip in the fall. We're going to spend a night in Fougeres. I have also had Vitre recommended but we will not have time for that. We are also staying in Honfleur and Rouen. Another website to see photos of other towns is called "virtual tourist". I got some of my ideas from there when RS didn't cover it.
Posted by
river falls, wi, usa
28 posts
Our family of five just came back from a week in Brittany before we headed to the Loire valley. Suggestions include: St Malo--beautiful walks in fortified city and along the beach Pointivy--nice small town with castle and on the Nantes-Brest canal Carnac---interesting megaliths and coastline Emerald coast--drive the coast between mont st Michel and st Malo
Part of the fun for us was driving and just stopping when we we found something interesting. Enjoy!
Posted by
Calgary
2297 posts
Emerald Coast is indeed very pretty and worth a drive. But it is WEST of St Malo towards Saint-Brieuc and not East towards Mt St Michel. I actually love the entire northern coast of Brittany :-) There's the Emerald Coast with great views at Fort La Latte and Cap Frehel. And a bit further west you get into the Rose Granite Coast with beautiful places like Trégastel and Ploumanac'h. If you have 4 extra days I'd recommend to spend a 1-2 days further West to explore this coast line and some of the small villages in the Finistere with impressive "enclos paroissial" (parish close). And maybe another 1-2 days to head further south towards Quimper and Carnac (huge prehistoric site). http://www.finisterebrittany.com/discover/rather-unusual-churches That might still leave you with a day or two in the Loire Valley (which I only know from a single day trip more than 20 years ago ...). Oh, here's the link to a recent post with info on Brittany:
http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm?topic=86959
Posted by
Brea, CA, USA
24 posts
For your 4 days, I recommend going to Chartres Cathedral (take a tour with Malcolm if he's still giving tours), then go the Loire Valley for it's chateaux. An alternative if you're love Monet is to go to Rouen and Giverny for 2 days. Then bypass Paris and go to the SE of the city to Napoleon's chateau at Fontainbleau and to the greatest of French Chateau: Chateau Vaux le Vicomte.
Cary T., Brea, CA
Posted by
Brea, CA, USA
24 posts
For your 4 days, I recommend going to Chartres Cathedral (take a tour with Malcolm if he's still giving tours), then go the Loire Valley for it's chateaux. An alternative if you're love Monet is to go to Rouen and Giverny for 2 days. Then bypass Paris and go to the SE of the city to Napoleon's chateau at Fontainbleau and to the greatest of French Chateau: Chateau Vaux le Vicomte.
Cary T., Brea, CA