We are spending the night in Dinan at the end of May. I would like to add one town to see that day along with Dinan. Do you think we would enjoy St Malo or Fougeres more? Traveling with kids (13&8). Enjoy walking around, cafes and seeing medieval towns...don't care about the beaches, etc. Thanks for any advice!
Posted by
Huntington, WV
160 posts
We were blessed with the opportunity to do both towns last spring and enjoyed them both, but for my money, I'd have to choose St. Malo. It's a really great walking around old village center with a wonderful walking path atop the city wall that surrounds the old center ville. If you like seafood, try "Le Pole Nord" on ave de Moka. Great restaurants abound. Best parking is on the port side...just make sure you've got some euro coins so you can get out (gated toll parking). Good info at the TI and online (saint-malo-touisme). Pretty cool German WWII bunkers along the costal path atop the small hill. Great views. Also neat to watch the huge Sea Link ferries coming and going from England. If you have time, the drive along the Emerald Coast on D-201 is really quite beautiful. We were here in late April with breezy and low 60's temps. May should be perfect, but that's when the town's tourist season starts. You're liable to here more English than French as the Brits flock to this old town. Have fun!
Posted by
Calgary
2297 posts
We did both with our kids. And I agree, that St Malo offers more and it's less of a drive to get there from Dinan. Walk around the entire ramparts (old city wall) and there's so much to see. You can look down and see old men playing petanque, imagine pirate stories when you pass by the statue of Surcouf, walk over to a small island with a small castle when the tide is right, discuss if Jacques Cartier really was the first one to "discover" Canada when he sailed from St Malo to Quebec (another statue) ... Inside the walls it can be quite touristy though in May it's not too bad. But you have a large selection of cafes and restaurants to sit down.
That said, Fougeres is quite interesting as well with its huge castle ruins. However, it's not really filling a full day. We stopped in Vitre on the way there and spent a few hours there including having a picknick lunch next to the castle there.
Just read Ed's suggestion to do the drive along the coast. That's a good idea. Stop at the Fort La Latte. It's in private ownership now and not fully accessible. But you can walk around and get some great views and pictures. And when you come home rent the video of "Vikings" with Kirk Douglas which was filmed in large part in Fort La Latte. You'll recognize the setting :-)
Posted by
Gig Harbor, Washington, USA
1864 posts
We spent two nights and one day in Dinan in June, 2008. On our "Dinan day" we spent several hours in St. Malo (also good for shopping) which we thought much livelier and more interesting than Dinan, than drove over to MSM around 4:00 and walked around several hours before returning to Dinan for dinner. It was easy to do both if that interests you. Haven't been to Fougeres.
Posted by
OP
Breckenridge, CO
239 posts
Thank you all for the info...looks like St Malo it is!
Posted by
la frette sur seine
448 posts
we know both StMalo and Fougeres, but i vote for StMalo... it's livelier and includes sea breezes