Towns between Dinan and Chartres

Driving's not much of a problem as long as you watch yourself and don't get twisted up on the back roads of the Dinan - Fougeres - Laval segment. All the way to Chartres is only about four hours. No need to stop for the night if you don't really want to do so.

Vitres beats Laval hands down.

Now the bigger question: What about Carnac? The alignments there have at least 2,500 standing stones that make Stonehenge seem inconsequential.

Were I doing it, I'd leave Dinan and drive the hour and a little bit to Fougeres, look around for a couple hours at most, have a quick lunch, drive to Carnac, spend a good three hours there (or until almost dark), then drive thirty minutes to Vannes and spend the night. Bit of a longish day, but those stones are really something. From Vannes it's only about four hours to Chartres.

I assume since the start of the question was at Dinan, you will have already seen St Malo which is the very best example of a walled port in europe.

I would sacrifice nothing to see the Chartres cathedral which is the best of the notre dame style and makes Notre Dame de Paris look like a country church.

Ed - starting our driving trip in Paris & spending one night each in Honfleur, Bayeux, Mont-Saint-Michel, 2 nights Dinan, then one night in Chartres before returning to Paris. We have one night between Dinan & Chartres that we're deciding about. We plan leisurely driving so we can stop to enjoy the small towns and sights and not rush. Yes we plan to see St.Malo and Cancale before Dinan, also Avranches and Omaha Beach before MSM or Bayeux, and Rouen before Honfleur. Will check out your suggestions & possibly cut one night from Dinan and add another stop. Thanks!

I know Laval only as a student visiting it on a university field trip to see some of the more modern town developments.

Vitre has a nice old town centre and a castle as well that you could visit. Interesting in comparison as it's preserved and not in ruins like the much bigger one in Fougeres. And when we were there some years back the small museum inside had a totally unique but weird collection of stuffed frogs! Can't say much of the driving there. From my memory it didn't feel that bad.

Ah, Fougeres! Fougeres make a brilliant lunch stop, not that the OP asked. Gallettes and cider in the area adjacent to the ruined chateux.

Carol - I love the little towns! They’re just dripping with charm. I wanted to register my vote for lunch in Fougeres – try the ham and cheese galette with fried potatoes – best potatoes I ever had!

Dinan, MSM, and Bayeux are not that far apart--you could stay in one or St. Malo and visit the others. We spent two nights in Dinan in June 2008; on the full day we visited St. Malo and MSM with plenty of time for both. Dinan is interesting, but we didn't find that much to do there. There's a medieval street (Rue Jezebel?) that goes down to the river and a few interesting shops; if there's a lot more, we missed it. We felt it was overly hyped in the Rick Steve's book and wished we had stayed in St. Malo instead---there's a lot more there. The day we left Dinan, we visited Bayeux for the tapestry, had lunch on Omaha Beach, stopped at the American Cemetery for an hour, and then drove to Les Andeleys. In retrospect, Rouen would also have been a good choice for an overnight. We also visited Chartres, although we did that at the beginning of the trip on the way to the Loire valley. Check your distances on theaa.com. It's quite accurate.

I absolutely loved Dinan. We spent two nights there which gave us one full day in the town. I spent the whole day walking around the town and also took a walk along the river to a little village whose name escapes me. It's just a wonderful place to wander around -- very charming. I did not get to St. Malo, so I can't compare. If I were you I'd stay some place two nights, just so you have a break from all those one night stands.

Thanks for all your responses. This is our first trip to France and you have reinforced our decision to spend a week visiting those towns. We have decided to spend our free night in Vitres. Plan to arrive late in the day in Dinan after spending the day visiting Cancale and Saint Malo. This will give us one day in Dinan so we can get an early(?) start the following day and enjoy Fougeres and Vitres. Before leaving on our driving trip we will be spending nine days in Paris. As you all know, planning is half the fun of the trip and we continue to check the helpline for other travelers questions and comments. Thanks again!