What you've Seen in Brittany

Carnac?

Boy, it's been more than 10 years since I've been to Brittany, but I do remember I really enjoyed visiting the area. I do remember visiting Quimper, famous for its ceramics-which can be expensive, and the town of Pont Aven, Carnac, Chateaubriand, and the towns you mentioned. Also inland there are several very ancient churches, which I think date back to the 11th or 12th Century with the most beautiful stainglass windows I have ever seen anywhere. I think Brittany gets overlooked a lot by the more popular destinations of Provence and Normandy. I hope you enjoy your visit.

Here are some places in Britanny which are popular among French & European tourists (besides the places already mentioned): Dinard, Early 20th century seaside resort. Great view over Saint-Malo. Fort La Latte (old fortress on a cliff over the sea) and Cape Frehel The island of Brehat: small island 10 mn of the coast. The Côte de Granit Rose (pink granite coast) between Perros-Guirec and Treberden) The Huelgoat and Monts d'Arrée area with it's lanscapes reminding Lord of the Ring & celtic legends. The Crozon peninsula Pointe du Raz. The most western point of France Pont-Aven. Charming little typical Breton village with many artists showing & selling their paintings. Golfe du Morbihan. Guerande. Another less known walled city La Baule. Huge beach with lots of hotels.
Day trips to the further off the coast islands (Ile de Sein, Ile d'Ouessant, Belle-île) are also very popular.

Cancale; great oysters & views on the way. Pointe du Grouin; great scenery and from Cancale it's on the way to St. Malo.
Vitre; great castle. Roman ruins were discovered in recent years when they began to upgrade the parking lot. When we were there in 2010 the lot was excavated and some ruins were exposed. Don't know what has been done since then.

Cancale; Concarneau; Pont Aven; Quimper

Lots of places for me to investigate. Thank you so much!

Is a stop in Rennes worthwhile?

I lived in Rennes for almost a year. And if you are there you can definitely find worthwhile things to see and do. However, with only a few days in Brittany there are many more interesting stops. I took my husband and kids on a 10 day Brittany trip 15 years after I lived there and showed them what I really loved about the region - we didn't stay a single day in Rennes ... Amongst the destinations mentioned already my favourites include Fort La Latte (and then watch the movie "Vikings" with Kirk Douglas which was filmed there!), Cote de Granit Rose, Cancale for the oysters (you have to be in a restaurant with sea view for this!), Carnac. Definitely try to see one or two of the Parish Closes. Not only are they really interesting in themselves but most of them are located in small and picturesque villages. Pick one or two that are closest to your itinerary. I've seen probably half a dozen of them but couldn't tell you anymore which ones exactly. Examples include: Argol Guéhenno Guimiliau Kergrist-Moëlou Lampaul-Guimiliau Lannédern Lanrivain La Martyr Locmélar Pleyben Plougastel-Daoulas Saint-Thégonnec La Roche-Maurice Pencran Sizun
Brasparts

If you have half a day left in your agenda, then a visit to Rennes is definitely worthwile. The best time to visit is saturday morning. That's when the Farmer's market takes place on Place Des Lices. It's really something to be seen.
The 18th century city center is great for shopping. There are also a few medieval streets around the Cathedral that escaped the great fire of 1720. The other main tourist attractions are the Parlement building and the Thabor gardens.

Wonderful responses on Brittany ... I just spent a September week there with Road Scholar. Several years ago we drove for 3 weeks in the area, and hit the highlights on a couple of other visits. I like Brittany! Quimpair is a perfect location for day trips to the sea, and remote villages and a delightful city to wander. Carnac is certainly a must for the stones. On the earlier trip we participated in a pardon in Hennebrot which was special. To me Brittany's charm is the landscape, the ruralness and continuing celtic-ness, the wonderful people, the prehistory, the food of course. I definitely enjoyed my down time in Rennes when the group went to St. Malo and Cancale ... wonderful old city with a covered market open every day but pretty inactive on Monday, plus lots of contemporary small city activity. On the way to Rennes we visited Josselin (great meal in the old hotel) and happened on a fetival in the courtyard. If you like celtic music, you'll find lots of it in Brittany.