Summer- Brittany (Rennes) Anyone been?

[Chilledout11]

Thinking of visiting. Looks really pretty. We won't have a car though.
Any tips / beaches? Thanks

I think without a car France is quite tricky. Suppose you would need to know what public transport is like there? When we have been we always seem to be driving a lot to get anywhere.

Rennes is quite a long way from the beach resorts. For Brittany, you really need a car.

La Rochelle is really nice and could maybe occupy you for a week without a car.
Cannes also..and you can get on a train to Monaco, Italy etc
Nice also

But more rural areas would need a car.

Not sure what's in Rennes. We flew there and then hired a car and drove to Benodet on the East Coast. Lovely beach/picturesque. Not far from other pretty towns but obviously we had the car to explore.

Not sure how easy it would be on public transport though. In hindsight I would have got the ferry and taken our own car which is what most people seemed to do that we met.

Hi
I used to live nr Rennes and you won’t be able to see much via public transport. Brittany, like most holiday destinations in France isn’t really set up for transport links so a car is vital. (France is 4 times the size of Britain so public transport not set up very well outside the cities).

Without a car and staying in France, I would visit Nice. Direct flights (see easyJet or skyscanner from your closest airport) and you can get trips via most hotels there to Monaco, Villefranche and Cannes. I went many years ago and didn’t hire a car. Enjoy!

I really appreciate this advice. We have travelled a lot but not for a while (dc etc)

Rennes looks really pretty but I understand- not much going on. We live in a really rural place (so are not averse to just going to a market,coffee shop playground) very low budget due to personal commitments.

We spent a week in Rennes without a car and loved it. DH and I am two teenage boys. The Museum of Brittany, the Jardin du Thabor and a day trip (by bus) to Fougeres were particular highlights, but the city is gorgeous and really interesting to spend time in. We're history nerds though so we enjoyed all the architecture and churches etc.

We are history nerds too we are happy to potter around. To be honest our last few holidays have been much the same and we have loved them.

We found apartments with lovely garden.. bottle of wine in the evening visit to cathedrals all that. Paris would be too hectic for us (children are four and five)

It does have train station. You can get to Vannes (south) or St Malo (north) in an hour which are both very nice to visit.

We have a holiday home in Morlaix, Brittany. It is a port town and very pretty. A great market on Saturdays where some roads are closed. Several nice inexpensive coffee shops. A viaduct you can walk over. Really good bike hire and safe green routes to ride along. There are nice restaurants and pizzerias and even a Subway takeaway! There are other shops and old medieval houses and old churches too. Train station that goes to lots of places. Swimming pool complex with 3 pools and outside water garden about 1 1/2 outside town. By car 20 mins from beach there is a bus to nearby beach or could ride bike along green route direct route. Message me for more details of braces etc. Good tourist information office too.

Just checked out st Malo - lovely
Swimming pools sound great
You are all so kind thank you xx

St Malo also has huge aquarium. It is a walled city with beach, huge market but very busy and crowded.

Perfect for a day trip then? Will check aquarium out. Hour on train is great. Dc loves trains so that will be fun in itself