Last week I talked about what you should do in Brittany, this time I want to help you decide where to stay while you’re exploring! If you think you want to do all or some parts of what I described, then the best two home bases for you would be Dinan and Quimper – here’s why.
Dinan is an ADORABLE little town on the northern end of Brittany, only about 45 minutes from Mont Saint-Michel. It’s four hours from Paris, three hours from the Loire, and two or so more hours from most points in Normandy, making it a great entry point into the peninsula. I’ll be 100% honest – I wasn’t expecting much, and we really only spent a few hours in town – but looking back I would definitely stay there instead of Cancale (where we stayed) or St-Malo (the larger and more famous town). Cancale is famous for oysters, and is really right on the other side of the bay from Mont Saint-Michel, only about 20 minutes away, but the town itself is pretty tiny & not particularly memorable. There IS an adorable Relais & Chateaux property there, though, which I always recommend taking a look at. St-Malo is actually quite impressive in looks, since it still has it’s massive sea walls surrounding old town, but there was something that felt a bit “off” the whole time we were there. It may have to do with the weather, which was strangely still and oppressive – like a storm needed to break but wasn’t going to. Because there was absolutely NO breeze, the no-see-um bugs, or gnats, or whatever they were, were OUT IN FULL FORCE. That may be the main reason we ejected out of that city as fast as possible and went to discover Dinan. Also- we happened to hit Dinan on a market day, so it may have been extra-charming, but I honestly could’ve stayed for hours checking out all the amazing half-timber medieval buildings. We wandered around looking at all the adorable restaurants for a spot for lunch, but ended up being seduced by the fresh produce & freshly-made savory crepes in the market! There are a handful of hotels right in old town (where you’d want to be – between the chuch of St. Saveur and the two squares of the Place du Champ & place du Guesclin), but I will say that we didn’t find much in the way of little B&B’s right around town (which is why we went for a the coastal location – in this case probably a mistake). Here are a few shots of town, along with a few shots of St-Malo, for comparison sake. Honestly – St-Malo would probably be much more enjoyable with better weather, so don’t skip it – I just think Dinan would feel more like a good “home”.
My second favorite town that I think would be a great home base for exploring the western end of Brittany is Quimper. This is another town that we stopped in for lunch only, but just fell in love with it. Here’s the deal, I loved where we stayed in Crozon, out at the end of the peninsula, but honestly Quimper is probably a bit more central, easy to get to, and certainly offers quite a bit more amenities. It is only about an hour from many of the view points out on the west, and it’s only two or so hours from Dinan and other points heading back into the central part of the country. I also recommend Quimper much more so than Brest, which – again, being honest, we drove through and were sort of dismayed. Brest was VERY industrial, and very much a big shipping port town. I didn’t make it into the old part of town, but the traffic I sat in trying to get THROUGH town was enough to turn me off. On the other hand, Quimper is much more what you’d hope for when visiting Brittany – cute little streets with half-timbered houses, a sweet little river running through it, and a huge, beautiful Gothic cathedral. Crepe restaurants abound (SO YUMMY – couldn’t get enough), there were plenty of modern shops and cute boutiques, and they also had a super cool covered market that’s been restored. There aren’t a ton of hotels right down in the center of town, around the cathedral, but this area is chock full of cute little B&B’s – even sometimes in little chateaux. Here are some shots to help give an idea of Quimper:
So, depending on your itinerary before and after Brittany, you could do worse with two nights each in Dinan and Quimper. Of course, if you have more time, then maybe you include Crozon and Vannes, but if your time is limited, these two towns will give you a good feeling for the magic of Brittany.