Three ‘must see’ cities in Brittany

St Malo, Rennes and Brest – Three great Breton cities. With its many great megalithic monuments scattered across the peninsula, elaborately carved sculptures found at crossroads in the villages and small towns and magnificent manors and chateaus meticulously positioned overlooked a wild, ragged and exhilaratingly liberating coastline, it is not difficult to gauge why Brittany is a popular tourist destination.

Part of Brittany’s charm is its many great cities, old, fortified and bustling with character and life. Take a look at t.

St Malo

St Malo (pictured) is one of Brittany’s most famous and well-visited towns. With a population of 50,000, St Malo is considerably smaller than many of Brittany’s other main cities and towns, which, for some, contributes to its appeal.

This magnificent walled island city is sat on Brittany’s north coast and was heavily damaged in WW11. What has been cited as being “France’s equivalent to Plymouth”, St. Malo’s focal point is its incredible seaport from which many sailors and merchants over the centuries, found their fortunes exploring the distant oceans and trading at this bustling port.

This city’s unique heritage of pirates, sailors and merchants has been maintained for centuries and is what make St Malo the popular tourist destination it remains today.

Rennes

With more than 200,000 residents, Rennes is Brittany’s largest city and the capital of the peninsula. With two universities and being a major industrial centre, the city of Rennes is full of activity and life and is also the cultural capital of this region of France.

Much of Rennes was rebuilt in the eighteenth century after most of the city was burnt down in 1720. With narrow streets, idyllic squares and being a hub of Breton life, a visit to the charismatic city of Rennes is certainly recommended.

Brest

With a population of some 150,000, Brest is another of Brittany’s largest towns. As well as having a modern university and therefore a lively student scene, Brest is home to the French Atlantic fleet and is a major naval port.

This popular naval city was fortified in the seventeenth century by the renowned military engineer, Vauban. Rennes is positioned not far from the western tip of the peninsula, and it is because of its situation on the western edge of continental Europe that the expression, “Europe from Brest to Brest” derived.