Rennes to Dinan and Dinard: Private day trip

Dinan feels like a medieval time capsule with charming details and unique Byzantine influences.

Main attractions

• One of the best-preserved medieval towns in Brittany — a hilltop citadel of half-timbered houses, Gothic churches, and cobbled lanes enclosed within a 3km circuit of 14th-century ramparts above the Rance River valley; the port quarter below the old town, reached by a steep medieval street, preserves a cluster of stone warehouses and riverside restaurants entirely unchanged in character since the 15th century
• The castle keep houses the town museum and gives panoramic views across the Rance estuary and the surrounding bocage landscape

What to eat

• Galettes de sarrasin (buckwheat crêpes with savory fillings) and Breton cider at any of the crêperies in the old town — Brittany's defining meal at its most authentic

Dinard is a stunning seaside retreat known for its luxurious amenities and elegant scenery.

Main attractions

• A Belle Époque seaside resort on the Brittany coast facing Saint-Malo across the Rance estuary — Victorian and Edwardian villas in an extravagant mix of Gothic turrets, Moorish arches and Norman timber framing line the clifftop promenade above three sandy beaches; Dinard was the preferred summer destination of British and American aristocracy from the 1870s onward, and the architecture reflects that ambition entirely
• The coastal path (sentier des douaniers) connects the town's three beaches — Plage de l'Écluse, Plage du Prieuré, and Plage de Saint-Énogat — along a clifftop walk of constant sea views and Belle Époque villa gardens

What to eat

• Fruits de mer platters of Breton oysters, langoustines, and crab at a beach-front restaurant on the Plage de l'Écluse — Dinard's most celebrated culinary experience and best enjoyed at low tide with the Saint-Malo ramparts visible across the water