Walled Gateway to France

One of the major seaports connecting France and England, Saint Malo is Brittany’s most visited town and a tourist destination in its own right.

The Old Town overlooks the English Channel and is completely surrounded by restored walls. You get a great view of them if you arrive on the ferries from England to St Malo (either direct or by the Channel Islands). Once an island, this citadel now shelters behind it the hundreds of sailing boats bobbing in the modern harbor.

Within the Old Town are bars and restaurants serving oysters from nearby Cancale, and many of the St Malo hotels. The most notable sights are the cathedral with its colorful, stained-glass window, and the castle - site of the town's museum.

The beaches are sandy, though the water is somewhat bracing. A causeway leads to Grand Bé, a rocky island housing the tomb of Chateaubriand, its most famous son. To the south is the 14th-century Solidor Tower, a remarkable collection of artifacts from voyages around Cape Horn. Further inland is Labyrinthe du Corsaire, a huge maze that will keep kids busy for hours.

In the Rance River, connecting the sea to Dinan, is the world’s first tidal power station. The road over it leads to Dinard Airport, the closest to Saint-Malo.