Saint-Malo Flights

The ferry port has a year-round service to and from Portsmouth, daily in the season, operated by Brittany Ferries, and a seasonal service by fast craft to and from Poole via Jersey and/or Guernsey operated by Condor. In addition Emeraude Line operate services to the Channel Islands and the Iles Chausey. In total more than a million passengers a year pass through St. Malo. The Brittany Ferries service is very popular, usually being fully booked for cabins well in advance as not only does the longer crossing give time for good nights sleep but the port is well placed for those heading south.

From Paris's Gare Montparnasse, about nine TGV trains per day make the journey via Rennes, where a transfer is required. Trip time is 3 hours; cost is 50.60? one-way from Paris. The train station is a 10 minutes walk from the Intra-Muros.

If you're driving from Paris, take A13 west to Caen, continuing southwest along N175 to the town of Miniac Morvan. From here, travel north on N137 directly to St-Malo. Driving time is 5 to 6 hours from Paris.

Rennes is about 50 miles away, an hour by train.

Stop at St-Malo's tourist office for information on busses and boat rides. It's right in front of the city walls, beside the Bassin Duguay-Trouin in the Port des Yachts.

For Internet access, head to Cop' Imprim, just west of the gare SNCF at 39 bd des Talards

(Mon–Fri 9am–7pm, Sat 9am–noon; tel 02.23.18.08.18, copimprim@wanadoo.fr; 50F/€ 7.62 per hr.

How you get to St. Malo probably depends on where you are coming from. We came from the Island of Guernsey, so the ferry was the best option. This is a fairly speedy mode and is quite comfortable. Large comfortable seating area, cafeteria style restaurant, bar are all on board. It took about 2 hours and was a smooth trip. Cost was about $60 each. We used Condor but there is also Emaurade Ferries as well.

When I was planning this trip, I investigated rail transportation for going to Mont St. Michel and getting to our next destination, Amboise. It is possible, but required changes in a couple of places, so I decided on a rental car. It was ideal - a Renault Megane which is a large car, but we were meeting another couple in Amboise so needed room. The roads in the area were all excellent and I had no trouble finding my way to Mont St. Michel, Dinan and Dinard because there were signs leading me in excellent fashion.

The ferry port has a year round service to and from Portsmouth, daily in the season, operated by Brittany Ferries, and a seasonal service by fast craft to and from Poole via Jersey and/or Guernsey operated by Condor. In addition Emeraude Line operate services to the Channel Islands and the Iles Chausey.

In June/July 2006 we had a 9 day driving holiday in France. We caught a car ferry from Dover to Calais, drove down through Normandy, popped into Brittany and then caught the ferry back to Dover from Boulogne-sur-Mer.

We chose to take our own car over, as the cost of the ferry and petrol was significantly cheaper than flying from London and hiring a car in France. I also feel a lot more comfortable travelling in our own car as opposed to a hire car.

The only negative thing about driving our car in France is that it is a right hand drive car, and French cars are left hand drive, which means that tolls/tickets machines etc are on the wrong side of the car for the driver to operate…luckily I was able to assist in these duties from the passenger seat, but I do feel sorry for the solo traveller in these situations.

Driving in France is great. The roads are good and the sign posting is excellent. You can hoon along on the wide tollways/freeways, or travel along pretty coastal roads, soaking up the atmosphere of the French countryside. Just remember which side of the road you have to drive on if you come over from the UK.

2 more images

As one gets older, the use of a tourist train to replace or supplement on foot sightseeing becomes more attractive. In selective venues like Washinton, D.C. where distances are prohibitively long, this is a way to see important monuments. We found another way to climb hills by sacrificing part of trip in Dinan. In St. Malo the walking is level but the interior sites of the walled city may seem like a great deal after the ramparts and the ride may be regarded as a dessert to your tourist meal. More so if you have a fatigued youngster with you. (we also included a picture of the Chapel of St. Aaron honoring an ancient monk of the town, not covered in our Tips but on the train route). The train ride duration is 30 min and it leaves from the Porte de St.-Vincent near the tourist office.