Bretagne Transportation Tips by hquittner

Rent or Bring a Car

A trip through Brittany to see its many and variedsites and vistas can only be done by driving a car. The traffic in the largest cities is easily managed and the backroads are well paved. French drivers are careful and polite. Of recent years more superhighways have reduced much interpoint time and the advent of GPS is a godsend, but careful study of town maps still relieves driving tension. Be sure to have lots of one euro coins for parking and a credit card for gasoline. Spending a little more on a roomier car (and trunk) is comfortable and safer, especially a medium station wagon for 4 people as a travel group. If you come to France from far off as we do, you usually start and end in Paris. We take a car at the airport (Orly is preferred) and establish our jet-lag in a nearby city in the Ile or further (Chartres?), keep at it as long as possible sightseeing, sleep, arise for late dinner and sleep the night. Then on we go. We either return at the end to the airport (last night at a nearby site) or end in Paris a few days before departing. Here it is essential to rent a car with a drop-off at the garage under the Esplanade before the Hotel des Invalides. One should stay at a hotel within walking distance of this spot, leaving your luggage before the car return. (We prefer the Hotel La Bourdonnaise on the av. of that name). (See Tip). The traffic from the peripherique to those points is easy to manage.

Mode: AROUND

Type: Car/Motor Home