I must have passed through Rennes very quickly during my teenage years, but I don’t remember it very well. My first real discovery of the Breton city was with my favorite photographer in April 2024, where we stayed for a little over a week, allowing us to truly get a taste of life in Rennes. The city made a great impression on us; we found it very lively, the old town has a lot of charm, and there is a certain “joie de vivre” that made us think we could really imagine living there… That’s how much we fell in love with the city! We were also particularly won over by the quality of the gourmet addresses in the city, but I’ll tell you more about that in another special article on great spots to eat in Rennes.
Rennes is a Breton city and is also the capital of the Ille-et-Vilaine department. It is located in what is known as “Upper Brittany“, which is the eastern part of Brittany.
Practical Information :
- Getting there by train from Paris: count on about 1.5 hours only from Paris via the high-speed line from Montparnasse station.
- Tip: if you need to drop off your suitcase for a few hours while exploring the city, know that a luggage locker (which mainly has 3 slots for large suitcases) is accessible for free at the Champs Libres cultural center, which is located right next to the train station (we made good use of it, which is why I’m telling you)!
Destination Rennes Tourist Office
11 rue de Saint-Malo 35000 Rennes
Table of Contents
What to see and do in Rennes?
Rennes is a mosaic city with many facets (cultural, festive, gastronomic, nature, historical…) and is also the capital of Brittany. Its history began during Antiquity when the Celtic tribe of the Redones founded Condate the Red, due to its strategic location at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine rivers. The Gallo-Roman city also gained importance through its geographical position and as the “gateway” to Brittany. The establishment of the Parliament of Brittany in Rennes in the 16th century marked a turning point in the city’s history, which would live to the rhythm of this assembly. It is thanks to this, moreover, that Brittany maintained a certain autonomy against the royal power until the French Revolution.
It is also the Breton city that has the most half-timbered houses, with nearly 370 buildings in the historic center, mainly dating from the Renaissance. And yet, there could have been even more, because 1/3 of the upper town (above the Vilaine) was ravaged by a fire in 1720. This fire, which lasted a week, destroyed many monuments but also greatly shaped the city, which was largely rebuilt after this tragedy, giving it the face we know today for certain districts. It was the engineer Isaac Robelin who redrew the city plans, but he wanted to apply this new urban planning to the entire city. Finally, it was the architect Jacques Gabriel who took over and was much more flexible regarding the reconstruction. The current town hall was built at that time, with a belfry and a large dome. Below, as usual, I offer a small selection of things to do and see if you are planning a trip to Rennes.
Also not to be missed:
- The Jacobins Convent which dates from the 14th century and now houses the city’s Tourist Office.
- The Mordelaise Gates, ancient fortifications built in the 15th century.
- The Saint-Pierre Cathedral which houses many treasures and whose architecture is inspired by St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. As often, the cathedral was built on a religious site dating back to Antiquity.
- Place St Anne: it is the living heart of the city, with the famous “street of thirst,” well known to students, but it is also the place where second-hand booksellers set up outside when the weather is nice.
- Place St Michel with its pretty colorful houses (and which serves as the cover photo for this article).
- The Odorico mosaics: this family originally from Italy settled in Rennes in 1882, and their expertise spread throughout the Great West and mainly to Rennes, where we find the largest number of their mosaic works.
_
Visit the Museum of Fine Arts
This museum is an art and archaeology museum. Its collections were built starting with works seized during revolutionary confiscations carried out in 1794 in religious and civil buildings in the city of Rennes. You can discover paintings, sculptures, Egyptian, Greek, and especially Celtic antiquities, art objects from all continents, as well as an exceptional set of drawings where Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, Dürer, and Rembrandt rub shoulders. The current museum is housed in the former university palace of Rennes. Since admission to the permanent collections is free, I can only encourage you to go take a look at this beautiful museum!
Museum of Fine Arts of Rennes
20 Quai Emile Zola, 35000 Rennes
Open Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 6pm / closed Monday and public holidays
The tip: free admission for permanent collections for all
Temporary exhibition prices: €4 / €2 reduced / free for those under 26
_
Visit the Museum of Brittany
Installed in the heart of Les Champs Libres cultural center, which also houses a library, a science space, an exhibition and meeting place, and a public square, the Museum of Brittany is dedicated to Breton society and its evolution. The museum offers a very beautiful free permanent exhibition (which we partially visited) and also regularly hosts temporary exhibitions.
The chronological exhibition journey begins with the Neolithic period and ends with contemporary Brittany. It mainly features objects that are material witnesses to social, technical, cultural, or societal transformations, which illuminate and guide the path to discovering the history of Brittany and the Bretons. I really liked the modern and refined museography of the route and the many interactive devices that dot it.
Museum of Brittany
Les Champs Libres / 10 cours des Alliés 35000 Rennes
Open Tuesday to Sunday
The tip: free admission for permanent collections for all
_
Visit the Cathedral of Rennes
The Saint-Pierre Cathedral of Rennes is a Roman Catholic cathedral in the classical style, most of which dates from the 18th and 19th centuries. Its granite facade, which dates from the 16th and 17th centuries, is particularly impressive. Inside the building, you can admire its beautiful dome, its 16th-century Flemish altarpiece, or its 19th-century grand organ. As is often the case, the cathedral was built on a religious site that dates back to Antiquity.
Cathedral of Rennes
Rue de la Monnaie, 35000 Rennes
Free and self-guided tour during cathedral opening hours
_
Take an electric boat trip on the Ille-et-Rance canal
Les P’tits Bateaux offer rentals of electric boats without a license to visit Rennes differently by sailing along the Ille-et-Rance Canal or the Saint-Martin canal. For our part, we went to the Embarcadère to discover the Vilaine and the Ille-et-Rance Canal. It was a very bucolic ride, and you can even take an “apéro” basket on the boat if you feel like it. A little getaway on the water that is really very nice and that I warmly recommend during your time in Rennes!
Les P’tits Bateaux
Prairies Saint-Martin
Prices: 5-seater boat €40 for 1h / €60 for 2h / €80 for 3h – 7-seater boat €55 for 1h / €75 for 2h / €95 for 3h
_
Take a bike ride on the V2/V42 greenway
This 192-kilometer greenway connects Saint-Malo to Redon, passing through Rennes. For our part, we did a very small part along the Ille-et-Rance canal just above the city. The route is extremely bucolic and perfectly adapted for bikes because it is well-marked and secure. We used the city of Rennes’ self-service bikes from the city center and went as far as Saint-Grégoire (a municipality located just north of Rennes). It was quite simple to take the bikes without a subscription, and it didn’t cost us much.
V2/V42 Greenway
Star bike rental rates: free formula €1 for a single trip (1 hour max) / €2 for 24h + €0.50 per hour each time you borrow one
_
Take a guided tour of the Parliament of Brittany
We really loved this fascinating guided tour that allows you to discover the interior of the Parliament of Brittany accompanied by a guide (otherwise the building cannot be visited freely). It also allowed us to have a quick recap on the history of Brittany. In 1532, Brittany was annexed to France through the marriage of Clothilde of France and Francis I. This was also the creation of regional Parliaments; the latter are guarantors of the customs of old France. They could administer justice in the name of the king and register royal edicts. The parliamentarians were nobles or bourgeois who had purchased parliamentary offices from the king, which were passed down from father to son (1/3 of the parliamentarians were therefore not Breton). In 1554, the real Parliament of Brittany was created, and the bourgeois professionalized the legal profession.
Salomon de Brosse is the architect of the new parliament, built in the 17th century. In front of the parliament, we find the royal square, with a sculpture of Louis XIV (which was melted down during the Revolution, but you can see a miniature version at the Museum of Fine Arts of Rennes). In 1994, a major fire, following a demonstration by fishermen, destroyed a large part of the building, and its reconstruction lasted 10 years!
During this guided tour, both inside and out, you discover: the Hall of Lost Footsteps; the grand chamber with its very luxurious decoration, featuring a French ceiling painted by Charles Errard (with his assistant Noël Coypel, who was around 30 at the time) with an allegorical Pantheon; the council of the grand chamber with paintings by Jean-Baptiste Jouvenet; the assizes room (which is still in operation today), which is the largest courtroom in the building.
Guided tour of the Parliament of Brittany
Place du Parlement de Bretagne, 35000 Rennes
Guided tour rates: starting from €6.50 per person
_
Stroll through the Parc du Thabor and its gardens
This park, located near the city center of Rennes, is a public park covering more than 10 hectares, and its unique feature is that it combines a French garden, an English garden, and a significant botanical garden. It is the perfect place for a walk and contemplative strolling.
Parc du Thabor
Place Saint-Melaine 35000 Rennes
Free and open access during park opening hours
_
Take a street art guided tour
You may know (or not!?) but we love street art along with my favorite photographer. And that’s a good thing, because the Rennes tourist office offers several guided tours around this theme. For our part, we followed the “South Route” street art tour with Valentine. The city currently has about 30 walls for free expression, given by the city of Rennes to artists. And for information, a street art and urban art festival is also held in Rennes every year: Teenage Kicks.
During this walk, we were able to discover: the famous radishes of Rennes; the heartless robot by the artist Blu (made with the collage technique and which is located behind the TNB National Theater), which was commissioned by the TNB as part of a festival; the Breton artist War (notably the “wolves” which are on the side of the TNB this time, and which is also a 2022 commission from the theater); the artist Brez in a building passageway, who has a style between hip-hop and art nouveau (inspired by Mucha in particular); “Songe d’une mère sur la parentalité” by Xoanna Almar; the Mur de Rennes, an open-air gallery at 34 rue Vasselot.
Street art guided tour
Prices: starting from €6.50
_
Attend the Mythos Festival
This festival, which has existed since 1996, is a great celebration of speech and words. For 10 days every year in April, it brings together several themes and events: theater, concerts, gastronomy, storytelling… The festival is held in the Jardins du Thabor, which I mentioned a little earlier. For our part, we attended a concert evening at the Cabaret Botanique, one of the two cabarets set up for the occasion, where the evenings take place. We discovered, among others, the zany Simone Ringer (daughter of Catherine Ringer) and also Isaac Delusion, a pop and electronic music group.
Mythos Festival 2024
From April 5 to 14, 2024
_
Toqués de Mythos
At the heart of the Mythos Festival hides another festival, of gastronomy this time. In 2024, the patron of this edition was Romain Meder, former chef of the Plaza Athénée, three-star Michelin. On the program, 70 invited chefs (including 12 Michelin-starred chefs) from Rennes or the region and unique menus to discover throughout the 10 days of the festival. The festival is also committed and has implemented an eco-responsible charter. During our visit, we tasted dishes from 3 chefs: Pierre Eon from Pierre restaurant de Copains (which I talk about in my special food article); the chef from A Fuoco Nero, a Rennes Italian street-food restaurant; and Gabriel Moreau from the restaurant Le 2 rue des Dames.
Toqués de Mythos
Price: entry + main course + dessert menus €25 for lunches and between €34 and €45 for dinners / closing dinner €50
What to do in the surroundings of Rennes?
Take a trip to Vitré
Labeled City of Art and History since 1999, Vitré is a very pretty little town with a very beautiful medieval heritage (narrow streets, half-timbered houses, castle and museum…). It is located just 20/30 minutes from Rennes by TER train (price €11 one way), which makes it particularly accessible. Do not hesitate to walk through its charming narrow streets and go see the Notre-Dame church, which is one of the masterpieces of Vitré architecture from the Gothic period.
_
Visit the Castle of the Barons of Vitré
Perched on a schist promontory, the Vitré castle is one of the most beautiful witnesses to the fortifications of the Marches of Brittany, with its drawbridge, arrow slits, and machicolations. It therefore offers an exceptional viewpoint over the city. Its architectural evolution spans from the 11th to the 19th century. A stronghold and residence of the barons of Vitré in the Middle Ages, it became a prison and barracks in the 19th century. The castle is now classified as a Historical Monument, and it also houses a museum that recounts the history of the city from the Middle Ages to the present day.
Vitré Castle
Place du Château, 35500 Vitré
Prices: €7 adult / €4 reduced / free for under 12s
Where to stay in Rennes?
As usual, you will find below my selection of great accommodation options in Rennes, which we had the opportunity to test during our stay with my favorite photographer. I suggest you discover 4 hotels, with different styles and also several price ranges.
_
A 5-star hotel in Rennes? The Balthazar Hotel & Spa
The Balthazar Hotel & Spa is a luxurious 5-star hotel belonging to the MGallery hotel collection, nestled in the heart of Rennes. It is housed in a very beautiful Rennes townhouse entirely renovated in a contemporary and chic style, but where you immediately feel “at home” thanks to a very attentive welcome. During our stay, we resided in superior room No. 308, which overlooks the interior of the hotel. The bedding is obviously incredible, and the soundproofing is perfect, which is extremely pleasant. As for breakfast, we really enjoyed it. The products are delicious and for the most part homemade, which adds a non-negligible plus. In short, we really loved our short stay in this high-standard hotel that lives up to its stars. We just didn’t have the opportunity to test the restaurant, which is apparently very well-rated. That will be for another time…
If you want to enjoy the Nuxe sensory spa of the hotel, you can book a one-hour slot when booking your room. Be careful, however; it is not a private rental of the spa; you will not be alone, but it is to avoid having too many people in the spa at the same time. This 300 m2 space is open to hotel guests as well as outside clients. It includes a pool with water at 30°C, equipped with a whirlpool, hydromassage jets, and a counter-current swimming area, as well as a sauna and a steam room.
The good idea: have a signature cocktail at the hotel bar (price of signature cocktails €21 / creative cocktails €18 / mocktails €14).
The Balthazar Hotel & Spa ☆☆☆☆☆
19 Rue Maréchal Joffre, 35000 Rennes
Prices: starting from €188 in a classic room
_
An unusual hotel in Rennes? The Magic Hall
This unusual hotel is installed in an old 19th-century military barracks, now located in the middle of a block of houses (which makes it extremely quiet). It’s an accommodation that I found quite different from classic hotels, and the team is atypical and friendly. The large kitchen downstairs is open to clients, and we can use it to cook for ourselves, for example. In the morning, we have breakfast in an atmosphere of sharing with the other hotel guests at the large communal table. The place also has a very cozy lounge/library, a music studio, and all the common areas of the hotel are “ready to live in.” The Magic Hall is also an establishment that has signed the Eco-responsible Engagement Charter.
We stayed in room No. 6, which is on the 1st floor. There are several themes for the rooms: “Music” with warm decor mixing wood and contemporary furniture, “Dance” deploying cocoons of lightness and light, “Theater” with their four-poster beds and chandeliers similar to the great Italian-style opera houses (we were in one of these rooms), or even “Cinema,” which rekindles the atmosphere of the Magic Hall, which was an old Art House cinema before becoming a hotel.
Magic Hall Hotel ☆☆☆
17 rue de la Quintaine
Prices: starting from €105 for one night for 2 people, excluding breakfasts
_
A design and festive hotel in Rennes? The Mama Shelter Rennes
You know I love Mama Shelter hotels; I had already told you about the one in Marseille in my article about the city. The Mama Shelter group has 18 urban hotels across 15 cities and 9 countries. As in all establishments of the brand, we find common points in all the hotels: festive atmosphere (with DJ sets on weekends) and relaxed, a restaurant installed in the hotel and very good bedding in the rooms. The Rennes establishment opened its doors in 2023. It has 119 rooms, a restaurant, a swimming pool, a spa, and a rooftop. We really loved this hotel, its decor, its location—it’s really a very good choice for a stay in Rennes!
The establishment is housed in the former Hôtel de la Monnaie and overlooks the famous Place des Lices, where the city market is held. And in the morning, you have breakfast in the hotel’s panoramic restaurant with a breathtaking view of the city! It’s really very nice. Not to mention the buffet itself, which, as always in Mama Shelter hotels, is super generous. As for the room, we were in a medium double room under the roof that had a lot of charm!
Hotel Mama Shelter Rennes ☆☆☆☆
3 Place de la Trinité, 35000 Rennes
Prices: starting from €118 for a double room
_
A central hotel in Rennes? Hotel Mercure Place de Bretagne
During my work week in Rennes, we stayed in this 4-star hotel located in the city center. We first had a classic room that overlooked the Quai Lamennais. It was quiet at night, but in the morning, I was woken up by road traffic. We asked to change, and we then had another classic room overlooking the interior courtyard, which was quieter. I found the hotel clean and new, and the bedding was impeccable, as always in Mercure hotels. As for breakfast, it’s a standardized buffet, but it remains perfectly fine. It is therefore a perfect hotel for a business trip, for example.
Hotel Mercure Place de Bretagne ☆☆☆☆
6 Rue Lanjuinais, 35000 Rennes
Prices: classic room starting from €112 per night
_
Thanks to the Rennes Tourist Office for organizing part of this great stay to discover Rennes. Thanks also to Mama Shelter Rennes and the Balthazar Hotel & Spa for their invitations.
I hope that with all this I have made you want to visit Rennes, and if you also have your own great spots and advice for this destination, do not hesitate to share them in the comments below!
Photo credits: Nicolas Diolez and MelleBonPlan Photos are not royalty-free; permission from the photographer is required before any use
