City Guide: Saint Malo
Saint Malo is a really charming city in the North of France, located right next to Dinard. In this city guide, we’re showing you what you need to see and why visiting Saint Malo is such a great experience.
There are many interesting city in the North-West of France, one of those is Saint Malo. The city is just a one hour ride from Rennes, making it quite accesible. There are even direct trains from Paris. While you might not have heard of Saint Malo before, you’ll definitely want to go after reading about what to see in the city!
Fort National & Saint Malo Beach
Something that makes Saint Malo worth a trip alone is the incredible beach. The city has an extensive strip of sand beach, which is really beautiful.
The whole beach is public, which allows you to have an extensive walk here and soak in the sea breeze.
If you are not feeling like walking on sand, you can also walk along the street, which is a bit elevated and thus allows you to have a really nice view of the beach.
At the end of the beach, right next to the historic old town, you can find one of the monuments of Saint Malo, the so-called Fort National.
It’s built on the tip of the peninsula and once was an important defense fortress, nowadays it’s a really interesting spot to have a look at and visit.
In my opinion, walking along the beach is a must when visiting in Saint Malo, it’s just so enjoyable and even nicer than in cities like Nice or Cannes.
The fascinating city wall of Saint Malo
Something else that makes Saint Malo a really interesting place to visit are the city walls. They are in an immaculate condition and till today go around the whole old town.
Best of all, you can walk on the city walls for kilometers and kilometers and enjoy incredible views of the sea as well as the town.
While walking on the city wall as such is a really nice experience, there are also a few special spots. Those include the Poterne d’Estrées, for example.
The Passage des Bes, the Tour Bidouane and the Bastion de la Hollande are more spots on the city wall, which you shouldn’t miss.
owever, in genereal, you should just plan in a good hour to walk around the city wall and enjoy the incredible views as well as the historic feeling!
Interesting buildings in the old town of Saint Malo
The Old Town of Saint Malo is located inside the city walls and comes with some very interesting spots, but isn’t quite as interesting as the old town of Angers or Lille, for example. The Hotel de Ville is one of the most famous buildings and has quite a historic feel.
The historic Telegraphe Building is another spot I’d recommed having a look at!
Surely, there’s a church, more precisely a cathedral in the old town as well.
Personally, I also like the Cafe du Lion d’Or, which is tucked into the city wall.
The modern Grand Be Building in the city center is another place, which is often mentioned as one of the sights in Saint Malo.
While walking through the old town of Saint Malo is interesting, it’s not like you have to do so for more than an hour or two as it’s actually quite small.
Other interesting sights in Saint Malo
Saint Malo is mainly about the city wall, the beach and old town, but there are a few more spots worth noting. Right next to the old city wall, you can find the Chateau De La Duchesse Anne, for example.
This is also where the Office de Tourisme is located, which does not only come with some interesting information about the city, but also some fancy architecture.
One last place I’d recommend visiting before getting back to the train station is the Notre-Dame-des-Grèves Cathedral, which is quite nice.
Nevertheless, there are not too many places worth noting outside the old town of Saint Malo, so better focus on the beach and the city wall!
Overall impressions of Saint Malo
Saint Malo has a particular charme to it and is really different than many other cities. It’s not like there would be tons of sights in Saint Malo, but the beach, the fortress and the city wall are really beautiful and allow for breathtaking views and photos. While I think that one day is enough to explore Saint Malo, I’m sure you would miss out not visiting this place!
Do you have any questions about Saint Malo? Feel free to ask or share your impressions in the comments!
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Anna
Moritz
