Travel guide Saint-Malo
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Practical information for travel à Saint-Malo
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Get your travel guide: SAINT-MALO / CÔTE D’EMERAUDE
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Edition 2022
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What to see what to do à Saint-Malo?
Where to go à Saint-Malo?
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Travel à Saint-Malo
Ideas for holidays and week-end breaks à Saint-Malo
The Emerald Coast is an area full of landscapes and heritage to discover. Along the streets, along the Rance, or along the coast, you will discover a rich region, as much in terms of culture, gastronomy, heritage, architecture and environment. It is because there is so much to discover and to know that we propose you these ideas of stay in order to optimize at best your stay. Thus, you will be able to choose the places which attract you the most, as well on the coast for the lovers of the sea, as in the back country for those which are more in love with the lands. From the Pointe du Grouin to Cap Fréhel, or from the country of Dinan to the banks of the Rance via Combourg, you won't be able to resist the incredible treasures the region has to offer. So many things to contemplate, visit, taste... which testify today to the exceptional attractiveness of the coast.
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Discover Saint-Malo
Originally, Saint-Malo is an island connected to the land by the narrow isthmus of the Sillon. The city lives to the rhythm of the races ordered by Louis XIV and the ambitions of rich shipowners until the eighteenth century. The latter built private mansions and the famous malouinières in the surrounding countryside. In the 19th century, fishing towards Newfoundland developed and then gave way to the development of seaside tourism from the 1830s. The Second World War and the Allied bombings of 1944 destroyed a large part of the town. The town was rebuilt to its original state in 12 years and is steeped in history, which you will enjoy exploring as you walk through its streets. Discover the charm of a corsair city full of architectural, cultural and culinary treasures. Within the city walls, there is a unique atmosphere, which should not be overlooked in the other districts of the city, which should also be discovered!
The 12 keywords à Saint-Malo
# Caps and tips
For beautiful iodized walks, we can only advise you to discover: the point of Grouin in the north of Cancale, the point of Meinga in Saint-Coulomb, the point of Varde in Rothéneuf, the point of Garde Guérin in Saint-Briac and of course the Fréhel cape which dominates the sea of 70 meters. Practical, the paths are very well marked.
# Corsair
Whether he was a shipowner, captain or crew member of an armed civilian ship, a privateer should not be confused with a pirate. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the privateer was protected by the law of war and by the king and only attacked enemy ships, usually merchant ships. Saint-Malo was the starting point of these races.
# Emerald
This choronym depicts the crystalline water with green reflections, reminiscent of the colored shades of the precious stone and that can be admired between Cancale and Fréhel. At the end of the 19th century, Eugène Herpin, a notable from Saint-Malo and author of guidebooks, invented and popularized the expression "Côte d'Emeraude" which then became part of everyday language.
# Oysters
Hollow, flat, wild, special or fine, and of all sizes, from Cancale or Fréhel, oysters are especially tasted "the months in R" because they are too milky if they are not triploid. Oysters are registered in the intangible cultural heritage of Unesco. To do: the oyster market in the port of Cancale, of course!
# Islands
Some of them are accessible at low tide like the Grand Bé or the Ebihens archipelago, others can be conquered like the Cézembre island or the Chausey islands. You can also observe from the ramparts of Saint-Malo, the Vauban fortifications (La Conchée). Some islands are home to many species of birds such as the islet of Colombière.
# Malouinières
Houses of holiday and reception, withdrawn in the countryside of Saint-Malo in Clos-Poulet, they symbolize the wealth and the rise of the shipowners and privateers of Saint-Malo in the 18th century. A hundred malouinières are still visible, including the Chipaudière in Saint-Malo and the Ville Bague in Saint-Coulomb, open to the public.
# The Rance
A coastal river of about a hundred kilometres, the Rance rises in the Mené mountains in Collinée, in the Côtes-d'Armor, and flows into the Channel between Dinard and Saint-Malo. The Châtelier lock marks the limits between the river Rance (fresh water) and the sea Rance (brackish water), subject to the shifting tides of the tidal power plant.
# Ramparts
The ramparts of Saint-Malo were built in the 12th century. They surround the city for about two kilometers. They were miraculously spared by the American bombing in 1944. You can also discover the Dol ramparts walk which offers a beautiful view on the Dol mount and the historical ramparts of Dinan.
# Route du Rhum
The famous single-handed race was created in 1975 to revive the West Indies' rum sugar industry. Every 4 years, monohulls and trimarans compete to link Pointe du Grouin to Pointe-à-Pitre. The speed record was broken in 2018 by François Joyon in 7 days, 14 hours, 21 minutes and 47 seconds. See you in 2022!
# The Furrow
The city of Saint-Malo was connected to the land by a sandbank called the Sillon, forming an island at high tide. With a length of 3 km, it is composed of the Grande plage, the plage de la Hoguette and the plage de Rochebonne. The breakwaters built to resist the onslaught of the waves make it special.
# Thalassotherapy
The virtues of seawater have been known since ancient Greece. In France, the first thalassotherapy treatments took place in the mid-19th century. Its Greek etymology means to heal by the sea. Enjoy the benefits of the sea at the historic Thermes marins de Saint-Malo (founded in 1880) or at the Thalasso de Dinard.
# Beach Villas
With the development of tourism in the 19th century, seaside villas were born. True works of architectural art, they are present all along the coast. From their bow-windows, they have unrestricted views of the sea. Some of them are real urban buttresses in case of storms or during high tides.
You are from here, if...
You watch the time before passing the Rance dam.
Here, you eat galettes, not salted pancakes. Moreover, you never eat sweet butter! Finally, you drink Plancoët, Val de Rance cider and Malouin's.
Your Proust's madeleines are the cracker and the gavotte !
You know why we eat oysters during the "r" months.
You know all about tides. So is it going up or down? You also have your own fishing spots and your own secret beaches away from the tourists!
You know how to tell a gull from a seagull.
You note the start of the Route du Rhum in your diary, and you have your tickets for the Dinard British Film Festival and the Route du Rock.
You know that the Couesnon (in its madness) has put the Mount in Normandy.
You know the difference between a corsair and a pirate.
You read the Pays Malouin and the Petit Bleu.
You have mimosas and hydrangeas in your garden.
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