Rennes has for a long time been hidden in a shadow of its neighbor Saint-Malo in terms of tourist interest, but things are changing rapidly. Recently, Rennes made it to the list of the most comfortable places to live in France and, once you visit the capital of Brittany, it becomes very clear why. Green parks, splendid and diverse architecture, excellent infrastructure while preserving an awesome medieval city centre – Rennes has it all, and in this post we’ll give you all the details about what to do in Rennes if you come as a tourist.

Every proper visit of any town starts with its old city centre, and Rennes is no exception. Despite ravaging fires common for the mediaeval towns, Rennes still has 286 timbered houses, which is one of the biggest numbers of such architecture in France, along with Strasbourg and Rouen. Each of these houses has its unique façade and some very beautiful and sometimes funny details – looking for them is a great fun. The old centre of Rennes is not very big and is easily covered on foot, but as a true mediaeval town, its web of streets is quite complex. Don’t hesitate to turn from the bigger streets to see some less obvious lanes.

The food market Marché des Lices is a signature place of Rennes. It happens every Saturday morning and is a true delight for all of human senses. Markets have always been an authentic experience and a culture must in any country, but a market in France is a totally different level, I think you agree with that. Now, imagine a market, which is considered as one of the biggest and most beautiful ones in France! It is worth a visit, isn’t it?

On Marché des Lices you will find not only the classics like fruit and vegetables, but also some spécialités bretonnes like a mind-blowing variety of seafood, oysters locally farmed in Cancale and typical Breton pastry Kouign Amann. Don’t forget to taste a sausage in a crêpe from one of the dozens of the food-trucks!

Parc du Thabor is a massive park located right in the center of Rennes. It used to be just a small garden for the monks from the Saint-Melaine Abbey, but over time it grew bigger and bigger before its size overpassed 10 hectares. It comprises gardens with almost a thousand of rose varieties alone, a birdhouse, various greenhouse and some magnificent statues copied from the ones standing in Versailles. We couldn’t help feeling a very bourgeois spirit in Parc du Thabor, which also adds it a certain charm. All that with beautiful manors and houses along its borders, and from certain angles Parc du Thabor makes think of Italy.

If you have been following us for a while, then you might know how obsessed we are with cycling. Almost in every more or less big city we visit, there must be a point when we hopping on a bike and take off. Naturally, the same thing happened in Rennes.

While the old city centre of Rennes is perfect for walking on foot, its quays along Vilaine and the Canal d’Ille-et-Rance are made for cycling. Just as any large city of France, Rennes has a great net of bike share services that cost very little but are incredibly helpful and loved by all the inhabitants. Just search for Vélo Star and have your bank card to buy your ticket.

I still believe that cycling is the best way to get the most of every town, to explore it beyond tourist circuit and to get rid of some of those galettes.

Rennes has a huge student community of almost 70 000 people, which makes almost a whole third of the total population of the city. Of course, the nightlife is bound to be vibrant in such a young town! Even if we were never particularly keen on staying until late in bars or pubs, just strolling on the evening streets of Rennes was enough to get the picture.

Small music bands, the smell of beer in the air and thousands of people on the streets – this was our first impression of Rennes as we arrived on Friday evening. Next morning in the daylight, we couldn’t recognize those very streets we were walking the night before – they were completely empty except for some occasional staggering groups of partiers, who had just finished their night. And while you’ll try to make your way through this celebration of life, you will most probably make several acquaintances even without any explicit intention from your part.

When we crossed the city border of Rennes, the first thing we noticed was the huge amount of street-art, one better than the other. No matter where you are, you will stumble upon some masterpieces, especially if you venture beyond the old town, even if it has some of the street-art of its own.

So, this is our short digest to the things to do and to see in Rennes. We spent there a lovely weekend, enjoyed very good company, visited beautiful sights and cycled around 40 kilometers through each district of Rennes. It is a nice place for a city-break and after visiting it, we are not surprised at all that Rennes has such a huge demand among Parisians. As it takes no more than two hours to get to Rennes by high-speed train from Paris, it makes Rennes a great place for a weekend holiday or even a place to live on a daily basis.