The short version
- Saint-Malo’s walled city, rebuilt in granite after August 1944 to its old street plan, stands on a rock between two beaches. The ramparts loop is 2 kilometers, about an hour, free, with stairs at every gate.
- Our Mont St. Michel Day Trip meets your 7:00 a.m. train from Montparnasse at Saint-Malo station: an hour in Saint-Malo, three at the Mont with the abbey ticket included, an hour in Dinan, and the TGV home from Rennes, in Paris by about 10:05 p.m.
- Without us, the coach from Saint-Malo to the Mont leaves the tourist office at 9:15 and gets back at 16:30, one trip a day most of the year, from €25 return, and not on Sundays from November 2 to March 28.
- At low tide you walk out to the Grand Bé, where Chateaubriand is buried, and to Fort National, open June to September and in the school holidays, €5, cash only. The window is an hour and a half either side of low tide.
- Dinan is 50 minutes away on bus 210, €3. Its walls run 2.7 kilometers, the longest in Brittany, and the rue du Jerzual drops from the old town to the port on the Rance.
- Both towns have markets: Saint-Malo inside the walls on Tuesday and Friday mornings, Dinan on Thursday morning on Place Duguesclin.
What to see
Start at Porte Saint-Thomas and walk the ramparts clockwise. From the Tour Bidouane you look out to the Grand Bé and Petit Bé islets, from Porte Saint-Thomas to Fort National, and from the Bastion de la Hollande across to the Cité d’Alet. About 80 percent of the town inside was destroyed in August 1944 and rebuilt in granite to the old plan.
Check the tide table before you plan the morning. At low tide, an hour and a half either side, you cross Bon-Secours beach to the Grand Bé and Chateaubriand’s grave facing the sea. Fort National, built by Vauban in 1689 on the rocks off the Plage de l’Éventail, opens when the French flag flies: a 35-minute guided visit, €5, children €3, cash only, from June 1 to September 30 and in the Easter and All Saints school holidays.
The cathedral of Saint-Vincent, inside the walls, is free and open 9:00 to 18:30, with the tombs of Jacques Cartier and Duguay-Trouin. In Saint-Servan, the Mémorial 39-45 in the German bunkers of the Cité d’Alet is a guided visit only, €7, from April to October 31; it is closed on Mondays outside summer.
Twice a month the big tides push past coefficient 100, highest at the spring and autumn equinoxes, and the sea comes over the Sillon seawall. The remaining dates for 2026 are October 27 to 29, November 25 to 27 and December 25 to 27.
In Dinan, walk the 2.7 kilometers of walls, with ten towers and four gates, past about 130 half-timbered houses. The château from the 1380s is €8 and open from April 4, 2026 to January 3, 2027, closed on Monday from October. The Tour de l’Horloge, 43 meters with a clock made in 1498, is €4 and closes after November 1. Then go down the Jerzual to the port and the towpath along the Rance.
Getting there and around
TGVs run from Paris Montparnasse to Saint-Malo in about two and a half hours, a few of them direct and the rest with one change. Our tour takes the 7:00 a.m. train. Rennes is 1 hour 29 from Paris with trains into the late evening, which is why the tour goes home from there.
To reach the Mont from Saint-Malo without a car, there is one coach a day: from the Esplanade Saint-Vincent at 9:15, at the Mont by 10:15, back at 16:30, from €25 return, booked online or at the tourist office, no tickets on board, then the free shuttle to the rock. It runs every day from March 30 to November 1, 2026, with a second midday run in July and August, and Monday to Saturday only from November 2 to March 28. That gives you about five hours at the Mont and nothing else that day.
Dinan is 50 minutes from Saint-Malo station on BreizhGo bus 210, €3, six runs on weekdays and three at weekends. In season, the Compagnie Corsaire boat goes up the Rance in 2 hours 45, €30.50 one way, on a timetable set by the tide.
Our day is the three places in one loop: the guide meets you on the platform, the van does Saint-Malo, the Mont with the abbey, and Dinan, and you catch the TGV at Rennes. The overnight puts you in a Saint-Malo hotel the night before, with pickup at the hotel in the morning and your bags moved for you.
In Saint-Malo, the city buses cost €1.40 a ride, or €2 from the driver, and €4 for 24 hours. Dinan’s town buses are free, Monday to Saturday.
When to go
Our tours run from March to October, and that is the season for the sights too: Fort National from June to September, the Mémorial 39-45 and the Tour de l’Horloge until November 1, Dinan’s château until January 3.
The Route du Rhum, the solo transatlantic race, fills Saint-Malo from October 20 to November 1, 2026, with the start off Cancale on November 1 and more than a million visitors expected. Cars need a pass to enter the walls from October 24. The Quai des Bulles comics festival follows on October 29 to 31, 2027, and Dinan’s medieval Fête des Remparts returns in July 2027.
The biggest tides come at the equinoxes in March, April, September and October, when the ramparts walk turns into a show. The ramparts, the beaches and the Rance are open all year.
This is the Channel coast: expect wind and rain in any month, and a summer that is mild rather than hot. The coach to the Mont stops running on Sundays from November 2.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you get from Paris to Saint-Malo?
Take the TGV from Paris Montparnasse, about two and a half hours, a few trains a day direct and the rest with one change. Our Mont St. Michel tour meets the 7:00 a.m. train at the station.
Can you get from Saint-Malo to Mont-Saint-Michel without a car?
Yes, by one coach a day: out at 9:15, back at 16:30, from €25 return, and not on Sundays from November 2 to March 28. That is about five hours at the Mont and no Dinan. Our tour does Saint-Malo, the Mont and Dinan in one day and sends you home on the TGV from Rennes.
When can you walk to the Grand Bé and Fort National?
For an hour and a half either side of low tide, from Bon-Secours beach for the Grand Bé and from the Plage de l’Éventail for the fort. The fort is open June 1 to September 30 and in the school holidays, when the flag is up, €5 in cash.
What should I eat in Saint-Malo?
Order a buckwheat galette, then a plate of Cancale oysters. Buy Bordier butter inside the walls, a kouign-amann for the train, and drink cider. In Dinan, the Thursday market and La Cohue covered market have the cheeses and the galette-saucisse.
Is there a tour from Paris?
Yes. Our Mont St. Michel Day Trip meets you at Saint-Malo station, covers Saint-Malo, the Mont with the abbey and Dinan, and returns by TGV from Rennes, $195 or $383 with second-class rail, eight guests at most, on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from March to October, other days on request. The overnight adds a night in Saint-Malo, $505.
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