Rennes - London mini tour

Thinking of doing a ride from Rennes in France to London at the start of August this year. Any tips of routes, places to stay, stop? Also not sure about camping or staying in hotels, have some bikepacking bags and panniers but not sure what experienced tourers would recommend? Any tips appreciated :)

Great plan! It's a fantastic area for cycling. I did St Malo-Rennes-Nantes last summer and have ridden round northern Brittany a fair bit over the years to happy to give some tips. How many days do you have and how do you plan on getting there and back?

Staying with relatives in Rennes then have about 4 or 5 days to get back to London, was thinking just to turn up to Calais and get a ferry to Dover. I've been on the canal path from Rennes to St Malo before which was really nice but have never been to Normandy or further NE towards Calais on a bike. Thinking some part of these routes on Opencycle map??

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I love staying in French municipal campsites when cycling in France. Cheap and cheerful and dotted all over the place. There’s a map of them all online somewhere. I also think it’s much nicer to flop on the grass outside the tent and cook a leisurely dinner after a day’s cycling rather than be in a hotel.

Yeah the municipal campsites are a good shout.

If I had 5 days starting from Rennes I would probably head west instead and get the boat back from St Malo, but I am biased. I think the terrain is a bit more interesting than a lot of Normandy and up to Calais, with the exception of the bit around Etretat.

Equally, everywhere along the coast will be pretty busy in August so you might be better off sticking a bit inland.

@LeBlaireau thread hijack slightly, but do you have any of your routes for St Malo - Rennes available somewhere? I'm doing a similar route (St Malo to near Pipriac) in July, and I've had a hard time telling which D roads are nice to cycle on vs. some which look like they'd be very busy

My current route looks a bit like https://ridewithgps.com/routes/38835193

Thanks for the tips will check out the municipal campsites. I was looking for a way to get back to London mainly overland, i do agree and prefer Brittany to Normandy in general and also the Brittany ferries boat is great but looking to go somewhere a bit different. @jdsnape - i have put a couple of routes I have done from Rennes to St Malo - one more on roads and one canal path to Dinard - both are good!

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• 2022-05-26_783158161_Rennes to Dinard.gpx
• 2022-05-26_783168174_St Malo- Rennes.gpx

Ps @jdsnape if you are going further West than Rennes try and stop at Paimpont, you can get a gallette saucisse and go for a swim in the lake.

@Fraser81 Thanks for the tips, I will check those out!