Saint-Malo

Saint-Malo squares its granite shoulders against the Channel - the old corsair city whose licensed privateers once made it one of the richest ports in France, still ringed by a complete circuit of ramparts you can walk end to end above the surf. The walk is the essential act: tall grey shipowners' houses inside, wild sea outside, and some of Europe's greatest tidal ranges performing below, swinging many metres between high and low water. At ebb tide the sands open causeway walks to the Fort National and to the islet of Grand Be, where the writer Chateaubriand - born in the city - lies buried facing the sea; at flood tide the same paths vanish with genuine speed. Add broad beaches, the cathedral's quiet nave, and Cancale's oyster beds around the bay, and the walled city earns a full unhurried day.

What you actually see

• The ramparts circuit - the full granite loop above beaches and surf.
• Grand Be at low tide - the causeway walk to Chateaubriand's grave.
• Fort National - the tidal-island fortress guarding the sands.
• The intra-muros lanes - shipowners' mansions, creperies and the cathedral.

When to go

May to September for beach weather and long evenings on the walls; the biggest spring tides - equinox seasons especially - stage the sea's best theatre. Winter storms send spray clean over the ramparts, which locals treat as a spectator sport.

Honest expectations

The tide is not decoration: Grand Be's causeway floods fast and strands walkers regularly, so check the boards and leave margin. July and August pack the intra-muros lanes to shuffle pace, and the town's restaurant terraces price for the season. The walled city is compact - pair it with Cancale or Dinard across the water.

Nearby

Dinard across the estuary, Cancale's oyster coast and Mont Saint-Michel under an hour away.