Vannes

Vannes kept most of its medieval walls, and the stretch along the Marle stream is the one people photograph: the ramparts rise behind formal gardens laid out in the moat, with a long slate-roofed washhouse built against the wall where the town did its laundry until the twentieth century. Inside, the old town is half-timbered, including the house carrying the carved figures of Vannes and his wife, a pair of stone busts that have watched the street since the sixteenth century. The cathedral holds the tomb of Vincent Ferrer. The port runs right into the town centre from the gulf, so boats moor a few streets from the cathedral.

What you actually see

• The rampart gardens - formal planting in the old moat below the walls.
• The washhouses - long roofed lavoirs built against the ramparts.
• Vannes and his wife - carved busts on a timber-framed house corner.
• The town port - a channel bringing boats into the centre from the gulf.

When to go

April to October; the gulf boat services run from the port in season. The Fetes d'Arvor in August brings Breton music and costume. Winter is quiet and wet.

Honest expectations

The old town is small and crowded in summer. The port channel empties at low tide. Parking inside the walls is essentially impossible.

Nearby

The Gulf of Morbihan lies south; Josselin is north.