centre historique de rennes

The old city has some traces from Roman empire era, a lot of buildings are from 14th and 15th century with typical middle age architecture. Some pieces of the old city wall. Lots of interesting churches also. Just go in the city center and walk around for about 2 hours. There are guided tours also.

the best way is to walk arounds and lose yourself in those little streets.All the area around the Cathedrale , parlement and city hall can be done by foot.

Steeped in history, these buildings have maintained their original look over the centuries. Link this to a walk around some of the historic areas of the city and it makes a worth while trip

I visited Rennes in late August and was almost spellbound by the vast array of beautiful civic buildings, the maze of quaint old cobbled streets and the totally laid-back pace of life in the intriguing and fascinating old part of the city.Rennes has the Palais de Commerce at Place de la République at its core. North-west of here (take the Metro or, better still, just walk ! ) is Place de Sainte Anne, a "square" of sorts that teems with café life - morning, noon and nigh ! At present it looks somewhat smaller since it is divided into two parts to allow for construction work on Metro Line B. Nevertheless, the beautiful church in the square can be clearly appreciated from many other vantage points. The city abounds with cathedrals and churches all with a unique character. Most notable is the Cathedral of Sainte Mélaine at the entrance to the 25 manicured acres of beautiful, restful gardens known as Parc de Thabor. Check out the opulent Palais St.Georges, the Opera House and, directly opposite, the Mairie or City Hall. At the time I was there, the spectacular illuminations at the front of the Parliament building took place each night at 11pm. For futuristic Rennes, go south from Place de la République to "Les Champs Libres" - a collection of technology-driven spaces featuring the must see Brittany Museum. A tip : don't take a map with you when you venture out. Just explore, allow yourself to wander in the maze of old streets and you will make some fascinating discoveries and still manage NOT to get totally lost. And if you do, you can rely of the friendlinesss and helpfulness of the locals to put you back on the right track ! I loved the Rennes experience and it will stay with me for a long time to come.

We did not find any interesting thing in the old town. The best thing we did there was eating their amazing crepes. Two hours is enough for this town. On mondays museums are closed.

We only had time for a quick stroll around, being here for a one-night stopover, but found this a very engaging city, and much more interesting than the rather dismissive Rough Guide comments. No, it isn't as quaint as some of the smaller Breton towns, and of course there are some more boring commercial streets, but we were delighted to find interesting views and features popping up unexpectedly around most corners. In particular some of the very grand civic buildings took us by surprise, in contrast with some very quaint smaller streets and groups of buildings in half-timbered red and cream, with jumbles of roofs and chimneys.

We travelled in by bus and left the car at the Hotel. Only 1.50 € per person and get off at "Republique" in the centre. Then head for the Tourist Office and buy a map, only 20cents , and follow the recommended walking tour to see all the sights and buildings of the old and new town. Lots of restaurants and bars en route and only your feet and stamina will determine how much of the tour you achieve. It was much better than we had expected even after all the research we had done.

So many interesting historic places to see: the Tourist Office - in a beautiful old church, the Parliament of Brittany, the City Hall, some old style streets with the medieval timber-framing houses that had been restored in attractive, different colours, and ``Les portes mordelaises`` (The Mordelles Gates).Of course, a must see is a very modern, cultural centre: ``Les Champs libres``

It was a resonably nice place with the Paliament Square and Town Hall being worth a look for a photo opportunity. The centre itself was ok with 'historic' timber framed houses and several shops/bars. All in all It was 'ok'. Thabor Gardens was nice and worth a walk around to pass a few hours. I would not make a special trip to visit Rennes centre - in my opinion - but it's another place visited. If you are staying nearby then it's worth a look. Probably.

Unfortunately, we were totally disorganised the day we visited Rennes. We knew that we wanted to see the medieval parts of the town, but had failed to do any preliminary research beforehand. Rennes is a very large town and we didn't know the best place to park or where the places of interest were exactly in the town. It was not helped by the fact that we saw no signs to the old quarter. Purely by chance, we decided to park in the 'Vilaine' car park and this proved to be fairly convenient for seeing the old buildings of the town. We wandered for some time trying to find the old centre and even resorted to asking people at bus stops, which way we should go. Eventually, we happened on a sign for the Tourist Office. As usual, the employees were very helpful and sold me a map of the town with suggested walks to follow. At last, we were on the right track. Consequently, I would suggest to visitors to Rennes, not to be like us and waste time driving and then wandering around, but to consult the excellent Tourist Office web site prior to visiting the town. Once armed with the map, we were able to enjoy a pleasant stroll around the town and find out a little of the history of the splendid buildings on the proposed walk. There were some magnificent examples of very early houses, in the characteristic style of that part of France with their very tall steeply gabled form. We were impressed by the beautiful way the medieval houses had been restored and the attractive, different colours which were used on the half timbering. In some streets, the architecture spanned several centuries and we found the effect quite stunning.The heritage of the city was, on the whole, well conserved and the old and the new harmonised well together. The commercial premises on the ground floor of the buildings fitted in well with the ancient architecture. The cafés in the square of St. Anne were where we chose to eat our lunch, as we felt the buildings made a pleasant backdrop whilst we were eating. Sadly, we found one street of half-timbered houses that were spoilt by masses of graffiti on them. This brought us abruptly back down to the realities of the 21st century.

The city center still has some 14th centuries houses and lots of historical building. The free light/music nightly show at the Parliament during summer is a must see!

This city is rich with medieval history. Some of the oldest existing structures in Brittany are located here dating approx. c. 1505 and older. There is the old tower with drawbridge, and the windy little cobblestone streets, and the church.

This was one of the most beautiful medieaval centres we have visited. Fabulous architecture. There are also great bars, restaurants and shops and the buzzing atmosphere at night is really great

Loved this area with all the outdoor cafes and interesting architecture. We spent hours and hours walking around here (and looking at the storefronts) as well as enjoying a delicious meal in a small Asian restaurant.....quite good and inexpensive with friendly service if you happen to spot it. There was also a local festival taking place with musicians, artists and crafts: really enjoyed our time in this fascinating historical area. Personality in spades!

Lovely walk through the Old Town. The pastry shops here are magnificent. Worth it to visit this northwest corner of France.