Saint-Malo
France
A walled corsair port on the Breton coast, rebuilt stone by stone after 1944, with forts you can walk to when the tide is out
Photo by Thomas Dorgler on Unsplash
Photos by Maureen Cosnard, Maureen Cosnard, Maureen Cosnard and Hector John Periquin on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of France
May to September
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 95mm in Nov
Where it is
48.65°N, 2.03°W Open in Google Maps
Things to do
A week easily- Walk the ramparts at the end of the day, when the light is on the sea side
- Check the tide table before walking out to the Grand Bé, and come back well before the time posted
- Swim in the Bon-Secours pool at high tide
- Take the boat to Dinard rather than driving round
- Eat oysters on the harbour steps in Cancale
Saint-Malo travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget France
Mid-rangeEuros, and cards everywhere inside the walls and out. The ferry port has an exchange counter, which is the worst rate in town and not needed.
ATMs & cards
Bank machines inside the walls and around the station. Use a bank’s own machine and refuse the offer to convert into your own currency.
Avoid these
- the exchange counter at the ferry port
- independent machines that offer to charge you in your own currency
Use these instead
- Crédit Agricole
- Crédit Mutuel de Bretagne
- BNP Paribas
- La Banque Postale
Cards are taken everywhere, including the crêperies. Refuse any offer to convert.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of France
Very safeA safe, small town; the risks are the sea’s. The tides here are among the biggest in Europe, and the causeways to the Grand Bé and Fort National go under quickly when the tide turns — the crossing times are posted at the top of the beach. On big tides with a westerly, waves come over the Sillon sea wall, and people photographing them have been knocked down. Summer weekends bring crowds and a parking problem rather than crime.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (7 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
- Intra-Muros — the walled town
- Saint-Servan
- Paramé
- the Sillon
Worth more attention
- the Grand Bé — and Fort National; the causeways flood quickly on the rising tide and people are cut off every summer
- the Sillon sea wall — waves come over it on big tides in rough weather, hard enough to knock people down
- Parking on summer weekends, when the car parks by the walls are full by late morning; the park-and-ride is the answer
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa France visa rules
No visa needed
Freedom of movement — no time limit, and no visa. Bring a passport or national ID card.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 90 days
90 days within any 180-day period, counted across the whole Schengen area, not per country. ETIAS, a paid online authorisation, is being introduced for these passports — check the official link for whether it applies to your travel dates.
Visa required in advance€90 (Schengen short-stay visa)
A Schengen short-stay visa is applied for before travel, at the consulate of your main destination.
How to get it: Apply at the consulate or visa centre of the country you will spend most time in, typically 15 working days ahead and no more than six months before travel.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of France
Excellent and cheapRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
Getting treated
EU/EEA and Swiss visitors are treated on the same terms as residents with an EHIC or GHIC card; UK visitors use a GHIC. Everyone else pays, and travel insurance is worth having for the repatriation cover rather than the treatment.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
Very goodGalettes are buckwheat and savoury, crêpes are wheat and sweet, and both come with a bowl of cider. Cancale is twenty-five minutes away and sells oysters from stalls on the harbour wall to eat on the steps. Kouign-amann is butter and sugar in a pastry and is exactly as heavy as that sounds.
Travel tipsGetting around
Workable- UberWorks here
- BoltWorks here
- G7Works here
- FREE NOWWorks here
G7 the taxi fleet, by app
- Against a taxi
- Much the same. The flat airport rate is a taxi rule and the apps price against it.
Time zone and your working day
Europe/Paris — 6 hours ahead of you
2 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–11:00 your time, 15:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 03:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 03:00–11:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
eSIM
A data eSIM for France, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:
Works here
Works hereRevolutIn the app
Must-see
Travel tipsNearby day trips
Travel tipsSay a few words
French
- HelloBonjourbon-ZHOOR
- PleaseS'il vous plaîtseel voo PLEH
- Thank youMercimer-SEE
- Yes / NoOui / Nonwee / non
4 more phrases
- Excuse meExcusez-moiex-koo-zay MWA
- How much is it?C'est combien ?say com-BYEN
- The bill, pleaseL'addition, s'il vous plaîtla-dee-SYON
- Cheers!Santé !son-TAY
Open with bonjour before anything else. Launching straight into a question without it reads as rude, and explains a lot of reputed French coldness.
Travel tipsReligion
Catholic, and strictly secular
Laïcité is a constitutional principle: religion is kept out of public institutions, and conspicuous religious symbols are banned in state schools. Cover shoulders in cathedrals.
Travel tipsDo's and don'ts
Do
- Say bonjour before anything else, every single time you enter a shop
- Keep your voice down in restaurants and on public transport
- Keep both hands visible on the table while eating, wrists on the edge
- Dress a notch smarter than you would at home — it changes how you are treated
Don't
- Do not ask for a doggy bag or substitutions; the dish arrives as the kitchen intends
- Do not start with English without at least attempting bonjour, parlez-vous anglais
- Do not tip more than rounding up — service is included by law
- Do not eat while walking; it reads as slightly uncivilised
Where to stay in Saint-Malo
No Holistay rentals in Saint-Malo yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Saint-Malo on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Rennes RNS
1h 30mfrom the airport· 68 km as the crow flies
About an hour by road; by public transport, into Rennes and the train on, closer to an hour and a half.
Also worth pricing: Dinard DNR — fifteen minutes away, with Ryanair from the UK, mostly in summer.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
