Brittany Ferries is the main ferryline, running
regular services with a fleet of roll-on roll-off ships. La Bretagne and Val
de Loire are the best, on the following routes to nearby ports.
Plymouth - St Malo
Plymouth - Roscoff
Cork - Roscoff
Portsmouth - St Malo
Portsmouth - Caen (Normandie)
Poole - Cherbourg
Information for contacting Brittany Ferries for costs, bookings etc, should be available from your local travel agent.
Also, the fee for foot passengers on Brittany Ferries is reasonably cheap.
Main roads,(Insert map from guide Pratique and name the roads.) traffic information, permits, cell phone problems, petrol and service stations, tolls. Hiring information
Taxis are expensive in Rennes. There are plenty of strategically placed taxi ranks, at the Mairie, Post Office, centre Columbier, and the station. To order a taxi, it is best to look in 'les Pages Jaunes,'the local business directory.
WARNING! CAR PARKING IS HELL IN RENNES. THE FRENCH ARE VERY FOND OF THEIR CAR-TOWING DIVISION.
Rennes Bus
Station - Gare Routiere, place de la Gare, 35000 Rennes
information and reservations 33 (0)2 99 30 87 80
Opening times - 7:15am to 7pm Monday to Thursday; 7:15am to 8pm Fridays;
8:30am to 6:15pm Saturdays.
Eurolines runs bus services all over France and Europe. For the UK,
telephone 00 44 (0)1582 404511
Lines can be busy.
Information should be available from your travel agent.
Train station - Gare SNCF, place de la
Gare, 35000 Rennes
For information and ticket purchasing, telephone - 36 35 35 35
St Jacques de la Lande Airport
A busy airport with internal flights serving most of the other airports in France, as well as Ireland, UK, Spain, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, and Italy.
Aeroport de Rennes Saint-Jacques, 35136 Saint Jacques de la Lande
Information - 33 (0)2 99 60 00
Information on arrival and departure times, spare seats, passenger
information etc, is available via the French MINITEL service 3615 RENNAIR.
Information and reservations for individual airlines:
Aer Lingus 01 47 42 12 50
(including Rennes - Cork/Dublin)
Brit Air 33 (0)2 99 29 60 10 (including Rennes - London Gatwick)
Flandre Air 33 (0)2 99 65 10 00
Regional Airlines 33 (0)2 99 35 19 20
For other countries it is probably best to come to Rennes via a flight from
Paris.
The best way to get around Rennes is by the very good bus transport system. It is cheaper than UK bus services and runs far more often. It is a standard-charge system. At the moment, it is 6 francs a bus ride. It may seem easy to not pay, but the company operates a large group of inspectors, and this author got stopped 9 times in two weeks. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. Several services finish at midnight, but quite a few stop running after 8pm, which can be annoying if your accomodation is on one of these routes, in which case you can expect a walk or taxi back.
For short stays it is advisable to buy a book (carnet) of tickets at the
STAR bureau, or certain newsagents (tabacs). For longer stays, it is
advisable to buy a buspass (abonnement), of which there are several
discounted versions, for the elderly, handicapped, under 20's, and for
students. These are valid for a month and allow you complete freedom of the
bus system, instead of paying for every ride.
STAR (Service de Transport de l'Agglomeration Rennaise) has two
information/ticket points in Rennes, for timetables, maps, tickets, and
information -
open Monday to Saturday, 7am to 7pm.
Espace Accueil, Rue du Pré Botté, (behind the main post office building in
the centre)
Place de la Mairie (next to the Opera house).