Saint-Malo

Saint-Malo is a walled port city in Brittany in northwestern France on the English Channel. It is a sub-prefecture of the Ille-et-Vilaine.

Saint-Malo during the Middle Ages was a fortified island at the mouth of the Rance River, controlling not only the estuary but the open sea beyond. Saint-Malo became notorious as the home of the corsairs, French privateers and sometimes pirates.

Today, St-Malo is considered by many to be the most attractive channel port in France and its cobbled streets are brimming with hotels, restaurants, bars and shops. Tall granite mansion blocks line the characterful lanes and squares, in turn enclosed by a complete circuit of massive ramparts. The modern harbour now connects the citadel to the mainland.

Sites of interest

• The walled city (La Ville Intra-Muros)
• The château of Saint-Malo, part of which is now the town museum.
• The Solidor Tower in Saint-Servan is a 14th-century building that holds a collection tracing the history of voyages around Cape Horn. Many scale models, nautical instruments and objects made by the sailors during their crossing or brought back from foreign ports invoke thoughts of travel aboard extraordinary tall ships at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century.
• The tomb of the writer Chateaubriand on the Ile du Grand Bé
• The Petit Bé
• The Cathedral of St. Vincent (see Saint-Malo Cathedral)
• The Privateer's House ("La Demeure de Corsaire"), a ship-owner's town house built in 1725, shows objects from the history of privateering, weaponry and ship models.
• The Great Aquarium Saint-Malo, one of the major aquaria in France.
• The labyrinthe du Corsaire, (an actraction park in Saint Malo)
• The Pointe de la Varde, Natural Park.
• The City of Alet, in front of Saint Malo Intra Muros.
• Fort National