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Vannes is a walled town in the Brittany region of northwest France. Find out what we did when we spent 24 hours in Vannes with Kids.
Vannes old town is characterised by narrow cobbled streets and medieval gates. There is a beautiful Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Vannes in the centre of town and colourful timber-framed houses line the streets. There is a harbour to the south of Vannes which has lots of restaurants and cafes to choose from and boats that cruise to the Gulf of Morbihan.
Vannes sits right on the coast in Brittany, North West France and was our second stop in France on our 6 night trip around Brittany at the end of August
Following our 24 hours in Josselin with Kids we made our way to Vannes just in time for lunch. We found our hotel Hôtel La Marébaudière easily and it was very conveniently located to the Centre of Vannes with a huge free car park. The room wasn’t ready as we were very early, so we left our bags in the car, grabbed a map from reception and wandered through the town to find a restaurant for lunch.
We sat ourselves down in a lovely sidestreet cafe, ate moules frites and drank a beer whilst the kids had pasta. We persuaded them away from the ice creams in the cafe in favour of continuing to wander through the town and find an ice cream to have by the harbour.
Vannes for us was mainly about wandering about and seeing what we could spot and it is the perfect city for that. On our way back from the harbour towards the hotel we wandered past the restaurant we were booked into later and realised it was right opposite a really pretty Chateau with an art exhibition on. The Chateau was made even more stunning by the glorious flowers in the gardens.
We had a fabulous day in #Josselin and #Vannes yesterday on our week in #visitbrittany with @fansdebretagne we visited a Chateaux, ate moules frites for lunch, strolled through Vannes and the kids ate (and enjoyed) dinner in a fabulous restaurant that I never believed they would. Wonderful day. Today we are off to #belleile and it looks stunning! This is a fab road trip!
We gave the kids some time in the hotel that afternoon to catch their breath before heading out to dinner to Les Remparts. The hotel room was literally full of beds, there was a camp bed to the front of this picture and another bed to the right hand side. However any hotel that allows 5 people in one hotel room is a brilliant hotel to me, as so many just won’t even think about accommodating it. There was free wifi, tea and coffee and water to be had and comfy beds to laze on, so we happily whiled away a couple of hours before dinner.
Now having read the tripadvisor reviews for Les Remparts I was a little worried about taking the kids. I knew Matt and I would love it as it is the sort of food (and wine) we do love, but whether they would like anything was another matter.
We arrived at 7.30pm to an empty restaurant which to be honest we were quite pleased about. If the kids decided not to be quite as well behaved as we would ideally liked, at least it was quiet.
However I was to be proved wrong by both my kids, and the restaurant. The staff in the restaurant couldn’t have been more accommodating of both our lack of French and the kids. They suggested we change the options we had picked from the menu, due to our lack of French, with helpful comments such as “the chef says English people don’t usually like offal are you sure you want this” – quick change from me proving he was correct!
The kids also rise quite exceptionally to the occasion. After a few sharp words about behaviour, they settled into the evening and tried the aperitifs we were offered and absolutely loved the expensive, and melt in your mouth steak.
By 8pm the 12 table restaurant was practically full, Matt and I were really enjoying our very nice bottle of red wine and the kids were loving their dessert. The evening really couldn’t have gone better and I felt a little silly to have been worried about their reluctance to try different food (albeit what parent usually would’t be worried about this) and they were impeccably behaved not worrying other diners at all. I am taking it as a smug parenting win!
We wandered back to the hotel in less than ten minutes, only pausing to take a few photos of a very pretty sunset in the Chateau reflection, before letting the kids (and us) crash by 10pm.
The breakfast at Hôtel La Marébaudière was fairly average fare for a budget hotel, a breakfast that;s already laid out and you grab your bits and pieces from the fridge or the bread basket – albeit it did have exciting push buttons for drinks and toast and coffee which can keep the kids entertained for hours. Whilst you or I might prefer the luxury of a breakfast brought to you – there is something my kids just love about a Premier Inn style breakfast.
After breakfast it was time to move on to Belle Ile, so not quite 24 Hours in Vannes with Kids, but nearly.
NB We spent 24 hours in Vannes with Kids on behalf of Visit Brittany but all views and opinions are my own.
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Looks a lovely place to visit and how great that the girls enjoyed a grown up meal out. You never know how children will react to these situations! 5 beds in one room, that’s a real win too with young children.
Sounds another lovely spot – and great to have a wonderful meal like that as well. It’s always wonderful when kids rise to the occasion but always a bit testing until you know which way it’ll go!
Loved following your trip to Brittany on IG Karen. Vannes sounds like a lovely city to visit with kids. Your steak meal looks lush! (I always worry about my boys if we go to a fancy restaurant too and they nearly always prove me wrong and act like angels!)