Self-guided walking itinerary

One day in Rennes: a self-guided walking itinerary

One day, three walks: the fire line of 1720, the garden on the hill behind Saint-Melaine, and the Odorico family's mosaics, from the pool they covered in wavelets to the central market.

Photo by Pascal Bernardon on Unsplash

At a glance

On foot1.6 km25+ min

RouteLa Criée, marché central → Piscine Saint-Georges

TerrainMostly level: city pavements, cobbled old-town lanes and garden paths, with steps at the rampart walk of the Portes Mordelaises.

Day budgetBudget €30 to €60 a person for the day. The fixed prices are the guided visits, from €6.50, and a swim at the Saint-Georges pool, €5.70 for an adult and €2.45 for under-18s; everything else is food, from a market breakfast to a crêperie lunch and dinner. The cathedral, the basilicas, the gardens and the free exhibition rooms cost nothing at the door.SourceOffice de Tourisme, visites guidéesOffice de Tourisme, piscines horaires et tarifsCathédrale de Rennes, informations pratiques

Interactive map of the route. The full stop list below works without it.

The day plan

How do you spend one day in Rennes on foot?

Rennes is a city you can read on foot, and this day threads its three walks into one plan. The morning follows the line of the December 1720 fire through the old town, from the timber lanes that survived it to the cathedral. Midday crosses the squares rebuilt in stone afterwards, with lunch on rue Saint-Georges and a booked visit to the Parlement de Bretagne. The afternoon climbs to the Thabor garden behind Saint-Melaine, and the evening follows the Odorico family's mosaics from the Saint-Georges pool to the central market. Pick a Saturday from April to October, outside school holidays and public holidays, when the Lices market, the cathedral and the pool are all open.

Morning9:00 to 12:00
Timber lanes, the market and the cathedral
Start on place Sainte-Anne, where around thirty timber-framed houses stand at the edge of the fire's path, the oldest dated 1580. Then place des Lices: on Saturdays the market runs from 7:30 to 13:30, so come early enough to eat breakfast among the stalls and to see the twin timber mansions of the 1600s facing the square. Down through the old lanes, the Portes Mordelaises is the only city gate still standing, with its rampart walk above the road. Finish the morning at the Cathédrale Saint-Pierre, granite towers outside and an interior rebuilt as a Roman basilica. It opens 9:30 to 18:00 and stays shut on Tuesdays and Wednesdays; the tourist office lists a 12:00 to 15:00 break, so go in the morning.
- HoursCathédrale Saint-Pierre opens 9:30 to 18:00 and is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays; the tourist office lists a 12:00 to 15:00 break, so go in the morning.SourceCathédrale de Rennes, informations pratiques Office de Tourisme, La Cathédrale Saint-Pierre
EatBreakfast from the Lices market stalls, which run 7:30 to 13:30 on Saturdays.
Midday12:00 to 15:30
The squares the fire made
Past the cathedral, the walk enters the city the fire made. The Basilique Saint-Sauveur was gutted in the blaze of December 1720 that destroyed 945 homes and 45 percent of the built-up town, and left some 8,000 people without a home. Place du Champ-Jacquet shows the split plainly: the south side burned, the north side still stands. Place de la Mairie holds Gabriel's town hall and the opera, on the first square rebuilt to the royal plan, and place du Parlement de Bretagne is built around the palace the fire never reached. Its interior is seen only on the 90-minute guided visit, booked ahead through the tourist office. Book one in the early afternoon and eat first on rue Saint-Georges, a street away, where the crêperies fill houses older than the fire. If your booked time falls outside this block, move the Thabor around it: the garden opens at 7:30 every day.
- TicketsThe Parlement de Bretagne opens to visitors only on guided visits booked through the tourist office: 90 minutes from €6.50, or the combined historic heart and Parlement visit from €7.50.SourceOffice de Tourisme, visites guidées Office de Tourisme, visite du Parlement en 60 minutes
EatLunch at one of the crêperies on rue Saint-Georges, in houses older than the 1720 fire.
Afternoon15:30 to 18:30
The Thabor and the hill of Saint-Melaine
The afternoon belongs to the garden. Begin at Notre-Dame-en-Saint-Melaine, the abbey church on the hill, where the tower base and transept are Romanesque work of the early 12th century and a cloister gallery survives. The gate beside the church leads into the Thabor: the French garden laid out for the city in the 1860s, the orangerie with its free exhibitions from April to October, l'Enfer dug after 1720 for a water reserve and never filled, now a green theatre, and the botanical garden with its eleven rings and more than 2,000 rose varieties. The aviary and Martenot's cast-iron bandstand close the loop. The gates shut at 20:30 from May to August, at 20:00 in March, April and September, and at 18:30 from October to February, so in the shorter months come here straight after lunch.
- HoursThe Thabor is open every day of the year: 7:30 to 20:30 from 1 May to 31 August, 7:30 to 20:00 in March, April and September, and 7:30 to 18:30 from 1 October to 28 February.SourceOffice de Tourisme, Parc du Thabor
- HoursThe orangerie's exhibitions are free and run from April to October, during the park's opening hours.SourceVille de Rennes, Orangerie du Thabor
EatCoffee at La Terrasse du Thabor, the bar beside the park's big basin, when it is open in season.
Eveningafter 18:45
Odorico's mosaics, from the pool to the market
- Piscine Saint-Georges
- Jardin Saint-Georges2 min
- Pénates, 13 rue Paul Bert5 min
- Maison Odorico4 min
- Immeuble Poirier1 min
- La Criée, marché central8 min
The Odoricos came from Friuli, in northern Italy, and opened their mosaic workshop in Rennes in 1882, after a spell in Paris on the Opéra Garnier. Start at the Saint-Georges pool of 1926, ringed by a 96-meter frieze of wavelets, and the Jardin Saint-Georges beside it, with its mosaic sign for the vanished public baths. The pool's interior is seen only during a public swim, in set sessions that close by 19:00 on Saturdays, so at this hour the mosaics are mostly seen from outside; it closes on Mondays, public holidays and school holidays. Walk on to rue Paul Bert, where two restaurant fronts carry mosaic outside and in, then to Isidore Odorico's own house, finished in 1940, whose ground floor is a crêperie: eat dinner there or on rue Paul Bert. Then comes the Art Deco block faced in gold, restored in 2016 and 2017, and the walk ends under the blue mosaic letters on the fronton of La Criée, the central market.
- BookThe tourist office's Odorico walk covers the mosaics across the city, meeting at 1 rue Saint-Malo: from €6.50, 1.5 to 2 hours, booking required. It runs throughout 2026 and is included in the Pass Rennes Loisirs.SourceOffice de Tourisme, Odorico et l'art de la mosaïque
- HoursThe Saint-Georges pool takes public swimmers Tuesday to Sunday and closes on Mondays, on public holidays and during school holidays.SourceRennes Ville et Métropole, Piscine Saint-Georges
- CostAn adult swim costs €5.70, under-18s pay €2.45, and the pool takes the Sortir card.SourceOffice de Tourisme, piscines horaires et tarifs
EatDinner in the crêperie that now fills Isidore Odorico's own house, or among the mosaic restaurant fronts on rue Paul Bert.

Questions about the day

Planning your day

Can Rennes be seen in one day on foot?

Rennes can be seen in a day on foot at this pace, and the plan is built for it: the three walks sit in the old town, the streets south and east of it, and the hill of Saint-Melaine, with meals and garden time built in. The day runs from a 9:00 start on place Sainte-Anne to dinner among the Odorico mosaics, and the at-a-glance box carries the real distances and walking times for the route.

Which day of the week works best for this itinerary?

Saturday works best, from April to October and outside school holidays and public holidays. Saturdays bring the Lices market, 7:30 to 13:30; the cathedral opens 9:30 to 18:00 and is closed Tuesday and Wednesday, with the tourist office listing a 12:00 to 15:00 break, so go in the morning; the Saint-Georges pool is open Tuesday to Sunday and closed on Mondays, public holidays and during school holidays; and the Thabor's exhibitions run from April to October. A Thursday or Friday also works if you are willing to give up the market.

SourceCathédrale de Rennes, informations pratiquesRennes Ville et Métropole, Piscine Saint-GeorgesVille de Rennes, Orangerie du Thabor

What should you book before you go?

In Rennes, the one visit to book before you travel is the Parlement de Bretagne, whose interior is seen only on a guided visit through the tourist office at 1 rue Saint-Malo: 90 minutes from €6.50, or combined with the historic heart walk from €7.50. The tourist office's Odorico mosaic walk (from €6.50, booking required) covers the family's work across the city, the Saint-Georges pool included; keep it for a second day, since this plan's evening covers the same mosaics on foot.

SourceOffice de Tourisme, visites guidéesOffice de Tourisme, Odorico et l'art de la mosaïqueOffice de Tourisme, visite du Parlement en 60 minutes

Where do you eat along the route?

Meals run from the Lices market at breakfast (Saturday mornings, when the stalls are up) to a crêperie dinner in Isidore Odorico's old house or on rue Paul Bert. Lunch belongs to the crêperies of rue Saint-Georges, in houses older than the 1720 fire, and there is coffee and a terrace bar in the Thabor in season.

What do you do if it rains?

Rain in Rennes means reordering this day, since three of its four blocks are outdoors. Put the covered stops where the showers fall: the cathedral, the Basilique Saint-Sauveur, the Parlement visit and a long crêperie lunch; the Musée des Beaux-Arts on quai Émile-Zola is free for its collections, open Tuesday to Sunday. The Thabor opens at 7:30 every day but can close in storms, so move it to whichever part of the day is dry.

Is the ground difficult to walk?

The ground under this route is mostly level: city pavements, cobbles in the old-town lanes and garden paths in the Thabor, with steps where you climb the rampart walk at the Portes Mordelaises. Every walk in the day can be shortened or dropped, since each one starts and finishes in the center.

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