Rennes: Culture, Art and Green Spaces

Rennes offers several clearly distinct highlights to help you plan your trip: Breton society and history, art, science, architecture, and expansive green spaces. If you’re looking for a hotel in Rennes, this variety can help you decide on the main focus of your stay without combining cultural attractions and nature experiences into a single itinerary. Each of the following places has a different emphasis.

Culture and science

Les Champs Libres is located in the heart of the Rennes metropolitan area, just a few steps from the train station. Les Champs Libres includes the Musée de Bretagne, which focuses on Breton society and its development—its emphasis is therefore on social and regional themes.

The Musée des beaux-arts de Rennes has a different focus: At its Quai Zola location, it offers an overview of art history from antiquity to the present day. Admission to the collections is free. Check the practical visiting arrangements before your trip. The museum also offers free activities for younger children on the first Wednesday of every month; program details may change, so it’s a good idea to check the latest dates.

At Les Champs Libres in Rennes, the Espace des sciences presents exhibitions that explain science in a simple, playful way. One specific offering is the Laboratoire de Merlin: Set in an environment inspired by Jules Verne, it features 30 modules. This gives the science offerings different forms: exhibitions on the one hand, and a world of interactive modules on the other.

The distinction matters when planning around specific dates: Free access applies to the collections, while the free activities for younger children take place on the first Wednesday of each month. As program details may change, check before your trip whether the activity you want to attend is taking place.

Architecture and historical themes

The Parlement de Bretagne is a major work of 17th-century architecture and is open to visitors year-round; visiting arrangements may vary. Visitors can admire a Gobelins tapestry depicting the death of the Constable Duguesclin. Rennes is also home to 370 half-timbered houses. Together, a named monument, a specific tapestry subject, and numerous half-timbered houses offer different points of interest for those interested in architecture and art.

Green spaces and cultural landscapes

The Parc des Gayeulles covers more than 100 hectares of green space and is a major leisure destination. The agropastoral trail at La Bintinais has a different emphasis: It combines working farmland, meadows grazed by old livestock breeds, and traditional bocage landscapes. The contrast is clear: At the Parc, the focus is on the expanse of green space; along the trail, it’s on the combination of farming, grazing, and bocage.

The selection ranges from social history and art to science, architecture, and landscapes. You can choose the focus of your stay according to whether you’re more interested in the development of Brittany, art history, science presented in a playful way, historic architecture, or extensive green spaces.

Discover more destinations: Poligné, Montfort-Sur-Meu, Pleugueneuc, Pléchâtel, La Guerche-de-Bretagne, La Chapelle-De-Brain, Treffendel, La Mézière

For an overview of the wider region: Ille-Et-Vilaine.