How to Spend 30 Days in Vitré, Ille-et-Vilaine, France with Kids
We picked a random city on a map in Northern France to kick off our full time travel journey and ended up in Vitré, France. Vitré is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France, a few hours outside of Paris and a wonderful place to spend a slow thirty days travelling with children.
Where to Stay in Vitré
Our suggestion is to find accommodations using a vacation rental or booking website, in the heart of the medieval commune. The house that we found to rent was adjacent to the castle in the heart of the medieval town.
How much does it cost to rent a home in Vitré for one month? Prices for a vacation rental range between $900 - 3,000 CAD for a full month of accommodations. For a month-long booking, you can find heavily discounted rates. We booked a three bedroom house for just over $1,000 CAD, in the heart of the medieval town.
Things to do in Vitré with Kids
Though the medieval city of Vitré may be small - there is much to explore. Start with a trip to a medieval castle. The Château de Vitré is a Disney-esque castle, in the heart of the Medieval town with looming tours, rooms upon rooms to explore, a moat and a small drawbridge to enter. The castle was built in the 11th century and then rebuilt in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries, after fire - and it’s a lovely way to spend an afternoon with inexpensive admission. Within the castle, you’ll find an extensive collection of exhibits sharing the commune’s history in the museum - well worth exploring.
Watch Vitré Come to Life After Dark
Walk around after dark and search for the Vitré Lights. Animations, history and interactive games, poems and art created with light illuminate the commune. Vitré lights was a wonderful way to explore after dark and find new installations about town. There are more than forty light installations scattered through town that come to life after dark.
The half-timbered buildings are a common sight, as you walk through the town. Explore the shops, the cafes, restaurants and tucked away historical sights in the town. Visit Librairie Vitréenne, the children’s book store in town, or shop the Saturday market!
Visit the medieval houses in Rue d’En-Bas, Rue de la Baudrairie with its half-timbered houses looming above, Rue de la Poterie to visit the porch houses and Rue Notre-Dame.
Talk a walk to the north side of town to the Rachapt district where you’ll find stone cottages built right on the slopes outside of the town walls, dating back to the 13th century.
Visit the Impressive Rochers-Sévigné castle
In this 17th century château, the Breton home of Madame de Sévigné, you can step back in history as you admire portraits and memorabilia from the famous marquise. At the same time, you can experience the modern art exhibit within - a stark difference from the 17th century artifacts. You can wander through the
We spent many hours at the playground at Jardin du Park, as it was within walking distance of the house we had rented in the village. Our youngest two children enjoyed the swinging zip-line, viewing the animals and birds in the aviary and climbing the roots of the ancient, old growth trees.
Visit La Roche-aux-Fées - Fairy Rocks
These dolmens are considered to be one of Europe's best-preserved dolmens.
5 short, medium and long Road Trips We took from Vitré
Rennes - just forty minutes outside of Vitré - we ended up here more often than we would like to admit because the property we were renting had no Internet, and the town’s hotspots were few, far between, and were painstakingly slow. We rented a car for the month in France, and so we had a bit of mobility for places to explore - because one month in Vitré, staying within the community would have probably been too monotonous for the kids (or for us). We popped into the Cathedral St. Pierre, explored parks and playgrounds - most notable the Parc des “Berges de Vilaine” with its playground structures designed like nests, in the wetlands. We explored the Space Sciences Museum, vi
Rouen - a city where we all said ‘we could live here’ (if we spoke more coherent French), was a repeat through the month. Carousels nestled away in courtyards, cafe culture strong, half-timbered houses and the church that often inspired Claude Monet, Cathedrale Notre-dame De Rouen, where the kids fought over the long-sleeved linen shirt I handed over to stave off of the cold fall breeze.
Bruhl, Germany - an eight hour road trip that garnered three speeding tickets, a few fumbles with the French toll machine and the best Mcdonald’s in the world - if you ask my kids. This wouldn’t be the last road trip we took with the kids during the month in Vitré but it was one of the most memorable. The purpose for the road trip? A theme park one of the kids discovered on TikTok. No regrets - even with the speeding tickets.
