Quai Jean-Bart and its shipowners' houses in Redon
©Quai Jean-Bart and its shipowners' houses, Redon|Yannick Le Gal
Remarkable siteREDON

Redon and the Vilaine Valley

In Redon, nature creates exceptionally beautiful scenery, where majestic landscapes, little countryside villages and towns steeped in history intermingle. Redon, at the crossroads of the waterways of Western France with the Nantes-Brest canal and the Channel-Ocean links, was the maritime port of Rennes for a long time. Slow down and travel on the water in the land of 7 rivers.

REDON, SMALL TOWN WITH A BIG REPUTATION

The result of an alliance between water and land, Redon is at the confluence of the Vilaine and the Oust rivers. In the 19th century, the opening of the Ille-et-Rance canal as well as the Nantes-Brest canal made Redon an important inland waterway centre. Since then, boaters can cross Brittany by boat from Saint-Malo to the Atlantic Ocean passing via Redon.

The historical centre of the city in the port district bears witness to the town’s prestigious past: the Grand’Rue and its half-timbered houses, elegant shipowners’ houses on Quai Duguay-Trouin, the Richelieu tower, Hôtel de Carmoy, the 17th-century salt storehouses. Redon was an important religious city right from the Middle Ages and has remarkable religious buildings, such as Saint-Sauveur Abbey and the Monastery of the Calvairiennes.

 

THE LAND OF FRESH WATER

Many boat trips are possible from Redon. Hire a boat (without the need for a licence) and discover the charm of the rural valleys punctuated with islands, locks and fishing villages. As you travel upstream on the Vilaine towards Rennes, you will go through the Corbinières water gap, a magnificent site with its wooded slopes, steep paths and silhouettes of fishermen. Further along, stop in Guipry-Messac marina, a pretty river-based town which, with its lock and quays, preserves vivid memories of river transport and the salt route.

NATURAL SPACES

In Redon, natural areas are gifts of nature to humans. Between Rennes and Redon, at the site of Corbinières, the River Vilaine cuts deeply into the sandstone and the blue shape amidst pinewood cliffs.
To the east, at La Chapelle-de-Brain, the  Gannedel marsh is one of the biggest wetlands in the area. It is also a special site for observing the birds that come here in the spring to reproduce. All of these natural areas are part of a protection policy implemented by the Ille-et-Vilaine council. They are part of the 58 protected sites that have been developed and opened free of charge to the public.

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