Saint-Malo Walls

In 1944, the Allies heavily bombarded Saint-Malo, which was garrisoned by German troops. The city changed into a popular tourist centre, with a ferry terminal serving the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey, as well as the Southern English settlements of Portsmouth, Hampshire and Poole, Dorset.

The famous transatlantic single-handed yacht race, Route du Rhum, which takes place every four years in November, is between Saint Malo and Point-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe.

The ramparts protect the entirety of the old part of Saint-Malo and from a circuit of 1.75 kilometres.

When you do the walk be sure to have some literature with you, because every gate, bastion and view has a story to tell.

Go up for panoramas of the sea, the Grand Bé island, Fort National, Dinard across the water and the magnificent granite homes of the city’s wealthy ship-owners, and come down if you see a shop or crêperie that takes your fancy.

Grande’Porte on the eastern side is flanked by two chunky bastions and guards the narrow finger of land that links the walled city what are now Saint-Malo’s suburbs.