The banks of the Vilaine in Rennes

Park in the Leclerc Cleunay shopping centre car park on the Stade Rennais side (Roahzon Park on the map).

(S/E) From the car park, head to the towpath and turn right. Take the first footbridge to cross the Vilaine and follow the Quai Éric Tabarly footpath to the right of Stade Rennais (Roazhon Park).

(1) Turn right towards a footbridge leading to a small island with picnic tables. At the exit, turn left to rejoin the quay and continue to the right along the Vilaine via the Madeleine Desroseaux promenade (a poetess born in Rennes in 1873) and then the Chemin du Professeur Henry des Abbayes (a French botanist and lichenologist, former holder of the chair of botany at the University of Rennes).

(2) Turn left at the end of the path, where you leave the banks of the Vilaine to join Rue de Lorient, which you follow to the right, passing under the railway line. Continue along this street until you reach the large roundabout. Turn right onto Rue Louis Guilloux and cross the Ille, a tributary of the Vilaine, from which the department takes its name.

(3) At the end, turn right to cross the Jardin de la Confluence. Ignore the Pont Robert Schuman and continue straight ahead onto the Quai Saint-Cyr. Pass under the Pont Malakoff and continue straight on towards the Pont de Bretagne. Just before reaching it, look out for the two floating theatres, the “Dame Banche” and the “Arbre d’eau”, on the water.
Turn left and take the Pont de Bretagne on the right.

(4) Turn right onto Quai de la Prévalaye and walk along the Vilaine, now on the left bank. Pass under the Pont de Malakoff and then under the Pont de Maurice Schumaun.

(5) Continue along the towpath, pass under the railway bridge and carry on straight ahead to reach the Moulin du Comte Lock, built between 1822 and 1842, with its beautiful, flower-filled lock-keeper’s house.

(6) Finish the route by walking past the sports fields on your left, then follow the shopping centre to find the entrance to the car park on the left (S/E).

The route can be walked in simple flat shoes.
The left bank is very popular with joggers and cyclists (shared path).

Confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine.

Jardin de la Confluence.

TheSpectacle barge.