France & the River Seine Bank Holiday

Southampton offers fast and efficient check-in areas, spacious departure lounges with seating areas, café-bars and smart washrooms. If you wish to travel by car and park for the duration of your cruise, you can pay for and reserve parking in advance directly with the relevant company. Alternatively, if being dropped off or collected by taxi or private car, they can drive right up alongside the terminal building.

Originally a fortified island, the walled city of St Malo at the mouth of the River Rance on France’s Brittany coast, is now connected to the mainland by a ‘Sillon’ causeway. Visiting this atmospheric port, once a stronghold for privateers (pirates approved by the king), is like stepping back in time.

The walls of St Malo, largely destroyed in World War II, have been painstakingly reconstructed. A magnificent grey granite citadel protects the old city, the cobbled streets of which are packed with interesting shops, restaurants, bars and cafés. The main gate is Porte St-Vincent, home to the castle and town museum, and an eclectic mix of exhibits including maps and local artefacts. Saint-Malo Cathedral, built in Romanesque and Gothic styles, makes an impressive centrepiece.

From the beach outside the citadel it’s possible to walk at low tide to the small island of Grand-Bé, to see the tomb of the 19th century politician and writer, Chateaubriand. To the south is where the original inhabitants lived. They were converted to Christianity by St Malou, after whom they named the impregnable island when they moved there in the 12th century.

The spire of the vast Gothic cathedral soars over a superbly restored medieval and Renaissance old town – Ruskin’s ‘labyrinth of delight’.

The city is rich in monuments and museums, with narrow pedestrianised streets lined by tall, half-timbered houses, and of course, the statue marking the spot where Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake.

The spire of the vast Gothic cathedral soars over a superbly restored medieval and Renaissance old town – Ruskin’s ‘labyrinth of delight’.

The city is rich in monuments and museums, with narrow pedestrianised streets lined by tall, half-timbered houses, and of course, the statue marking the spot where Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake.

Southampton offers fast and efficient check-in areas, spacious departure lounges with seating areas, café-bars and smart washrooms. If you wish to travel by car and park for the duration of your cruise, you can pay for and reserve parking in advance directly with the relevant company. Alternatively, if being dropped off or collected by taxi or private car, they can drive right up alongside the terminal building.