Saint-Malo, France

Saint-Malo was heavily bombed during World War II, but you won’t be able to tell as you wander among the painstakingly reconstructed granite mansions of this stately city. Enclosed by a forbidding defensive wall, Saint-Malo was once notorious as a center of corsair mischief but also benefitted enormously from the Atlantic trade after the discovery of the New World, which endowed the city’s merchants with great wealth. The ramparts showcase several impressive gates, including the photogenically squat twin towers of the Grande Porte, and these days the streets enclosed within are alive with a multitude of tempting shops and inviting galleries.

Further afield, you’ll discover two of the most magical villages in Brittany. Dinan is a perfect snapshot of the French Renaissance, a cluster of half-timbered homes whose charmingly askew façades are often festooned with blooming geraniums. Along the coast to the east, rising from a tidal flat like a mystical apparition, you’ll find iconic Mont Saint-Michel, possibly the most photographed hamlet in the world. As you ascend winding cobbled lanes to the town’s glorious Benedictine abbey, you’ll appreciate why this medieval jewel has earned UNESCO World Heritage site designation.