Rennes

General Information

Rennes is the capital city of the Brittany region, located about 350 km West of Paris. It is known for its medieval half-timbered houses and grand Rennes Cathedral. Parc du Thabor includes a rose garden and aviary. South of the Vilaine river, the Musée des Beaux-arts displays works by Botticelli, Rubens and Picasso. The Champs Libres cultural center houses the Musée de Bretagne (Brittany Museum) and Espace des Sciences, featuring a planetarium. Rennes is also located close to major touristic attractions such as Mont Saint Michel, Saint-Malo, Dinan, Carnac and many others.

A gastronomical highlight

All regions of France take pride in their culinary traditions, and Rennes is no exception to this rule. Rennes is located a stone's throw from the Atlantic ocean and is therefore famous for its magnificent seafood. Other local specialties include crêpes, various types of pastries, cider, vegetarian and vegan food and many others. There are countless restaurants in town where these can be tasted in a cosy and friendly atmosphere.

A Hub of Innovation and Education in France

Rennes is the 2nd-largest digital hub in France (after Paris), and the largest education and research center in the West of France. With over 70,000 students on a population of 250,000, Rennes is a peaceful yet vibrant city. It is also an internationally-recognized high-tech R&D center in cloud computing, networks and media.

A Leading Center for Research and Development in France

Rennes is the home of IRISA/Inria which is the largest public research center for Informatics in France (800+ employees including full-time researchers, professors, postdocs, engineers, PhD students, and support staff). Rennes is also a major center for industrial R&D with several major companies having a significant fraction of their R&D located here: Orange, Alcatel-Lucent, Broadpeak, Thales, Canon, Thomson etc. This ecosystem is complemented by hundreds of high-tech SMEs, start-up incubators, etc.