Rennes is compact enough that the main sights cluster within a twenty-minute walk of each other. The historic core — half-timbered houses around Place des Lices and the cobbled streets of Quartier Saint-Anne — is the obvious starting point. The Parlement de Bretagne is one of the finest 17th-century buildings in France outside Paris, and the Musée des Beaux-Arts holds a genuinely strong collection. The Jardin du Thabor gives you a broad, formal garden in the English style, and the outdoor Sculpture by Claudio Parmiggiani in Place du Parlement is worth seeking out for its peculiar history.