Brittany - Atlantic Coast

Morbihan & Finistère

Pointe du Vue Surf

We returned back from our second trip to Brittany in June 22 and, just like 10 years ago, we had an amazing time in this beautiful part of the north east of France. The scenery is breathtaking and there are many cultural highlights too. In this part of Brittany, the names of roads and towns are written in both French and Celtic. Along with the types of houses and scenery, we often felt we were in western Great Britain.

We started this trip on the south western coast at Morbihan, which means "small sea" or bay. The climate is milder here than in the north. Vannes is the main city of this region and has a beautiful old town that fortunately survived World War II. With lots of cafés and restaurants, bistros and bars there is a distinct relaxed vibe about the place. Wednesdays and Saturdays are their traditional market days.

Most of the old cities in Brittany were originally built by the Romans. Though the area became famous for the ancient menhirs, dolmens and tumuli sites from the neolithic period (4500 to 2000 BC). A menhir is a standing stone set into the ground vertically, whereas a dolmen is an arrangement of standing stones with a large stone or stones laid across the top. A tumulus (or plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves and are also known as barrows or burial mounds. It really does make you wonder how humans were able to transport these huge stones, some of which are up to 20 metres high and weigh up to 280 tons! It still remains a mystery - could it be possible that wheels were already in use then...???

Grand Menhir

The most well known place to see them is in Carnac where you can see around 3000 of these vertical stones/boulders that are spread across an area of about 4 km. There is no where else on earth that has more than here. We preferred the smaller site at Kezerho, as you can actually walk through the field and stones without any barriers.

To get a good insight into the megalithic culture, we recommend a visit to Locmariaquer. There you'll find the barrow "Tumulus d'Er Grah and the largest menhir called "Grand Menhir". And you can see the beautiful dolmen "Table des Marchands". In this reconstructed barrow, there is a passage that you can walk through to the center where you can see the engraved stone slabs.

If you prefer a less touristy spot we suggest going to the much less visted and slightly hidden dolmen of Kerran. We were on our own here and there's not even a proper place to park. There was more of a mystical feel there than at Carnac.

Another highlight in this region is the peninsula Quiberon. Driving along the Côte Sauvage was really great! There are lots of places where you can stop off to walk and enjoy the beautiful scenery, cliffs and coastline. Campervanners beware of the height of your vehicle as many of the parking spots have recently been height-reduced (to stop camping in the parking lots). We were ok as we left our "cabin" at the campground and did the excursions in our pick-up.

Port Blanc's beach was a very beautiful place and we found this nice rock-formation. Another great view point was at "Pointe du Vue Surf". Swimming is prohibited here but it doesn't stop the surfers riding the waves! We found a great place for lunch at the end of this part of the coastline, at the restaurant "Le Vivier". It is a must to make a reservation though as it's well known for its seafood and gets fully booked very quickly - try the freshest oysters too - absolutely yummsters!

Our camping base for this region was at the beautiful campground "De la Plage" in Trinité-sur-Mer. We had pitch number B1 which was perfect for us - the beautiful beach was just behind it. A great place for beachwalking and there are some inland tracks too. Mara, our dog loved it too! We only stayed 4 nights but would stay longer next time.

The next destination was north. Along the way we stopped at a very beautiful little town, Pont-Aven. Paul Gauguin used to live here - along with another 100 or so artists! The art focus here is bright colours and abstract shapes representing emotions. During the post-impressionism period, this was deemed far more important than reality illustrations. There are lots of art gallerys as well as many artists there - we saw quite a few with their drawing and painting utensils.

Soon after we arrived in the region of Finistère, which means "the end of the land". This area is well known for its many lighthouses. The first one we stopped at was Phare d'Eckmühl in Penmarc'h. It was built in 1897 and is one of the tallest lighthouses in the world, at 65m. There are 3 lighthouses here, the other 2 are smaller and older and the reason they built the big one was because they wanted to reach a range of light of 100km.

Next stop was Plage de la Torche in Plomeur. We walked across the dunes and came out on to this really beautiful beach. In our opinion, this is one of the most beautiful wilder beaches in Europe! It's wide and long, there are waves rolling in, the sand is white and it is really spectacular.

The last stop on this day was a visit to the gothic chapel Notre-Dame de Tronoën. This chapel has the oldest and one of the most beautiful Calvarys in Brittany.

Late afternoon we arrived at the campground "Camping du Treguer" which was our base for the next 4 nights. The location was perfect and we had a beautiful view from our "private" balcony too! At night it was lovely listening to the waves from our bed. We'll definitely go back there one day - a truly great spot!

In the mornings, Mara loved watching the rabbits racing through the bush and dunes. The beach was great for jogging and in the evenings taking in the sunset was so peaceful - what more could we want!

This campground was a good base too, for a couple of other day trips. One of our highlights in Brittany was the region near Pointe du Raz. Driving along passing many windmills (the new modern ones), you suddenly come to this beautiful view of the Bay of the Dead (Baie de la Trépassés) on Cap Sizun. As the legend goes, the souls of the dead wait here at the bay for the ship to take them to the other side (beyond the horizon).

The scenery around the cape is spectacular and it does feel like you're standing on the edge of or at the end of the world! There are so many lighthouses. The highest one on land, one almost in the sea and another on the "Île-de-Sein". It's worth taking the time to eat a crêpe or galette at one of the restaurants near the information center, as this spot was once awarded the best crêpe-restaurants in the whole of France 😊. And where else can you eat a crêpe with lobster...

There is a great walk along the bay that takes you to the cape at Pointe du Van. There aren't any restaurants but the nature is stunning! It was also a great location to take a photo using long exposure, giving a nice dynamic to the sea.

The little town of Pont-Croix is mentioned in most travel guides and it really does seem that time stood still here. It's worth a visit to the historic center with its old roads, stone houses and the chapel. If you're looking for restaurants, bars or shops though, then you will be disappointed - it felt a little bit like a ghost town 😊.

The other excursion took us to the peninsula Crozon. This area is also well known for its cliffs near Pointe de Penhir and at Cap de la Chèvre. We found, however, that the scenic beauty at Pointe du Raz and Pointe du Van couldn't be topped.

We were really positively surprised by the walk we took from Saint-Hernot towards Plage d'Ìle Vierge. Hidden behind the pine-tree forest was this absolutely beautiful little beach or bay, one we thought could be somewhere in Greece rather than Brittany. The only way to actually get to it though, is from the water.

We were very lucky with the weather during the whole of our trip (June 22) and we only had 2 days of rain. The atlantic coast of Brittany is really spectacular and we will definitely be back! With even more time to explore - there's so much to see and do!

This trip didn't end just here - the next blog will be about the Côte d'Armor near the Channel and on into Normandy. Til soon... 😊

"One crowded hour of glorious life is worth an age without a name"

(The Call - Thomas Osbert Morsdaunt, 1730-1809)

Travel blog and travel guide by Aaron Matzinger & Clare Walker

© Aaron Matzinger & Clare Walker