Brittany points into the Atlantic and behaves accordingly: the tides are among the biggest in the world, the coast path runs the whole way round, and the weather changes four times a day. It is also the one part of France with a living Celtic language and a genuinely separate culture — festou-noz, bagpipes, and a flag people actually fly. Carnac's alignments are 3,000 standing stones raised before Stonehenge. Saint-Malo is a corsair city rebuilt stone by stone after 1944. The Pink Granite Coast really is pink, and the Gulf of Morbihan is a scatter of islands you can hop by boat all summer.
- Saint-Malo's ramparts and the Emerald Coast
- The Carnac alignments
- The Pink Granite Coast at Ploumanac'h
- The Gulf of Morbihan and its islands
- Pointe du Raz and the Crozon peninsula
- Dinan, Vannes and Quimper
- Best time to go
- May–September; July and August for the island boats and the festivals, but book far ahead. The GR34 coast path is walkable year-round and is at its best in autumn light.
- Getting there
- TGV Paris–Rennes 1h25, Paris–Brest 3h30. Ferries from Plymouth and Portsmouth to Roscoff and Saint-Malo. Rennes, Brest and Nantes airports; a car for the peninsulas.
© OpenFreeMap · OSM · terrain Mapterhorn · boundaries © EuroGeographics (Eurostat GISCO)
Headline places
What france.fr leads with in Brittany.
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The Carnac Alignments Around 3,000 standing stones in rows, raised before the pyramids -
Ploumanac'h & the Pink Granite Coast Wind-rounded boulders that really are pink, and a lighthouse among them -
Pointe du Raz A 70 m headland at the end of Brittany, in a permanent gale -
The Ramparts of Saint-Malo A complete walled circuit round a city rebuilt stone by stone after 1944 -
The Gulf of Morbihan An inland sea with about forty islands, and some of the strongest tides in Europe -
The Crozon Peninsula Three arms of cliff and turquoise cove inside a regional park -
Cap Fréhel 70 m of red sandstone cliff, heather on top, seabirds below -
Fort la Latte A fourteenth-century castle on its own sea stack, reached by drawbridge -
Locronan A granite square with no overhead wires — which is why films shoot here -
Dinan's Ramparts Three kilometres of intact wall, and a cobbled street down to the port
Cities & bases
Where to sleep, and what each place is good for.
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Rennes Brittany's capital — half-timbered streets and a student city's nightlife -
Saint-Malo A corsair city inside granite ramparts, rebuilt stone by stone - Dinan Three kilometres of intact ramparts above the Rance
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Quimper Cornouaille's capital — twin spires, faience and the Festival de Cornouaille -
Brest A working naval city, Océanopolis, and the gateway to Ouessant -
Vannes Walled and half-timbered, at the top of the Gulf of Morbihan -
Carnac Three thousand standing stones, raised before the pyramids -
Perros-Guirec The base for the Pink Granite Coast and the Sept-Îles seabirds
Islands
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Belle-Île-en-Mer Brittany's largest island — Monet's needles and the Côte Sauvage -
Île de Groix A geological reserve and the only convex beach in Europe -
Île-aux-Moines The largest island in the Gulf of Morbihan, and its mildest climate -
Ouessant The far west of France — five lighthouses and the Fromveur current -
Île de Batz A market-garden island with a subtropical garden at one end -
Île de Bréhat Car-free pink granite, mimosa and hydrangeas, on the Gulf Stream -
Îles de Glénan A ring of islets round a lagoon that looks Caribbean and is not
Our guides
Full destination guides we already publish in this region.
Brittany by experience
The themes this region delivers on.
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Culture & heritage 53 UNESCO World Heritage sites, and the cathedrals that invented Gothic -
Food & wine Seventeen wine regions, 1,600 cheeses, and the gastronomic meal on the UNESCO list -
Nature & outdoors Glaciers, gorges, volcanoes and 180,000 km of waymarked footpath -
Coast & beaches Three seas and an ocean — around 5,800 km of mainland coast, and far more overseas -
Cities Paris, and eleven more cities that would headline any other country -
Villages & countryside The 180-odd villages on the official 'most beautiful in France' list -
National & regional parks Eleven national parks and 58 regional ones — about a fifth of the country -
Sport & adventure Skiing, surfing, climbing, paddling — and the Tour, Roland-Garros and Le Mans -
Cycling Over 25,000 km of signed cycle route, most of it flat and away from traffic -
Spa & wellness Around 90 working thermal spa towns, and the coastline that invented thalassotherapy -
Romance The Riviera corniche, a Loire château, a Provençal village, a Paris weekend - Shopping & savoir-faire Perfume in Grasse, porcelain in Limoges, crystal in Lorraine, couture in Paris
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Nightlife & entertainment Festival season, cabaret, beach clubs and the theme parks
