With its own language and a long history of traditions, French Brittany is one of the most distinctive regions of our neighboring country. From the impressive stone monuments of the first human settlements, passing through historical ports and medieval cities to the very magical forest of the legend of King Arthur, the region exudes an ancient and mysterious aura. This is our guide to the best cities in the region.
The places of French Brittany that you cannot miss
St-Malo
The walled city of St-Malo is one of the most beautiful and strange in French Brittany: you can walk from the jetty to the city, enjoy a satisfying weekend, and then catch the boat back home . Not only does it have a wide variety of hotels and restaurants, along with a profusion of history and charm, but it also has a wonderful beach. All you have to do is go through the ancient gates that run through its walls to find yourself in a huge expanse of golden sand.
If it’s sunny, the best plan in this area is to explore St-Malo Castle, built for the adventurous medieval pirates – the Malouins – whose many exploits included being the first to settle in the Falkland Islands. And, when the sun goes down, you can spend the night tasting delicious French cuisine in the area.
Cancale
About ten miles east of St-Malo is the small port of Cancale, famous for centuries for cultivating oysters on terraced flooded and washed away by the tide . The tides here, at the western end of the Bay of Mont-St-Michel, are among the largest in the world, and each year dozens of fishing boats are stranded on the silty seabed because of them.
Just above, magnificent seafood restaurants crowd shoulder to shoulder along the pier , so despite the large influx of tourists during the summer, you can find a place to sample the delicious seafood of the area. You won’t regret it… And to go down, the feast, you can take a walk. Afterwards, walk to the spectacular Pointe du Grouin to see the cliffs.
Dinan
About twenty kilometers upriver starting from St-Malo we can find Dinan, the fortress city of French Brittany . It is perfectly preserved and rises above the Rance River at the point where it begins to widen into a wide estuary. Dinan’s sturdy walls and towers are impressive, and the city has medieval-style cobbled alleys and squares that lend a special charm to the bars and crêperías that populate them.
Côte de Granit-Rose
Although not a single stretch of the Breton coastline has much to envy in beauty to those around it, the most beautiful and memorable landscape of all is the Granit-Rose Coast , located to the north. The name, which means “pink granite coast”, may not sound promising, but the reality is impressive: the rocks along the shore are not just pink, but also sparkle and erosion has carved them into extraordinary ways.
The small Île de Bréhat, for example, is nestled amid gigantic pink boulders, while further west, around Ploumanac’h and Trébeurden, there are coastal paths that cut through menageries of strange natural carvings.
Quimper
The oldest city in French Brittany, Quimper, located in the southwest corner of the Finistère, was the capital of the mythical kingdom of Cornouaille. Despite the presence of a massive Gothic cathedral and a makeshift art museum , it still looks like a pretty provincial market town, sprawling languidly along the banks of the Odet River, traversed by small flower-adorned walkways.
For most of the year it is a pleasant place to stroll, eat and shop – especially for hand painted and glazed earthenware pottery – but for one week in each July it comes alive during the Cornouaille Festival , a celebration of Breton music and traditions.
Carnac
Carnac may seem like a perfectly normal little Breton town, but it has one quality that makes it very interesting: it is the oldest inhabited settlement in Europe . To the north of town you will find the reason: a complete garden of menhirs, towering megaliths erected in parallel lines long before the pyramids of Egypt, making them among the oldest monuments in the world.
Hidden in the forest, on the other hand, are ancient burial mounds, traversed by strange tunnels through which intrepid visitors can crawl . And if that were not enough, Carnac also has magnificent beaches, which makes it a top destination for tourists who love both history and relaxation.
Fôret de Paimpont (Brocéliande)
The interior of French Brittany is a region covered in legends. Several of them speak of a vast forest known as the Argoat, within which the enchanted forest of Brocéliande, home of Merlin, the magician, and supposed location of the Fountain of Eternal Youth .
What remains of that mythical landscape is now the Paimpont Forest, southwest of Rennes . Today it is much less wild, but from the village of Paimpont itself, on the shores of the lake, a magnificent hike can still be enjoyed.
French Brittany and the sea
It is said that there is an island for every day of the year in the Gulf of Morbihan, the small sea – almost completely dead-end – that bathes the southern coast of Brittany . In reality, land and sea are so intertwined that the only rational way to explore many of the most interesting places in this part of French Brittany is by boat.
The walled city of Vannes in this area is worth a visit on its own, as it has lively bars and restaurants, as well as a modern aquarium. But, in addition, it is the base port for a wide range of boat trips both around the gulf and out to sea to reach other islands.
Belle-Île
The largest of the Breton islands, Belle-Île, is easily accessible by ferry. Unlike most of its smaller counterparts, it is quite busy with some of the most luxurious hotels in the region.
The main town and port, Le Palais, lie on the sheltered side of the land, guarded by a mighty star-shaped fortress, while the smaller Sauzon lies a few kilometers to the west. If you rent a bike, and you can explore the entire island in one day, from secluded sandy beaches in the north to the wild and rugged south coast , with its cliffside cliffs battered by the ocean.
Isle of Sein
As the ferry enters the mists of the Atlantic it seems that one is sailing in the ends of the world. Instead, an hour’s drive out to sea, you come to a small patch of land, home to a picturesque village and a lonely lighthouse .
At high tide, this gloriously isolated place, said to have been the last outpost of pre-Roman paganism in France, seems to be in danger of disappearing completely engulfed by the sea and is the perfect setting for all those travelers who want to avoid tourist crowds and prefer to get lost.
