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A holiday in Brittany isn’t complete without a visit to its highlights, be they natural like Huelgoat Forest and Armorique National Park, or man-made like the Carnac Stones. We hope that you enjoy our Top Ten Visits in Brittany and that they entice you to consider a holiday in Brittany. For ideas on holiday cottages in Brittany, click on the links which take you through to Holiday France Direct™’s selection of holiday rentals in Brittany.
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Brittany holiday accommodation near Huelgoat Forest » |
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Huelgoat Forest is located halfway between Morlaix and Carhaix. The forest covers 10 sqkms and can be accessed from Huelgoat village. Its enchanted atmosphere comes from its caves, moss-covered boulders and amazing rock formations, such as ‘the mushroom’ and ‘the trembling rock’ which can be rocked by one person – if you know where to apply pressure. It is also steeped in Arthurian legend – explore Arthur’s camp and visit Arthur’s cave.
There are marked trails and circuits. |
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Brittany holiday accommodation near Foret de Paimpont » |
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Head west from Rennes and you reach the Foret de Paimpont, also known by its ancient name, Broceliande. According to song and legend, Broceliande is the forest of Merlin from Arthurian legend.
The Foret de Paimpont is located in a tranquil part of Brittany with few tourists - an ideal location for a ramble away from it all.
To discover the depths of the Foret de Paimpont, head to the town of Mauron. Just south is the hamlet of Folle Pensee from where |
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you can enjoy a walk to La Fontaine de Barenton or ‘Merlins Spring’ as it is sometimes known. The Fountain of Eternal Youth is hidden away nearby and is said in legend to be only accessible to those pure of heart.
Why not talk a walk into ‘The Valley of No Return’ (thankfully not true) and discover a steep valley from which exits are barred by thickets of gorse and furze on the rocks above you.
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Brittany holiday accommodation near the Carnac Stones » |
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The town of Carnac is home to around 2000 standing stones which stretch for over 4km to the north of the village. The Carnac Stones (or alignments, as they are known) make up the most important pre-historic site in Europe. They even pre-date the Pyramids, Stonehenge and the great Egyptian temples of the same name at Karnak. Over the centuries, the sea has withdrawn, leaving the Carnac Stones a few kilometres inland, which means you can combine a visit to the stone alignments with a stay in the seaside resort of Carnac-Plage.
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The Carnac Stones are said to have been an observatory for the motions of the moon – a sort of three-dimensional graph paper, used for plotting the movements of heavenly bodies. History has seen them used as quarried stone, and dug up and removed by farmers to protect their precious crops from academics visiting the alignments when pre-historic archaeology became popular.
Unfortunately, due to visitor numbers, the principal Carnac alignments have now been fenced off, and visitors are no longer free to wander at will amongst them.
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Brittany holiday accommodation near Pointe du Raz » |
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The Pointe du Raz, known as the Land’s End of both Finistere and France, has been designated a “Grande Site Nationale” It is a dramatic visit, especially the deep fissures which fill and drain with a deafening surf-roar.
Alternatively, you may care to take a stroll to the Baie des Trepasses (the Bay of the Dead) situated 30km west of Douarnenez, which gets its name from the shipwrecks there |
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and is a possible site of the lost city of Ys. It is a very attractive spot and has some of the best surfing conditions in Brittany. It is sometimes possible to make out the harbourside white-painted houses on the Ile de Sein across the waves, while the rocks in between sport an array of picturesque Brittany lighthouses. |
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Brittany holiday accommodation near Armorique National Park » |
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There are 38 Regional Natural Reserves in France and 7 National Parks.
Armorique National Park was created in 1969 and covers an area of 172,000 hectares, including 60,000 hectares of marine land.
It includes a large variety of landscapes and activities which represent the ecological, economic and cultural diversity of Brittany and is well worth a visit. |
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Brittany holiday accommodation near Finistere » |
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For a visit to the parishes of Finistere, Morlaix makes an excellent base. Parish closes, or enclose paroissiaux are walled churchyards incorporating cemetery, calvary and ossuary, and celebrate the distinctive character of Breton Catholicism in elaborately sculpted scenes. Stone calvaries are often covered in detailed scenes of the Crucifixion above a collection of saints, gospel stories and legends. In richer Brittany parishes, a high stone arch leads into the churchyard and there may be an adjoining ossuary. |
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This is where bones would be taken when the tiny cemeteries filled up.
The Parishes of Finistere hold annual Pardons to show devotion to a particular Saint, from whom a pardon is requested. Mass is followed by a procession of banners, relics, statues and crosses carried by a cortege singing the canticles. Locronon is home to one of the largest yearly pardons.
The most famous enclos are in the neighbouring parishes of Morlaix and Landivisiau on a clearly signposted route. At St-Thegonnec, the entire east wall of the church is a carved and painted frame, with saints in niches and a hundred scenes depicted. The pulpit and the painted oak entombment in the crypt beneath the ossuary are acknowledged masterpieces.
Further impressive closes can be found at La Roche, La Martyre and its adjoining parish Ploudiry. |
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Brittany holiday accommodation near Dol de Bretagne » |
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Dol-de-Bretagne, 30km west of Mont St Michel, was an important bishopric during the Middle Ages. Dol-de-Bretagne no longer has a bishop, though it still has its granite cathedral complete with ornate tiled towers. Cathedraloscope in Dol-de-Bretagne’s central square explains how medieval cathedrals were constructed. Also located in the square is the Musee Historique de Dol that has 2 two rooms of wooden artefacts from Breton churches. |
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Dol-de-Bretagne has picturesque streets, most notably the pretty Grande-Rue, where an assortment of 500-year old half-timbered houses look over the shoppers below.
The former island of Mont Dol, now located 8km inland from the sea, is a granite outcrop and the legendary site of a battle between Archangel Michael and the Devil. Various indentations in the rock such as “Devils Claw” show the savagery of the battle, which saw the Devil defeated. The site has been occupied since pre-historic times, with remains of mammoths and sabre tooth tigers found there. Later on, Mont Dol became an island monastery like Mont St Michel although all traces of this have long vanished. Why not head to the small chapel on top of Mont Dol and enjoy a pleasant climb winding among the chestnut and beech trees.
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Brittany holiday accommodation near Cancale » |
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Cancale is a delightful seaside resort renowned for its delicious fresh oysters. Found in the camps of Julius Caesar and taken to Versailles for Louis XIV, Cancale’s oysters are without doubt something special, even accompanying Napoleon on the march to Moscow.
At low tide, it is possible to see where the oysters are grown; the prime location is next to the jetty on rue des Parcs where the beach is covered with generations of empty shells.
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Cancale’s port area is very pretty with a number of glass-fronted restaurants, many offering oyster-tasting.
Enjoy a coffee in town and stroll among the stalls selling shellfish and fish, or take a walk along the coastal path which leads to the Pointe de Grouin and offers stunning views of Mont St Michel. |
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Brittany holiday accommodation near Fougeres » |
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The town of Fougeres is built on a huge granite ledge and was a heavily fortified strategic site in medieval times. Today, Fougeres is a town of art and history.
The topography of Fougeres is particularly interesting. Streets that look just a few metres long on a map turn out to be long plunges down several levels of this split-level site; and lanes turn into flights of steps. |
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The dominant feature of Fougere is the Chateau which was built below the level of the main part of town, on a low spit of land that is towered over by, 2 huge rock faces. Although protected by a moat full of weirs and waterfalls, the site was a defence failure and was repeatedly captured by medieval adventurers including du Guesclin, Constable of France from 1370 to 1380.
Approach Fougere’s castle from Place des Arbres beside St-Leonard’s church for a scenic entrance. Footpaths, ramps and stairways drop down through successive tiers of pretty public gardens. The walk offers fantastic views of the ramparts and towers and eventually reaches the water meadows of the River Nancon, which are crossable beside a pretty little cluster of medieval houses on the riverbank.
Why not pay a visit to the Foret de Fougeres, towards Vire. The beech tree woods are beautiful, with various stone structures and long forgotten trails of old stones scattered amongst the spruce, plus a number of dolmens (burial chambers. |
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Brittany holiday accommodation near Pont-Aven » |
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The pretty town of Pont-Aven is situated just east of Concarneau inland from the tip of the Aven estuary. It is a picturesque port popular with tourists due in part to its art galleries. The artist Gauguin came to Pont-Aven in the 1880s to paint before leaving for Tahiti. Gauguin produced some of his best works in Pont-Aven, and his influence was such that the Pont-Aven School of fellow artists was founded here – the best known of these artists was Emile Bernar. It is unfortunate however that the town has no |
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permanent collection of Gauguin’s work.
The promenade Xavier-Grall criss-crosses the tiny river in the heart of Pont-Aven and offers glimpses of fashionable mansions, draped in red ivy. Enjoy a longer walk into the Bois d’Amour, pretty wooded gardens, which have long provided inspiration to painters, poets and musicians.
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Copyright: Holiday France Direct 2008 |
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