Brittany’s Stunning Coast

After taking a break in La Faou we decided to head to the Crozon peninsula and the town Camaret-Sur-Mer. We found a great place to stay the night just above the town and an easy cycle to the Pointe du Pen Hir. This is the end of the peninsula and a spectacular location with 70m cliffs and a chain of rocky islands stretching out to sea.

The town of Caramet Sur Mer is dominated by a large harbour, once the largest crayfish port in France, which is guarded by the Tour Vauban, built in 1669. On the harbourside there are a row of abandoned fishing boats from a bygone era which are being allowed to rot away in a boat graveyard but they look pretty cool and make great photo opportunities.

Just opposite our park-up is a field of around 80 neolithic stones called the Alignments of Lagatjar, and a little further along is a great surf beach, although swimming is banned due to the strong currents.

On the way to the Pointe du Pen Hir are the remains of one of the gun emplacements from the German WWII Atlantic Wall. There are big concrete bunkers and a network of trenches at the top of the cliffs.

After a very busy day exploring Camaret-Sur-Mer we headed slightly inland to the petite town of Locronan.  This is considered a “small town of character” and a “most beautiful village in France”  and it is easy to see why. The town has been frozen in time with vehicles banned during the day and no electric cables or aerials allowed.  It is busy though with bus loads of tourists arriving from morning to evening.

The centrepiece of the town is, as usual, the church which is dedicated to St Ronan. The village gained it prosperity in the 15^th century as a centre for sailcloth production.

Not too far from Locronan is the larger town of Quimper. This is a shopping hub for the area and the central streets were busy with shoppers.

The standout feature of Quimper is the huge central cathedral. The stained glass windows here are amazing with each window panel telling a story.

From Quimper we headed back to the coast and another peninsula tipped by the Pointe du Raz which is the most Western point of the Finistere department. On the way there we passed by the pretty port town of Audierne.

The Pointe du Raz is impressive for the flow of water past the rocks of its tip. The tides drive a raging torrent past the point that is like a river and shipping is warned away by a lighthouse.

The Pointe du Raz was much busier than the Pointe du Pen Hir, I think partly because it is listed as “Grand site du France” and has a row of restaurants and shops next to the car park. The actual point is about 2km from here so is not built up but during the day there are a lot of people.  We stayed in the car park overnight and visited again at sunset once the crowds had left.

After leaving Pointe du Raz we drove back to Quimper and then a bit further South to the town of Concarneau. This is another port town but the original medieval centre of this town is on a small island in the harbour.  We stayed on the coast just South of the town with a lovely coastal walk to the main harbour and then took the small ferry boat across the water, which was all of 100m, in order to reach the medieval town. The ferry runs all day until 11pm and is only €1pp each way.

The old town is surrounded by high walls which you can walk atop and one of the towers houses a free local history fishing museum with some great photos from the early 20^th century.  There is only one main street in the town and this is lined with restaurants so there is plenty of choice and we took the opportunity stay for dinner and catch a late ferry home.  We were not disappointed with our choice of restaurant – my mussels with scallop sauce were delicious.

Concarneau has always been a fishing town and remains one of the biggest fishing ports in France. The main harbour is large and there are some fairly sizeable boats here in dry dock.

After 5 nights in 5 different places we were keen to chill for a couple of nights so headed along the coast and found a great little park-up opposite the beach (Plage de Don), near the town of Tregunc and a couple of kliometers from the marina of Trevignon.

The small sandy car park has space for about 10 motorhomes and is free to stay for up to 48 hours. The beach is literally 25m away, the only downside being that there is no sea view from the parking due to a small dune. It is however a beautiful beach and a perfect place for those in self-contained motorhomes (although there is a toilet available).   The French are very accommodating of motorhomes and there are designated parking areas for motorhomes practically everywhere we have been, making our travel very easy.  This is in stark contrast to the UK where we seem to make it as difficult as possible.

Despite a mixed weather forecast we decided to spend the full two nights allowed here and were rewarded with beautiful sunshine for the most part – despite a couple of hours of rain in between.

This is our first time swimming on the Atlantic coast and it’s definitely colder than the Channel although this didn’t stop us getting in (albeit briefly!) to cool off.  

We really enjoyed chilling on the beach for a couple of days and it’s a good job there is a 48 hour limit on the parking otherwise we would probably still be there.