touring bases in brittany - any ideas please
 

Hi folks,

this time, I'm determined that DH and I will actually make our anniversary trip [the june one to Provence got hi-jacked by us being talked into having a party instead] but as we have only 5 nights or so, we've decided to go to Brittany, which is only a 5 1/2 hour ferry ride away.

:-S [i'm not a good sailor]

well the ferry is booked, leaving Plymouth at 12.30 on tues 16th sept, arriving 7pm at Roscoff. so as not to have to drive too far from the ferry, we are thinking of the following:

day 1 - overnight in Morlaix [30 minute drive from Roscoff] at hotel de l'europe. double available for E170 for two nights.

day 2 - drive north-east to explore the pink granite coast of the cornich bretonne. overnight again at Morlaix.

day 3 - drive south taking coast road if weather good, or west to Brest if it's bad. over night in quimper. [thinking of either the Hotel Gradlon @ E110 per night or the oceania which has a cheap offer of E59 per night per room].

Day 4 - drive east to Concarneau and explore here and benedot area. ovenight at quimper

DAy 5 - drive west to pointe de raz etc. overnight at Quimper

Day 6 -return to Roscoff in time to catch the 3pm ferry.

we've chosen to stay in morlaix and quimper as we prefer staying in towns when on our hols [we live in the country so we have our fill of cows and sheep] and they are reasonably central to the areas we want to see but we are open to other ideas.

in particular, are we missing something by not staying in Brest? we could swap the first night Quimper for a night in Brest. we could then explore the pointe de raz area on our way to Quimper. but we prefer not moving around quite so much.

any thoughts gratefully received, as ever.

regards, ann

"in particular, are we missing something by not staying in Brest?"

I wouldn't say so - I think Quimper is a much more pleasant town than Brest.

Hi Hanl,

after reading the michelin green guide, i think we're saving Brest for a rainy day.

however, we're leaning towards 3 nights in Morlaix and 2 in Quimper, to give us more time to explore the north, then we can make our leisurely way south on day 4, probably making for pointe de raz that day.

thanks for the input,

regards, ann

I don't have a map in front of me, annhig, but would like to recommend a visit to Dinan, if it's practical. Beautiful walled town.

Vannes is a nice town, and the Golfe du Morbihan picturesque. Brittany as an area is delightful.

hi jm - we'd thought of dinan too, and MSM. but the flights to St. Brieuc [much further east in brittany] are more expensive than the ferry, we'd have to rent a car at more expense, and get ourselves to Exeter and back to catch the flight.

the ferry from Plymouth puts us far further west, and in 5 days, we don't want to be racing around too much.

stfc - same reason not to be staying in Vannes - we'd be spreading ourselves too thin. We might get there on the day we are staying in Quimper, if we have managed the pointe de raz the day before.

the more i read, the more places I want to see, even in the relatively small area of finistere.

thanks for the input,

regards, ann

I would second the vote for Dinan. A town just about the right size (not too big or small), lovely shops with local produce, a nice port, and handy for visits to St Malo and Mont St Michel, both less than 1 hour away.

Hi! Ann:

You've allocated your time in Brittany perfectly ... especially if you decide to stay in Morlaix for 3 nights & Quimper for 2 nights!

With the extra day, you could make the trip to Dinan & explore the Cote d' Emeraude along the way. Stop at Cap Frehel where high cliffs & the many paths that crisscross through the expanses of heather provide amazing vistas!

Also, turn inland for part of the time & drive through the Breton countryside & villages and by farms that seem to go on forever!

Feast on moules-frites, gallettes & ker-y-poms (traditional Breton apple turnovers)!

Can you tell that DH & I loved our stay in Brittany? :) We based 3 nights in Dinan & 3 nights in Moelan-Sur-Mer near Pont Aven. And would go back in a heart beat!

Have a wonderful holiday!

Regards,
2010

Hi again,
I agree that Dinan is lovely but it is a bit of a drive from where you'll be based, so I think you are right to concentrate on the western side of Brittany.

I'd recommend visiting Perros-Guirec as part of your exploration of the Côte de Granite rose, if you can, and perhaps fitting in an hour or two strolling around Pont-Aven on your Concarneau day.

About ten years ago I actually worked at a campsite near Pont-Aven for 6 months, manning the tourist information desk among other things. So with a bit of brain-racking I might be able to help a bit more with info on Finistère... though unfortunately I can't remember as much about the area as I'd like!!

You may be interested in our Brittany 2007 phototravelogue, which covers many of the areas mentioned.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...&y=-24d4pe

hi, hanl & mike,

thanks respectively for your recommendations, and your photos. the weather and colour of the buildings [both grey] are very reminiscent of Cornwall!

we are hoping to explore the coast to the north east of Morlaix on our first day, certainly as far as perros guirec. whether we get as far as concarneau is open to debate.

at the moment I'm trying to persuade DH that we ought to spend one night at the Michelin starred hotel de carantec Patrick-Jeffroy just along the coast from Roscoff, instead of our 2nd night at morlaix.

it's E351 for one night half board, but that IS for both of us, and includes our choice of the E65 or E88 menus. it's also roughly half what we paid for one night in a very nice but non Michelin starred hotel [in Devon] on our anniversary itself.

we're worried about staying too long in Morlaix, simply because the hotel doesn't have any private parking, and we fear our GB car may be pray to local thieves. [stealing from it, not the car itself - it's too old for anyone to bother with]. anyway, that's my excuse!

did either of you have any such problems?

regards, ann

I'm afraid I have no idea what the likelihood of car crime might be in Brittany. I certainly never experienced any when I lived there and I don't remember any of the guests at the campsite reporting problems, but obviously that was quite a while ago.

If it were us we'd probably go ahead and leave our car parked in the street, but make sure that nothing of any value is left in the car. (To be honest, my husband wouldn't even think twice about leaving the car parked on the street, while I'd be more likely to worry about it until he told me to stop being silly!!). Perhaps the hotel could tell you where a safe place to park would be.

As for the Hotel de Carantec, I've never been there but on the website it does look lovely... Personally I think that there should be a splurge moment on every holiday so I'd certainly try and spend a night there!!!

Ann, I like your programme. You are visiting one of my favourite areas of Brittany, and I think a 3-2 division of time between north and south is good. You'll find enough medieval bits with needing to go as far east as Dinan.

Some bits to consider:
- Morlaix is a very pleasant town in which to base yourselves. Quite hilly.
- See at least one of the important enclos paroissials (Sizun or Pleyben could fit into your itinerary).
- I think the cote du granit rose is wonderful; make sure you get at least as far as Tréguier; if, as I would, you use up a lot of time looking at places and things that catch your attention, you can get back fast via Pontrieux (pretty village) and Guingamp (interesting small town) and the N12.
- Don't use scarce time visiting Brest.
- Pass an hour or two in Locronan.
- Saint Paul de Léon, between Roscoff and Morlaix, is worth a stop of an hour or so.
- The "ville close" at Concarneau is a bit tourist-trappy, but good fun nevertheless.

What time of year are you going?

Hi Padraig,

thanks for your input. just what I wanted.

the plan now is to spend 2 nights in Morlaix, giving us a day for the granite coast going up to Treguier as you suggest [we sailed there once in a 60ft yacht - not ours! - so I'd like to see it again]. then we will busk it - probably making for l'Aberwrach and round the coast towards Brest, omitting Brest itself unless it rains, in which case it may just fit the bill.

then onto Quimper via pointe de raz, giving us a last day for concarneau, I hope.

I'm not getting to stay at Patrick Joffrey. shame. the hotels europe in Morlaix and Gradlon in quimper are booked - i got good rates on booking.com and venere respectively.

we're going in mid-sept, to take a/c of our DD still being at home to house, hen, dog, donkey, and DS sit before she goes back to uni. After hols in venice and iceland this year at our expense [don't mind really] i reckon she owes us!

thanks again for your comments,

regards, ann

You seem to be focusing mainly on coastal stuff, Ann, and there is no doubt that Brittany is good for that.

A lot of people consider the megalithic alignments at Carnac to be worth seeing. They might be just outside convenient range, as you have a lot to see in a short time.

Keep your eyes peeled for an Irish-registered red Passat; I'll be in Finistere in mid-September.

hi Padraig,

yep, you'd think I'd get enough of that hee in Cronwall but what with work and life, we don't actually spend that much time on the coast itself.

that said, in the event it rains, we may want alternatives. apart from Brest, what do you recommend?

regards, ann

PS - where in Finistere are you likely to be?

Ann, I'll answer your second question first: from about the 15th to the 19th I will be in Carhaix, 60 km. from the sea in three directions, and about 12,000 km (rough estimate) in the fourth. That is why I can not give a truly helpful answer to your other question: I will be visiting friends, and my main wet weather activity is passing time with them.

Don't worry about rain. September is usually a good bet, insofar as that is possible in Brittany. Bring showerproof clothing. There will be plenty of churches and small museums to visit, or a pleasant bar to spend an hour in, or a seafood platter to dawdle over, or a chateau that is open to visitors. In Pont Aven, lots of galleries selling mostly bad art; near Quimper, I understand that Henriot (the pottery) can be visited; near Brest you have Oceanopolis. Or you might try a session of thalassotherapy in any one of a dozen places. Or the old reliable of many -- shopping.

I take it that you know that you will be travelling from Cornwall to Cornouaille. The Bretons, particularly at that end of the province, tend to have a strong sense of Celtic affinity, and you might find it advantageous to emphasise that you come from Cornwall.

Just a quick tip: When in Quimper, you'll probably go through the pottery store next to the factory (we have collected Quimper pottery for about 20 years). Across the street is a souvinier-type of gift shop that also sells pottery, but not of the factory quality. However, they sell a Bretan apple butter cake that is absolutely to die for! We bought one and enjoyed it on our drive back to Paris. Great cake in a gift shop--who'd a thunk it!

Also, we chose to base ourselves in Auderne, which is a lovely town on the Finestere River, rather than in Quimper because we wanted that short, but nice drive back and forth from "city" to small town each day.

Have a great trip!

Hi, Mel

I'll certainly look out for the pottery shop with the apple cake. We decided on quimper as we like big towns when we're away - here in Cornwall they're a bit short on the ground. i hadn't considered auderne - which hotel did you stay in?

Hi padraig,

thanks for the ideas. as you can imagine, we're used to having to be prepared for every sort of weather, though Cornwall too is usually quite nice in september.

as for Cornouaille, we tend to use that name when we're in France to describe where WE'RE from. i can see that could cause a degree of confusion. perhaps we'll have to draw maps.

we'll look out for you near Carhaix, if we get anywhere close.

REgards, ann

Annhig, we stayed at the La Goyen in Auderne. It sits right on the river and we had a room with a balcony that overlooked the quay. We were there in October and the rate was an incredible 38euros!

They have a fabulous restaurant, as well, and we had one of our best dinners there.