Seasons
Brittany out of season
What stays open from October to April, what closes, and why the coast is more beautiful under a low sky than under a white one.
6 min read
Brittany out of season is not a second rate Brittany. It is the same coast, with more light and fewer queues. The oceanic climate has a lot to do with it: in Brest, January days stay between seven and ten degrees, the sea hardly drops below ten, and gales alternate with rinsed skies you never see in August. What you need to bring is not a winter coat but a proper rain jacket.
What does change is the opening hours. Many things close, and the classic mistake is to set off in February with a July programme.
What closes, what stays open
| What | Out of season |
|---|---|
| The coast, the beaches, the paths | Open, free, deserted |
| Lighthouses and signal stations open to visitors | Often closed from October to April |
| Campsites | Mostly closed from November to March |
| Museums and castles | Reduced hours, weekly closing day |
| The markets | All year round, on a set day |
| Boats to the islands | Reduced, sometimes one sailing a day |
This list is only a guide in one direction: a place announced as open may close for works, and winter hours are decided late. Every place in our guide links to the establishment’s official website, which is the reference.
What is worth the trip in winter
The places that gain in the late season are those that do not need fine weather: the exposed coasts, where the westerly swell arrives unhindered, and the towns that live all year round.
Places that do not close
ViewpointCap FréhelPlévenon · 1 to 2 hours, more if you walk to the fort or along the GR34.One of Brittany’s great panoramas, with cliffs, heathland, an emerald sea and sweeping views over the north coast of Brittany.
BeachSillon BeachSaint-Malo · 3 hours to a full dayIn Saint-Malo, the Sillon stretches nearly 3 km of sand between Intra-Muros and Paramé, with a historic sea wall, breakwaters, lifeguarded swimming, restaurants, a shower, drinking water, a kids’ club and two Hippocampe beach wheelchairs in summer.
VillagePloumanac’hPerros-Guirec · 2 hours minimum, half a day to a full day with a walk to TrégastelPloumanac’h brings together a natural harbour, Saint-Guirec beach, an oratory, the Mean Ruz lighthouse and huge jumbles of pink granite along one of the finest stretches of the GR34.
ViewpointPointe de Pen-HirCamaret-sur-Mer · 1 to 2 hours.One of the great sites of the Crozon peninsula, with high cliffs of Armorican sandstone, the vast ocean and the famous Tas de Pois rocks extending the headland.
ViewpointPointe du RazPlogoff · 1 h 30 to 3 h, depending on the route and the time you spend.One of Finistère’s great panoramas, a Grand Site de France, with cliffs, the Raz de Sein strait, La Vieille lighthouse, the Île de Sein and the vast Atlantic.
VillageCancaleCancale · 2 hours minimum, ideally half a day. A full day with the Pointe du GrouinFacing the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel, Cancale brings together the Port de la Houle, an oyster market open all year round, fishermen’s houses, oyster beds and a coastal path to the Pointe du Grouin.
BeachLa Baule BeachLa Baule-Escoublac · 3 hours to a full day, longer to walk the whole bayFrom Pornichet to Le Pouliguen, the bay of La Baule stretches about 9 km of fine sand, with lifeguarded sections, beach clubs, water sports, walks, facilities for disabled visitors and water quality monitored all summer.
LighthouseSaint-Mathieu LighthousePlougonvelin · 1 h 30 to 3 h, more with the memorial and a stretch of the GR34A 37 m tower lit in 1835, 163 steps, a white flash every 15 seconds and an exceptional view over the Iroise Sea, among the ruins of the abbey.
VillageRochefort-en-TerreRochefort-en-Terre · 2 hours to half a day, more during the Christmas eventsRochefort-en-Terre creates an almost theatrical setting of granite houses, half-timbering, flowers, craftspeople and a castle perched on a rocky spur.
VillageDinan, historic centreDinan · A full day recommended, half a day minimumDinan unfolds more than two kilometres of ramparts, half-timbered houses, a castle, a basilica, the Rue du Jerzual and a port on the Rance, in one of the most spectacular medieval ensembles in Brittany.
A beach, a viewpoint, a village do not close: they are what make a winter stay. For a lighthouse or a museum, check the off season hours on the official website, linked from each place’s page.
Markets, which do not close
It is the best plan for a rainy day, and the most reliable: a market takes place on the same day all year round, tourists or not. The one in Rennes, on the Place des Lices, is the second largest in France: nearly three hundred stallholders and ten thousand people every Saturday morning, from 7:30am to 1:30pm.
Markets all year round
- MarketMarché Alexis-CarrelRennes · 1 to 2 hoursOn Thursday mornings, on Boulevard Alexis-Carrel, the Jeanne-d’Arc district market offers food and manufactured goods, in the north-east of Rennes.
- MarketPetit marché du samedi de RostrenenRostrenen · 1 to 2 hoursOn Saturday mornings, a small food market is held on Place du Docteur-Raoult, in Rostrenen, alongside the big Tuesday market.
- MarketPetit marché quotidien de SarzeauSarzeau · 1 to 2 hoursEvery morning except Thursday, a small food market is held on Place Richemont, next to the church in Sarzeau, in the heart of the Rhuys peninsula.
- MarketMarché Aristide-BriandLorient · 1 to 2 hoursAristide-Briand market in Lorient, on Wednesday and Saturday, Place Aristide-Briand.
- MarketMarché du mercredi au BonoLe Bono · 1 to 2 hoursOn Wednesday mornings, Le Bono hosts a small market, with fish, in the village centre of this oyster-farming port at the far end of the Gulf of Morbihan.
- MarketMarché BellevueBrest · 1 to 2 hoursOn Thursday mornings, the Bellevue market sets up on Place Napoléon-III, in Brest: the only open-air market in Brest that day, from 8.30 am to 12.30 pm.
- MarketMarché bio d’AurayAuray · 1 to 2 hoursOn Thursdays from 5 pm to 8 pm, up to 25 organic traders set up on Place Notre-Dame, in Auray, for an early evening market in the town centre.
- MarketMarché bio de Belle-Isle-en-TerreBelle-Isle-en-Terre · 1 to 2 hoursOn Tuesdays from 4 pm to 7 pm, Belle-Isle-en-Terre hosts an early evening organic market, in the heart of this Argoat village on the banks of the Léguer.
Storms, and how to watch them
Westerly gales are a spectacle, and the only thing in Brittany that calls for caution. The rule is simple: watch a storm from high ground and well back, never from a sea wall or the foreshore. Every winter, waves sweep away people who came to take a photo.