Itineraries
A week in Brittany
Seven days allow two bases and an island. The itinerary from north to south, day by day, with real driving times.
8 min read
Seven days is when the whole of Brittany becomes possible. Three days force you to choose a coast; a week lets you do two, with a single move in the middle, and keep a day for an island, which is the thing not to miss.
The rule that governs everything stays the same: you only cross Brittany from east to west once. Rennes to Brest is three hours. Doing the round trip twice in the week means spending a whole day in the car.
The itinerary: north, then south
| Day | Where | What to do | Overnight |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saint-Malo | The ramparts, the Sillon beach | Saint-Malo |
| 2 | Emerald Coast | Cancale, the Pointe du Grouin, Cap Fréhel | Saint-Malo |
| 3 | Dinan, then the pink granite | The medieval town, then a 2 hour drive | Trégastel |
| 4 | The road south | Trégastel to Quimper, 150 km, 2 hours 15 | Quimper |
| 5 | Southern Finistère | Locronan, the Pointe du Raz, Douarnenez | Quimper |
| 6 | An island | Ouessant, Sein or Groix, the whole day | Quimper |
| 7 | The Gulf of Morbihan | Carnac, Vannes, then the journey home | Home |
Three bases, only one of them for a single night: Saint-Malo for the first two nights, Trégastel for the third, Quimper or Concarneau for the last three. The night on the Pink Granite Coast saves two pointless hours of driving, and it is the only move that costs a morning.
The north: pink granite and the Emerald Coast
The first three days fit within sixty kilometres of Saint-Malo, which leaves time to stop. The Pink Granite Coast is the exception: it is two hours from Saint-Malo, and it is the only real drive of the first half of the stay. Better to sleep there on the third evening than to do the round trip in a day.
What to see in the north
Heritage siteSaint-Malo Intra-MurosSaint-Malo · A dayA walled city entirely encircled by 1,754 metres of granite ramparts, facing the Channel, to the rhythm of the highest tides in Europe.
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.
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.
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.
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.
LighthouseMean Ruz LighthousePloumanac’h / Perros-Guirec · 45 minutes to 1 h 30 with the path around the lighthouse.Ploumanac’h’s iconic lighthouse, 15 m high, rebuilt in pink granite between 1946 and 1948 and visible from the GR34 in the heart of the Pink Granite Coast.
BeachL’Écluse BeachDinard · 3 hours to a full dayIn the heart of Dinard, L’Écluse combines fine sand, an open-air seawater pool, kids’ clubs, the Wishbone Club, the casino, terraces, summer lifeguards and excellent facilities for disabled visitors.
Heritage siteValley of the SaintsCarnoët · Two hoursMore than 200 monumental statues in Breton granite on a hill in Central Brittany, in a contemporary project that aims for a thousand.
VillagePaimpontPaimpont · Half a day minimum, ideally a full day with a storytelling walk or the forestPaimpont brings together an abbey, a lake, schist and sandstone houses, the Porte des Secrets and the starting points of storytelling walks into the Arthurian legends of Brocéliande.
Heritage siteAbbaye de BeauportPaimpol · 1 h 30 to 2 hours, half a day with the estateFounded around 1202 on the bay of Paimpol, the only Premonstratensian abbey in Brittany: a roofless church, cloister, chapter house, orchards and a free 120-hectare natural estate.
The driving day
The fourth day is moving day, and it is better made a stage than a transfer. The road from Trégastel to Quimper crosses central Brittany, the Monts d’Arrée and the parish closes: inland Brittany, which nobody sees because everyone follows the coast.
Stops on the road south
- 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.
- 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.
Natural siteHuelgoat ForestHuelgoat · 1 hour to half a dayA 1,170-hectare state forest in the heart of Finistère: jumbles of granite boulders, the Rivière d’Argent, the Roche Tremblante, the Grotte du Diable and the Camp d’Artus. Free access from the village.- Heritage siteValley of the SaintsCarnoët · Two hoursMore than 200 monumental statues in Breton granite on a hill in Central Brittany, in a contemporary project that aims for a thousand.
VillageLocronanLocronan · 2 hours to half a day, a full day with a hike or DouarnenezLocronan lines up granite mansions, cobbles, a Gothic church and art workshops around an almost untouched square, the legacy of a town made rich by sailcloth and the Troménie.
VillageRoscoffFinistère · Half a day minimum, a full day with the exotic garden or the Île de BatzRoscoff combines an old harbour, granite shipowners’ houses, a Flamboyant church, an exotic garden and boats to the Île de Batz, in the unique maritime light of north Finistère.
The south: the tip and the Gulf
Southern Finistère has the most spectacular parts of Brittany, between the Pointe du Raz and the Bay of Douarnenez. The gentler Gulf of Morbihan closes the stay: it is also the closest to the road home.
What to see in the south
Heritage siteCarnac StonesCarnac · 1 h 30 to half a dayNearly 3,000 standing stones over four kilometres, raised more than six thousand years ago, at Le Ménec, Kermario, Le Manio and Kerlescan. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 12 July 2025.
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.
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.
LighthouseGoulphar LighthouseBangor, Belle-Île · 1 h to 1 h 30.A major landfall lighthouse on Belle-Île, 52.25 m high, with 247 steps, a lighthouse museum and one of the island’s great views.
LighthouseÎle Vierge LighthousePlouguerneau · 2 hours to half a day, depending on the option.The tallest lighthouse in Europe and the tallest cut-stone lighthouse in the world, 82.50 m and 397 steps, closed to climbing in 2026 for restoration.- VillageLocronanLocronan · 2 hours to half a day, a full day with a hike or DouarnenezLocronan lines up granite mansions, cobbles, a Gothic church and art workshops around an almost untouched square, the legacy of a town made rich by sailcloth and the Troménie.
LighthouseLa Jument LighthouseOuessant · Depends on the viewpoint or the boat trip.A legendary 47.40 m lighthouse at sea, built from 1904 to 1911 on the Ar Gazeg reef, with a red light of three flashes and a current range of 10 nautical miles.
BeachLa Torche BeachPlomeur · 3 hours to a full dayIn Plomeur, La Torche stretches about 2 km of white sand facing due west in a Natura 2000 site, with world-famous surfing, lifeguarded swimming in summer, surf schools, the GR34 and strong currents.
The day on an island
This is the day people regret not taking. A Breton island cannot be seen in two hours: the crossing takes between twenty minutes and an hour and a quarter, sailings are few out of season, and missing the last boat means spending the night there.