Brittany

Destination Brittany

Brittany is one of France's most rugged regions and offers a fascinating mix of spectacular coastline, ancient towns, magical islands and inland woods. It is distinct from the rest of France since it used to be a Celtic duchy for more than one thousand years and is rich in culture, tradition and history. When your travel through the Western peninsula, you will discover a people whose language, customs and dress remain a vivid homage to their past.

At the westernmost tip of France, Brittany extends out to the sea where the Atlantic Ocean and English Channel meet. It presents tourists with a special personality: an ancient countryside with quiet beaches, rugged capes, melancholic moors, small fishing villages, walled cities and prehistoric megaliths. One of the foremost prehistoric centers, the seaside resort of Carnac is famed for its megalithic remains from the Neolithic period. In addition to 2792 menhirs, massive stones erected by tribes who inhabited the region before the arrival of the Gauls, the area is studded with burial places, semicircles, and tumuli. Ten miles off the southern coast of Brittany, you will find Belle Ile (Beautiful Island) which is also Brittany's largest island. Buffeted by storms and fringed by rocky cliffs, it is an isolated natural paradise whose inhabitants are known for their hospitality. The medieval city of Vannes, at the head of the Gulf of Morbihan, is a perfect base from which to explore this magical inland sea and its many islands.