Two Centre Brittany
Hi,
We are looking at taking our caravan to Brittany for two weeks mid May. It will be our first trip to Brittany (and only our second trip to France).
Have decided our second week will be near St Malo, but we are not certain about the first week. Which part of Brittany would you all recommend. Is there any part of the Brittany coastline which is not particularly nice. Any of the larger towns best avoided?
Alternatively I have looked at spending the first week in Northern Vendee. Is this as nice an area as Brittany? Any towns you would recommend.
Grateful for any advice.
Comments
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We must have covered most of Brittanys coast over many years and can't honestly say that anywhere is to be avoided but it really depends what you look for in your holiday.
For us it was walking, photography, scenery for painting/drawing, food, wildlife and somewhere a bit different from the rest of France.
Over the years we've found all that we've looked for but at various times of the year. As you're having your second week near St.Malo I would suggest you head to the southern part, maybe not too far away from travelling to your second part, so somewhere around Vannes. You could take a trip to the islands in the Golf de Morbihan from nearby, the food market in Vannes is great an there are some decent campsites nearby.
Alternatively base yourself near Concarneau and visit places like Pont Aven or Quimper. There are standing stones in Carnac and a beautiful liittle church above Pont Aven ( Chapelle de Tremalo?).
You should enjoy yourself wherever you end up.
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One thing to be in mind is that thre has been a problem in Nothern Brittany between St. Bieuc and Dinan with an invasion of poisonous green algae lying on th beaches so be awar of it.
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For a good contrast with the north coast go down to south Brittany for your second week. Lesconil is my great favourite and in May you can turn up without booking. Alternatively Concarneau is a good bet, or Benodet - plenty of sites to choose from.
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We stayed in the Vendee and half way round the Bay of Douarnenez in Brittany in 2012 so you may be interested in my blog about it. It says which sites we stayed at and what we saw.
https://jennyandjohngocaravanning.wordpress.com/2012/12/08/france-2012-brittany-and-beyond-2/
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Thank you all for your comments. Very helpful.
I think we will stick with Southern Brittany for our first week. Probably makes sense to save the Vendee for a time we have to venture further south.
I assume most sites will be fairly empty in May? I will go with Camping Cheques if I can get a decent discount off the cost of the ferry, which seems a bit on the pricey side. Any recommendations for nice sites in Southern Brittany that take CCs? Prefer quieter sites with bigger pitches (we like the look of the ones with the hedges either side).
Interesting blog Jenny. Thank you. I'm looking forward to the day when we can spend six weeks or so touring.
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Stato, You are right. Sites in Brittany will be very empty in May, and in fact one of our favourite smaller campsites doesn't bother to open till the middle of June, and gets very few people even then.
Your choice in southern Brittany is a bit limited if you want to use up your Camping Cheques, but Camping Le Moustoir at Carnac is a possibility. It looks to be full of happy, noisy families in some of the photos but it won't be like that in May, and I don't know how many of the site facilities will actually be open by then, but it gets good reviews. Go and look and see what you think - and if you don't like it pick another from the site guide and move on. We do that even in the summer holidays.
Good wishes.
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We have been to Brittany several times and have not found anywhere to be avoided. All sites have been clean and well run but we have used club booking services. A lot depends on what you are looking for though as to where to send you but in May you should be able to get on almost any site although the two bank holiday weekends might find a few full or near full. I would agree the Carnac and Concarneau areas are well worth visiting though.
St Malo is possibly a better place to start if you are taking the ferry there and it is your first trip as you can get used to driving there before embarking on the longer runs. There is plenty to do in the area, Mont St Michel is a must and you can take a nice run along the coast to get there.
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I have been looking at the ferry prices for our trip. Our preferred route is Portsmouth - St Malo with Brittany Ferries.
Using the CC online booking system the fare omes out at £589 Thats out on a weekday and back on a Saturday and with a cabin both ways (2/4 berth inside). That seemed a bit pricey so after reading comments on this forum thought i would ring up the CC travel section, and with combining the ferry with Camping Cheques get a decent reduction. A little surprised to be told that the fare over the phone is £669 with no reduction available for camping cheques or a site booking.
I must admit this is far more expensive than I had anticipated. Especially as it is not exactly peak season. Are others still getting a camping cheque discount with Brittany Ferries?
Any other suggestions for getting a decent deal for a ferry booking.
Thanks
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St Malo sounds expensive. .
The bargain prices are Portsmouth to Caen at 1445 arriving 2130 and sleeping in your own caravan at a local campsite on arrival. The cheapest return sailing means sleeping in your caravan at Caen once again and sailing at 0800 back to Portsmouth With five Camping Cheques included the package return price will be about £250 from this Club, or £281 if you want seven Cheques.
There are similar prices on the Plymouth to Roscoff route - but again only on certain sailings. I can point those out if you are interested.
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