In this article, I invite you on a getaway to the Breton coastline, a seaside and cultural territory, in 4 Sensation Bretagne resorts located in the Morbihan department. This network brings together 30 coastal towns and seaside resorts in Brittany, some of which I have already mentioned on the blog, such as Bénodet, Val-André, or even Binic and Saint-Quay-Portrieux. This collective of resorts is united by shared values and a charter focused on eco-responsible tourism. They are also connected by the GR 34, the famous coastal path. I suggest you go and discover Carnac, Arzon, and Damgan in the Gulf of Morbihan, and finally Pénestin.
This trip is the story of a blogtrip we took in June 2024 with my favorite photographer and a few blogger friends. Below, as usual, I offer you a small selection of things to do and see if you come for a stay in Brittany, as well as some great addresses.
Practical Information
- Getting there by train: by train from Montparnasse station to Rennes by TGV (1h30), then change for Vannes by TER (1h10), or there are also direct TGV trains Paris – Vannes (2h45)
- Local specialties to discover during your stay: Plancouët, a natural mineral water from Brittany that we drank everywhere; Kari Gosse, the “Breton curry” which comes from a recipe of spices with overseas flavors invented by Mr. Gosse, because curry originally arrived in France via the port of Lorient, and the Bretons saw it as a perfect culinary companion for fish products.
Table of Contents
Carnac
This seaside resort (created in 1860/1865), which houses only 4,500 inhabitants during the winter and sees its population grow very significantly during the summer with tourists (in fact, more than 70% of the houses are holiday homes), is obviously known throughout the world for its megaliths, which are currently being designated as a World Heritage site by UNESCO. This high place of European prehistory houses a megalithic site of nearly 3,000 menhirs (made of local granite) that date back between 4,500 and 2,000 BC, spread over 40 hectares and 4.5 km long. These alignments are divided into 3 “menhir fields”: the Kermario alignments; the Ménec alignments; the Kerlescan alignments.
In addition to its menhirs, Carnac, located at the back of the Bay of Quiberon, offers a central position and also 5 fine sand beaches sheltered from the wind, because each hamlet of Carnac has its own beach, including the one called the Grande Plage which is 1.5 km long (in the 17th century, this area was, however, a huge marsh). Among these, the small beach of Saint Colomban (a saint with Celtic origins) is recognized as a meeting place for windsurfing enthusiasts. It is also in this former fishing village, with its granite houses, that we find the oldest traces of dwellings in the area. The town is also home today to many oyster farms in the Anse du Pô (tours are organized in July and August by the Carnac Tourist Office) where you can taste and take away very good locally produced oysters and seafood.
My tips:
- The Carnac alignments are accessible for free visiting from October to the end of March; the rest of the time, you can only walk along the edge of the site, and it is accessible only through paid guided tours.
- Other megalithic sites are free to access all year round. This is the case for the dolmens of Mané Kerioned, Keriaval, and Kercado, or the Géant du Manio.
- Free shuttle service during the summer holidays: Carnavette and Carnoz.
- Also to be discovered: the Menec cromlech; the Kercado cairn; the Saint-Michel tumulus (which I will talk about below).
Carnac Tourist Office
74 Avenue des Druides 56340 Carnac
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Take a tuk-tuk ride
This small company offers a way to discover Carnac differently in a 100% electric tuk-tuk (ideal when the weather is capricious and rainy as it was for us), a fun and original means of transport. There are several circuits (menhirs and tumuli, tour of Carnac, tour of the oyster farms) that can last between 1 hour 30 minutes and the entire day depending on the request. It was also an opportunity for us to make our first contact with the city. During the ride, our driver also gave us a guided tour, telling us many anecdotes about the town and Brittany.
Tuk Tuk Carnac
Circuit rates: €50 for 1-4 people for 1h30 / €90 for 1-4 people for 2h30
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An unusual activity in Carnac? Take a retro photo
This photographer (Sébastien) has been offering to immerse you in the Belle Époque for 2 years by creating “1900s atmosphere” photos. On the program for this super original activity: costumes open in the back that are easy to put on to change eras and create an illusion. What’s really nice is that Sébastien guides you in choosing the costumes and accessories. And after the session in Sébastien’s photo studio, which is really super fun (we had a great time), you leave with your photo (in printed and digital version). It’s a very nice activity to do with family or friends, as we did.
Photo Rétro Carnac
35 Avenue de Port en Dro in Carnac Plage
Rates: 1 to 2 people €30 small format and €40 large format / 3 to 4 people €40 small format and €50 large format / and then each additional person +€5 small format and large format
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Take a Segway ride in Carnac
This company offers a way to discover Carnac on a Segway off the beaten track, through guided tours. I had already ridden a Segway in Madrid but also in Granville, so I am quite comfortable on this type of vehicle. However, if you have never done it before, be aware that there is a short adaptation time, and you will be entitled to a test/initiation session before the start of the ride. It is, in any case, a very nice way to discover the town, and our guide/escort was also an excellent guide who, once again, gave us lots of tourist information.
Segway ride with Mobilboard
9 allée du Parc 56340 Carnac
Rates: 1h ride, €30 per person / 1h30-2h ride, €40 to €50 per person
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Climb to the top of the Saint Michel tumulus
This tumulus with its imposing proportions (12 meters high and 125 meters long) was built around 4500 BC and discovered in the 19th century. It was probably the tomb of a king or a salt queen (a very important trade at that time) because a necklace of precious stones and polished axes were found there, signs of power. We find today at its summit a 16th-century chapel dedicated to Saint-Michel, which gives its name to the site. It is also the highest point of the town. Arriving at the top, you have an unobstructed view of the sea and the islands. You can also enjoy an orientation table that allows you to recognize the surrounding landscape: the Quiberon peninsula, Belle-Ile en Mer, the Rhuys peninsula.
Tumulus Saint Michel
56340 Carnac
Free and unlimited access to the site
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Where to eat a crepe in Carnac? La Bolée bleue
La Bolée bleue is a cool creperie in Carnac that opened in 2023. It offers crispy buckwheat crepes. I say “crepe” because in Lower Brittany they obviously say “buckwheat crepes,” while in Upper Brittany the word “galette” is used. You can either choose from the pre-composed signature crepes, or compose your own crepe according to your desires.
To taste: I absolutely recommend you try the one with the Breton sausage Porco Rosso (€12) which is delicious (and I weigh my words); in the sweet wheat crepe version, I recommend the Maya with a buckwheat base, Kasha, and buckwheat honey, which we really liked, and then obviously the simple one with lemon, which is often the one I choose personally; as for drinks, we drank a cider from the Pays d’Auray (a municipality north of Carnac) which was excellent at €14 a bottle.
La Bolée Bleue
58 avenue des druides 56340 Carnac
Open from February to the end of November
Price: buckwheat crepes between €8 and €15.50 / sweet wheat crepes between €3.50 and €10
The tip: lunch menu at €14 / child menu €10
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Where to eat oysters in Carnac? Chez Stephan Ostréiculteur
This oyster farmer offers oysters born at sea but also other shellfish and crustaceans. You can come on-site to taste them or to buy them directly from the producer. You can specifically taste flat Brittany oysters. I recommend them to you because they are truly delicious; I found them more subtle and with a slight nutty taste. This was a style of oyster that we had a lot in the past and which has somewhat disappeared today in favor of hollow oysters that appeared in France in the late 60s. Today, we find about 90% hollow oysters and only 10% flat oysters (because they are more fragile and reproduce in cooler water).
Furthermore, the best time to eat oysters is autumn and winter, starting in October. The address therefore offers retail sales and also tastings on-site (which is what we did). And for information, this oyster farmer located in the small port of Anse du Pô also offers oyster tours in the high season (registration at the Carnac Tourist Office).
Stephan Ostréiculteur
127 rue du Pô, 56340 Carnac
Open all year round
Rates: plates of no. 3 oysters (served with 1 glass of Muscadet, bread, butter, and lemon) between €10.90 and €13.90 for hollow (by 6, 9, or 12); between €11.90 and €14.90 for flat (by 6, 9, or 12)
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A brasserie in Carnac? Restaurant 18e Amendement
This cozy and friendly address offers brasserie cuisine made with fresh and local products. The decor is pleasant, and the service is very friendly.
To taste: for drinks, we tasted the Breton beer Coreff, a major Breton brewery; for the main course, we tasted the duo of Red Mullet with St Brieuc scallops and artichokes glazed with orange (€31); we also tested the sashimi-style seared swordfish with a variation of asparagus (€28); for dessert, I recommend you try the Execution à la bretonne, a far breton fried with homemade salted butter caramel with a scoop of salted butter ice cream (€9).
Restaurant 18e Amendement
9 allée du Parc 56340 Carnac
Price: bottled beers between €6 and €8 / Thomas Shelby menu with starter + main course + dessert €39 / child menu €12 / main courses between €17 and €31
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Where to sleep in Carnac? Hôtel édénia
The Hôtel Edénia is located opposite the main beach of Carnac. It changed owners in 2021 and reopened after a few months of renovations under a new identity. It offers rooms with sea views, and we were in one of these rooms, with a small balcony. The hotel’s spa, freely accessible to hotel guests, is composed of 4 treatment rooms, a hammam, a Scottish shower and a sensory shower, a sauna, and a jacuzzi.
Hôtel Edénia
12 boulevard de la Plage 56340 Carnac
Rates: from €89 for a double room in low season
Arzon in the Gulf of Morbihan
The municipality of Arzon is located in the Gulf of Morbihan on the Rhuys peninsula and forms a bottleneck at Port-Navalo where the gulf fills and empties to the rhythm of the tides. This territory contains 42 islands located in the middle of the gulf, plus a Regional Natural Park. Due to its geographical location, Arzon offers two coastlines (an oceanic side with fine sand beaches and a gulf side with creeks). Don’t miss Port-Navalo, which sports a retro look with its Belle Epoque villas, while Port Crouesty concentrates contemporary nautical activity.
Gulf of Morbihan Tourist Office
Crouesty roundabout 56640 Arzon
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Take a boat trip on an old rig
We had a great experience on the “Krog E Barz”, a 22-meter-long old rig (a former fishing boat turned into a pleasure sailboat). We boarded with Alan and his sailor for a boat trip rich in emotions. We were able to set sail, take the helm, and also get quite rinsed by a “good drizzle,” as the captain told us (and luckily we had been equipped beforehand with good, very effective Breton yellow oilskins for this type of weather). This capricious weather finally earned us an indelible memory of this good rain at sea, which made us laugh and added a bit of spice to this outing!
We, for our part, did the late afternoon outing with a small appetizer offered on board during the ride. This type of trip offers a beautiful journey through time, and it is also a tribute to the ancestral know-how of marine carpenters. In short, it’s an experience that I really recommend if you are passing through Arzon; we loved it!
Krog E Barz
Evening cruise in the Gulf of Morbihan (from 5:30 PM to 8:00 PM): €38 adult rate in low season / €28 for under 12s / €43 and €38 in high season
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Hiking the Petit Mont Circuit
From our hotel (see below), we set off on foot to take a small walk: the Petit Mont circuit. This easy and family-friendly walk allows for beautiful viewpoints of the Bay of Quiberon and its islands (Belle-Île-en-Mer, Houat, and Hoëdic). Three marked trails allow you to discover this sensitive natural site. One of them also allows you to pass by the megalithic site of the Cairn Petit Mont (which can be visited; unfortunately, we were not able to visit the interior due to lack of time – rate €7 / free for under 10s). This 6,000-year-old site is preserved in a pristine environment, and if you don’t have time to visit it as we did, you can still walk around the outside to admire its architecture.
Petit Mont Circuit
Duration: 1h/1h30
Difficulty level: easy
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Where to eat in Arzon, Port-Navalo? Le P’tit Zeph
This restaurant ideally located facing the port of Arzon, Port-Navalo, offers fresh products, prepared on-site and depending on the arrivals. One of the house specialties is blue lobster (from €17 per 100g), which comes directly from the establishment’s nursery. We unfortunately couldn’t test it because it remains very expensive. But we enjoyed what we chose. A very good address to eat with an unobstructed view of the port, by the way.
We tasted: smoked haddock shirashi (€14); sautéed scallops with pink shrimp, melting vegetables, fresh tagliatelle, and Satay sauce (€26); pan-seared cod fillet, creamy risotto with oyster mushrooms and chorizo with shellfish cream (€24); for dessert, don’t miss the house specialty if you like it, the Grand Marnier soufflé, which must be ordered at the beginning of the meal (€16).
Restaurant Le P’tit Zeph
1 rue du Phare 56640 Arzon
Price: wine by the glass between €6 and €8.50 / starter between €13 and €14 / main courses between €24 and €26 / desserts between €12 and €16 / seafood platter €60 / seafood plate €35
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Where to eat in Arzon, Port du Crouesty? Le Cargo
This restaurant benefits from a nice elevated view of the Port du Crouesty. An address that is nice for its location, its view, and also for its relaxed atmosphere. However, on the food side, I admit that we weren’t really thrilled by what we ate with the favorite photographer.
We tasted: “Equinoxe” oysters (€9); Thai curry with shrimp, coconut soup with vegetables and rice (€18.90); Pollock fillet with carrot mousseline and tartufata risotto (€18.90); for dessert, a far breton with salted butter caramel (€7.90).
Le Cargo Arzon
Capitainerie Port Crouesty, Arzon
Price: starters €9 / salads €16.90 / fish between €17.90 and €25.90 / meat between €17.90 and €20.90 / dessert between €7.90 and €9.50 / Cargo menu with starter + main course + dessert €31.90
The tip: lunch formula main course + drink €15.90 / main course + dessert + drink €18.90
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Where to stay in Arzon? Le Miramar La Cigale Hôtel & Spa
This 5-star hotel with the look of a cruise ship is installed behind the marina and facing the Fogeo beach. A ship set on the edge of the ocean with its decks, walkways, cabins overlooking the sea, ocean liner funnels worthy of the era of the most beautiful transatlantic crossings. The building dates from 1989 but was completely refurbished in 2015. It currently belongs to the Emir of Qatar. Inside the building, we find decor that recalls the bottom of the ocean, an atmosphere desired by the building’s architect, Diener.
The hotel offers 113 luxurious rooms, including several suites of 50 or 80 m2 with, for those located at the bow of the ship, an unobstructed view of the ocean. The establishment’s rooms are spacious, and they all have a private balcony or terrace with a view of the lake or the sea (there are 5 room categories and 4 suite categories, views of the ocean, the lake, the peninsula…). The bedding is impeccable, as always in establishments of this standing, and the rooms are extremely quiet, which is very relaxing.
The hotel’s thalasso & spa
This temple of well-being is a thalassotherapy hotel, and it offers for its guests (but the thalasso part is also open to outside people) an aquatic course composed of 7 stages: swan neck, bubble loungers, massage jets… As we were staying at the hotel, we had the opportunity to test the hotel’s different thalasso spaces, and they are truly quality!
The thalasso offers 3 relaxation areas that are at different locations in the building: a marine course dedicated to relaxation (walking corridor, bubble pool, sensory shower, hammam, sauna, geyser…); an oceanic spa; a panoramic pool. In addition to this, the hotel includes 47 treatment rooms with a wide range of treatments and massages.
Le Miramar La Cigale Hôtel & Spa
Port Crouesty, Arzon
Room rates: from €221 for one night (with early booking)
Spa rates: “aperitif & spa” formula every Friday evening by reservation €44 with access to the marine course from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM + 1 drink and an appetizer board
The tip: hotel guests have free access to the panoramic pool and the fitness room
Damgan in the Gulf of Morbihan
Integrated into the Regional Natural Park of the Gulf of Morbihan, Damgan is located halfway between the Rhuys peninsula and the Guérande peninsula. This charming resort offers a large beach with a strip of sand nearly 4 km long. If you want a small beach more intimate and sheltered from the wind, I recommend the Kervoyal beach. To the west of Damgan, also don’t miss the small port of Pénerf where the famous Pénerf oysters are raised (this oyster is one of the twelve Great Crus of Brittany).
My gourmet advice: visit the market on Saturday morning in Damgan (present all year round) to buy some local products; a local specialty to taste, the Chocobreizh at the Fred & Nathalie bakery; the Tourist Office offers a small shop with a selection of Breton and local products (to bring back: “summer sailor” honey from Gwenan Mor Braz).
Damgan La Roche Bernard Tourist Office
Alexandre Tiffoche Square 56750 Damgan
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Take a linocut introduction workshop at Rêves de Bernique
This pretty decor shop contains some treasures, because the couple who runs it brings back handcrafted items that they fell in love with from their different trips, and they also work with some local artisans. In addition to this, we discovered an activity on-site that is very unusual: linocut. The address has indeed been offering introductory linocut workshops for 15 years, a relief printing technique where you start from a drawing that you will transfer onto a lino plate, then you will remove material so that the drawing appears in relief, before inking it and then printing it onto a sheet. The workshop proceeds from the creation of the drawing to the engraving on the lino, and you then leave with your printed work (possibility to make between 2 and 5 proofs per workshop).
Rêves de Bernique
2, rue Kerybel Port de, 56750 Damgan
Engraving initiation workshop rates: €65 (5 people max per workshop)
Average duration: 3h
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Take a nature outing to the foreshore with Mélanie
Mélanie Chouan offers fascinating thematic tours. She is a passionate and fascinating nature guide. We notably discovered with her the algae, shellfish, and edible shore plants during an outing on the foreshore, at the Pointe du Dibenn, near the Pénerf river. During the guided walk, Mélanie also gives tips for using the plants. We notably tasted the “sea chips” on the spot, a plant found in salt meadows, glasswort (which is harvested in June), rock samphire that grows on cliffs, or even pepper dulse algae of red to brown color. The outing ends with a tasting of algae tartare (or other plant-based culinary preparations) which is included in the service.
Nature outing with Mélanie
Duration of the walk: 2h
Rates: €10 per person / €6 for children
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Where to have lunch in Damgan? Le Bistrot de la Mer
This restaurant is a family and women’s business, since it has been run by 3 sisters (Fanny, Julie, and Aurélie, who welcomed us) and their mother since 2004. The establishment also has a very pretty garden with flowers that are all edible and used in the dishes served at the restaurant to scent the iodized cuisine of the address. Chef Nicolas Maurice offers cuisine with Breton inspiration and some Japanese influences. Organic products, local fish, and shellfish are in the spotlight. Aurélie also carefully selects her wine list. We actually discovered a local drink there, Cidre le Royal Guillevic (€6.50 a glass), which is made with only one variety of apple: the Guillevic. Finally, to complete this moment, the welcome is extremely pleasant and done in accordance with the rules of the art. An address where you can go with your eyes closed.
We tasted: the organic panko egg with a cream of organic Tomme de Muzillac with bacon chips; gratinated oysters with a leek fondue and a Kari Gosse sabayon; the catch of the day; the mussel pots.
Le Bistrot de la Mer
17 Rue du Port, 56750 Damgan
Price: menu “walk to Pénerf” main course + dessert €32 / starter + main course €34 / starter + main course + dessert €42
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Where to eat a crepe in Damgan? Le Café Pêcheur
This address located in Pénerf belongs to Sonia and François. It offers cuisine made with seafood and local products, and it is also a creperie. Personally, I preferred to take the opportunity to have a small plate of seafood (my little treat when I am by the sea), and I really enjoyed it (small plate of seafood €18.90 and large €35 – only in season and depending on availability).
Le Café Pêcheur
26 Rue du Port, 56750 Damgan
Price: buckwheat crepes between €9.90 and €15.80 / menu with starter + main course + dessert €32 – starter + main course €28 – main course + dessert €26.50
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Where to stay in Damgan? Hôtel de la Plage
This 3-star hotel is ideally located facing the sea with 17 sea-view rooms that are quite nice. We were in number 17, which is spacious and has a small balcony. The address also offers a relaxation area with a spa, a treatment cabin, and a sauna, but we unfortunately didn’t have much time to take advantage of it.
Hôtel de la Plage
38 boulevard de l’Océan 56750 Damgan
Rates: room from €85 per night / room with balcony from €115 per night
Pénestin
The Pénestin resort is located in the south of Morbihan and on the border with the Loire Atlantique department. Famous for its “Gold Mine” (see below), Pénestin is also known for its bouchot mussel farming (black poles covered in these mollusks). It is indeed the capital of the bouchot mussel in South Brittany and has been classified as a “Remarkable Site of Taste”.
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Go see the Mine d’Or Beach
The resort is very famous for the cliffs of the Mine d’Or beach, whose shimmering colors make it a unique classified geological site in Europe. Don’t hesitate to go for a walk on the long 2 km beach to admire the ocher-gradient cliffs that dominate the sea.
Mine d’Or Beach
Pénestin
Free and unlimited access
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Breizh Coquillages
This family business of producer/shellfish farmers (working in shellfish farming), which has existed for 3 generations, has been installed for 2 years at the Pointe du Bile in Pénestin in a 1920s building. It employs 5 people year-round, and it positions itself in a desire to transmit know-how inherited from previous generations. Breizh Coquillages is installed on a privileged site (near an estuary) which is ideal because fresh water is needed to set up a crustacean farm. This allows it to produce ultra-fresh, quality shellfish in small quantities. For example, the mussels are raised from start to finish in Pénestin (which is quite rare) because it takes a minimum of 1 year for a mussel to reach “market size.” The harvest takes place from July to October/November, and their products are marketed throughout France.
On this site, the Bernard family and Renald, who received us, offer several types of activities: the production of bouchot mussels (i.e., on wooden poles), hollow oysters, and clams; retail sales of their products (crustaceans but also mussel rillettes and also homemade mussel soups), the sale of other seafood products from short and local channels (shrimp, crustaceans, fish, scallops…) as well as local Breton products; discovery with tastings and a small food offering in the spirit of a family guinguette; tours for the public (school, association, company…).
Breizh Coquillages
La Pointe du Bile 56 760 Pénestin
Quick tasting prices: plate of 6 hollow oysters €8 / plate of 8 pink shrimp €5 / plate of 8 whelks €5 / plate of 6 langoustines €10 / small board of rillettes €7 / glass of Rhuys cider €3 and €7 the bottle / choice of local beers between €3.50 and €7.50.
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Thanks to Sensation Bretagne, the various resorts, and Laurent from the AirPur agency for organizing this great stay to discover the resorts of South Brittany.
I hope that with all this I will have made you want to visit Brittany, and if you too have your favorite addresses and tips for this destination, do not hesitate to share them in the comments below!
Photo credits: Nicolas Diolez Photos are not royalty-free, photographer's authorization mandatory before any use
