Brocéliande and the Gulf of Morbihan from Saint-Malo

Editor's note

One night at Dinan, 75m above the Rance. The rampart walk is intact for 2,600m and passes through the gates of the Jerzual, Saint-Malo, Brest and Le Guichet. In 1357 Bertrand Du Guesclin and his brother Olivier held the town against an English siege, and the cenotaph of his heart is in the basilica of Saint-Sauveur. The 15th-century Tour de l'Horloge rises 45m over the centre, and half-timbered houses line the cobbled Rue du Jerzual.

Editor's note

One night in the Forêt de Paimpont, Arthurian Brocéliande since the 12th century. Its legendary sites can all be reached on foot or by car from Paimpont village. At the Fontaine de Barenton, pour water from the spring on the flat stone called the Perron de Merlin; the 12th-century romances say it summons a storm. The Tombeau de Merlin, a prehistoric monument, stands on the forest path near the fountain and still receives offerings. Walk the 4km Val sans Retour from Folle Pensée, where Morgan le Fay imprisoned unfaithful knights, and visit the Arthurian centre at the Château de Comper beside its lake.

Editor's note

Two nights on the Gulf of Morbihan, an inland sea scattered with islands. The Séné marshes draw more than 220 bird species a year: take the free trail to the hide, or the paying trails with four more hides. The ten-minute boat from Larmor-Baden reaches Gavrinis, whose passage grave has 23 carved slabs. Visit the dukes' hunting castle at Suscinio, down to the duke's steam baths, and walk the ramparts of Vannes. At the Île-aux-Pies, hire a canoe and paddle the Oust below 35–40m granite walls, then walk up through Rochefort-en-Terre to the manor the painter Alfred Klots built from the castle ruins.

Editor's note

Two nights at Carnac and on the Quiberon peninsula. Start at the western cromlech of the Ménec alignment and follow its 11 converging rows east, then save the 1,029 stones of Kermario for dusk. At Locmariaquer, the Grand Menhir Brisé, some 300 tonnes and now in four pieces, is the largest megalith in Europe; go into the chamber of the Table des Marchands. Quiberon was once an island: its sandy tombolo narrows to 22m at Penthièvre, the Côte Sauvage cliffs face the Atlantic, and the Grande Plage looks onto sheltered water. On 26 July, 20,000 to 30,000 pilgrims come to Sainte-Anne-d'Auray for the grand pardon.

Editor's note

One night at Josselin. The castle stands on a rock above the Oust, whose canalised course is part of the Nantes–Brest canal. Olivier de Clisson made it the best-armed fortress in Brittany in the 14th century; Richelieu had the keep and three towers pulled down in 1629 but spared the Renaissance residence built from 1490 to 1505. Visit it, then go into the basilica of Notre-Dame-du-Roncier, where a fresco recalls the Combat des Trente of 1351. The 15m Colonne des Trente marks the site of the fight, halfway to Ploërmel. Walk the towpath below the castle.

Editor's note

One night by Hédé, Bécherel and Rennes, the last before the crossing home. At Hédé the Ille-et-Rance canal climbs 27m in 2km through eleven locks; walk the towpath past them all and visit the Maison du Canal in a lock-keeper's house. Bécherel became the first book town in France in 1989, with bookshops in its old weavers' houses, and the 40-hectare park of the Château de Caradeuc is beside it. In Rennes, see the Parliament of Brittany, walk through the Portes Mordelaises into the half-timbered old town and, on a Saturday morning, shop at the Marché des Lices.