Avandra Field Guide · Brittany, France
The Emerald Coast: A Long Weekend from Saint-Malo
4
nights
151
km driving
5
challenges
1,200
XP to earn
4
nights
151
km driving
5
challenges
1,200
XP to earn
Four nights in a loop from Saint-Malo and back along the Emerald Coast. The first two cover Saint-Malo itself: the granite ramparts round the walled city, the tidal islets of the Grand Bé and Fort National, and oysters at Cancale on the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel. The second two take in Dinan, 75m above the Rance, and the Belle Époque villas of Dinard. They finish on the cliffs of Cap Fréhel, where seabirds nest in spring, and at Fort la Latte, where Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis fought the last duel of The Vikings.
Starts and finishes at the ferry in Saint-Malo
Best from April to August
151 km of driving in total, about 3 hours over 4 days
Cancale: Oysters by the Port de la Houle and the Pointe du Grouin
Edited by Avandra
Days 1–2 · 2 nights
Saint-Malo and Cancale
6 km · 10 min from Saint-Malo
Base camp · 2 nights
Sandaya Camping Le P'tit Bois – 5-Star Campsite
4.4
1,787 Google reviews
Editor's note
Two nights at Saint-Malo. Walk the 1.8km of granite ramparts round the old walled city, then read up on the corsairs Surcouf and Duguay-Trouin in the castle's Musée d'Histoire. Check the tide table: at low water you can cross to the Grand Bé, where Chateaubriand is buried, and on to Fort National, the 17th-century fort on the next islet. Cancale, at the western end of the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel, is known for wild flat oysters from deep-water beds and for cupped oysters farmed since around 1950. Eat a plate by the Port de la Houle, look out over the oyster beds and walk to the Pointe du Grouin.
Saint-Malo: The Corsairs' Ramparts and the Grand Bé
300 XPWalk the whole 1,754 m circuit of the ramparts, counting the nine gates you pass over, and look inwards as you go: the walls came through the American bombardment of August 1944 almost untouched, and the town inside them was rebuilt afterwards in an old style but not stone for stone, so almost everything below you is younger than the wall you are standing on
5.2 km from camp
About 5 h
Cancale: Oysters by the Port de la Houle and the Pointe du Grouin
200 XPAt the stalls on the Port de la Houle, buy a dozen flat oysters and a dozen cupped ones and eat them side by side on the slipway: the flat ones are the oysters that won Cancale its town charter from François I in 1545, when the aldermen of Paris had them delivered twice a week, and the biggest wild ones were known as pieds de cheval, horses' hooves
11.7 km from camp
About 4 h
Walks from camp
Days 3–4 · 2 nights
Dinan, Dinard and Cap Fréhel
132 km · 2 h 36 min from Saint-Malo and Cancale
Base camp · 2 nights
Camping Port Blanc
4.3
1,931 Google reviews
Editor's note
Two nights for Dinan, Dinard and Cap Fréhel, the last before the crossing home. Dinan's rampart walk is still intact for 2,600m; walk the cobbled Rue du Jerzual and find the cenotaph of Du Guesclin's heart in Saint-Sauveur. In Dinard, follow the 1930s Promenade du Clair de Lune and walk round the Pointe du Moulinet, where the British colony began. At Cap Fréhel, walk out to the 33m lighthouse, first lit in 1950; in spring, guillemots, razorbills, fulmars and kittiwakes are on the ledges below. Follow the GR 34 along the cliffs to Fort la Latte, cross its drawbridges and climb the keep of 1365–1370.
Dinan: The Ramparts, the Rue du Jerzual and the Heart of Du Guesclin
250 XPWalk the 2,600 m of rampart walk round the old town and name the nine towers as you pass them — Beaumanoir, Vaucouleurs, Saint-Julien, Beaufort, du Connétable, de Coëtquen, Penthièvre, Longue and Sainte-Catherine — and find all five gates, including the Porte Saint-Louis cut through in 1620
20.4 km from camp
About 3 h
Dinard: The Promenade du Clair de Lune and the Belle Époque Villas
200 XPWalk the Promenade du Clair de Lune from the Plage du Prieuré to the landing stage at the Bec de la Vallée, and stop at the cut faces along it to find the banded Saint-Malo migmatites — rock caught halfway between the gneiss it started as and the granite it was melting into
2 km from camp
About 3 h
Cap Fréhel and Fort la Latte: Seabird Cliffs and the Castle from The Vikings
250 XPClimb the 145 steps of the Cap Fréhel lighthouse, inaugurated in 1950 and 32 m tall on a cliff that puts its lantern 103 m above the sea, and on a clear evening work out how far you can see — the light carries over 100 km. At its foot find the granite tower it replaced, built in 1701 by Vauban's pupil Garangeau
18.5 km from camp
About 3.5 h
Spring and summer only
Walks from camp
Finish the guide, earn 1,200 XP
5 challenges across 2 stops.
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