The Breton wilderness

When people talk about wilderness courses, they normally mean a trek through some sparsely populated area—often a remote forest or mountain ridge. Or maybe a rafting expedition down a wild river. Many people are surprised to learn that our European neighborhood boasts some impressive under-the-radar wildernesses, many of them along the Breton coastline. Our crew members get the opportunity to see and explore some of them. Take a look at this short drone video of Cap Sizun, produced by Breton photographer and videographer Thibault Poriel (www.thibaultporiel.com):

Cap Sizun is in the département of Finistère, near the western tip of the Breton Peninsula (Finistère means “Land’s End”). Like many national parks around the world, its natural beauty is spectacular. And one of the best ways to see it is… by boat.

©Thibault Poriel. The use of this video on our blog in no way implies an endorsement of QBE Sailing by the copyright owner. It serves only to illustrate the striking beauty of stretches of the Breton coast.

The best-known tourist destinations in Brittany

(Courtesy of Tourisme Bretagne) Here is a map showing the various tourist destinations that were included in a recent Brittany Tourism study and the percentage of respondents who indicated familiarity with them:

Study coordinator: Julie Leveau

Tourisme Bretagne conducted a survey in June 2021 to assess the reputations of 64 popular Breton tourist destinations/attractions. This survey was intended to give the destinations a better idea of their name recognition among French holidaymakers and to see how various options on the peninsula rank against each other in visibility.

Fifteen iconic sites, 22 towns, and 27 inland municipalities were assessed by 4,800 French “panelists” (including 1,000 Bretons) in order to measure their “familiarity quotient” within France.

It’s not surprising that he highest notoriety had been achieved by large cities served by main roads and autoroutes as well as by some popular coastal vacation spots. If you’re going to be visiting our neck of the woods, you might want to look up some of the places mentioned to see which ones you might want to discover.

St-Malo is highlighted in deep purple, meaning just about everybody in France has heard of it. So are Quimper and Rennes. We were a bit surprised that Carnac, with all its imposing megalithic stones (France’s Stonehenge), wasn’t a deeper shade of purple. We can’t tell how purple Brocéliande is (see our blog post from last week), because it’s obscured by the orange Fôret de Paimpont.

St-Malo voted the most beautiful town in Brittany!

The headline reads, “What are the most beautiful towns in Brittany? Saint-Malo sits atop the list!” Congratulations! Or, as the French would say, «chapeau !»