The many islands off the coast of Brittany have some features in common: “undulant” green interiors, dramatic sea cliffs, and so on. But each also has its own distinct character, says Sean Thomas in The Telegraph, making an “island-hopping road trip” here a “multifarious” pleasure.
In summer, the climate along Brittany’s southern shore is “reliably good”, and the journeys between the islands are easy enough – none are far from the coast, and ferries are “plentiful”. To begin your adventure, you could take the ferry from Portsmouth to Saint-Malo, or fly to Rennes, Brest or Nantes, then hire a car if you haven’t brought one, and head to the Gulf of Morbihan.
This verdant bay in Brittany’s far southeast shelters 40-odd islands that are known for their neolithic monuments. Most remarkable is the cairn-tomb of Gavrinis, one of Europe’s great repositories of megalithic art, its interior replete with swirling patterns carved into the rock some 6,000 years ago.
From there it’s a “shortish hop” to the “engaging” port of Quiberon, from which ferries leave for Belle Île, whose only town, Le Palais, is “best described as posh Paris, sur la mer”. As well as “sunny cafés, shuttered lanes and boisterous cider houses” it has a “glorious” church, Saint-Géran, the interior of which was rebuilt between 1903 and 1940 in riotously colourful style. Beyond the town, the island is a “Blyton-esque idyll” of wild granite sea stacks and trilling skylarks.
Where Belle Île is “winsome, idyllic and trendy”, Ouessant (or Ushant, in English) is “burly, windswept and Wagnerian”. The island marks the westernmost point of metropolitan France, and offers little to do beyond breezing about on an e-bike, visiting “empty beaches and eccentric cairns”.
You might also visit Bréhat, the Glénan Islands, and Île de Batz, each of which has its own charms – but do not miss the Île de Sein. A tiny island that was home – at least in legend – to a tribe of druid priestesses, it has a “uniquely moody, spiritual ambience”, and some cafés that do great kouign-amann, or Breton butter cake.