The Gulf of Morbihan: Brittany’s Best-Kept Secret

It’s one of the world’s most beautiful bays yet few people outside France have heard of the Gulf of Morbihan in Brittany. This vast natural harbour is dotted with tiny islands and has a ragged coastline of glorious sandy beaches, fishing harbours and oyster farms. There are walled medieval towns to explore, with colourful timber-framed houses and restaurants whose tables spill onto the market squares. There are castles that look as if they belong in a fairy tale and thousands of megalithic stones older than the ones at Stonehenge.

The Gulf of Morbihan feels like an insider secret to everyone except the French. Those in the know have been coming here for years – for the fresh seafood, those amazing beaches, the unspoilt villages and the chance to go island hopping by boat. This part of the Breton Riviera is like a low-key version of the Côte d’Azur – and it’s just fabulous.

Here are all the reasons why the Gulf of Morbihan is such a special place and a guide to the best things to see and do while you’re there.

Where is the Gulf of Morbihan?

The Gulf of Morbihan is on the southern coast of Brittany in Northern France, about 287 miles south west of Paris and over a hundred miles from the northern coast of Brittany. Morbihan means ‘little sea’ in Breton and the Gulf of Morbihan is a large natural harbour like an inland sea. It’s 12 miles long and nine miles wide, and was once home to hundreds of islands. Local legend claimed that there was an island for every day of the year. Now, with higher sea levels, there are closer to 40.

Visit the Île-aux-Moines

Exploring some of the Gulf of Morbihan’s many islands is an absolute must and the gulf’s largest island is a good place to start as it’s only a five-minute ferry ride from the mainland at Port Blanc.

The island is known as the monks’ island because, in the middle ages, it belonged to Brittany’s most important abbey. It’s a lovely place to spend a couple of hours. There are cycling and walking trails all over the island and a charming village with 17th and 18th-century houses, a pâtisserie and a few restaurants.

Hire a bike or walk along the pretty coastal path to discover the island’s small bays and beaches. There’s a little beach near the harbour but the best beach is a pleasant 45-minute walk around the west coast. And don’t miss the chance to wander in one of the evocatively named woods. Choose between the Wood of Love, the Wood of Sighs and the Wood of Regrets.

Wander around the streets of Vannes

Normandy and Brittany have more than their fair share of charming medieval towns and Vannes, the capital of the Morbihan region, is no exception. The narrow streets and squares of the historic town centre are lined with brightly coloured half-timbered houses. Small cafés and restaurants have tables set up on the cobbled streets and the stalls at the twice-weekly market sell cheeses, salamis, fresh fruit and vegetables and seafood on a square where jousting tournaments were once held.

When you’ve explored the traffic-free streets of the centre, walk over to the thick city walls enclosing the oldest part of the town. Two thirds of the Gallo-Roman walls are still in place around the city and the walls are interspersed with pointed towers and gateways that make Vannes look like the location for a film set or fairy tale.

The main gateway into the city is called Porte Prison. It dates back to the 13th century and is so called because criminals used to be imprisoned here. The executioners lived in nearby Porte St-Jean.

Visit the Standing Stones at Carnac

The standing stones at Carnac are a collection of thousands of granite menhirs arranged in rows. It’s the most important prehistoric site in Europe. There are around 3,000 stones here, all older than the Pyramids, Knossos and Stonehenge.

According to legend, the stones, some of which are up to four metres high, are Roman soldiers that were turned to stone by Pope Cornelius. But the reality is that historians still don’t know what they are and why they were put here 6,000 years ago.

The alignments at Carnac are fenced off but can be easily seen as you walk around the outskirts of the field. You can walk among the stones on a guided tour and this is well worth doing as you’ll get up close to the stones, with only the sheep for company.

Visit the standing stones at Carnac from the Maison des Mégalithes which also shows a film about the stones in English. The Maison des Mégalithes is open every day from 9.30am until 6pm. From 1st October until 31st March, it is open from 10am until 1pm and from 2pm until 5pm. Adults, €9; children, €7; under 7s, free.

Sail to the island of Houat

It’s worth venturing further afield to find the best islands in the Gulf of Morbihan. Houat is the kind of place where you go to escape from modern life. There are no cars and just one village and you arrive at the little fishing harbour of Port-St-Gildas by boat.  But Houat is famous for its incredible beaches.

The beaches of Houat are some of the best we’ve ever seen – anywhere in the word. There are vast stretches of soft white sand as far as the eye can see and the water is a turquoise blue more often associated with the Caribbean than Northern France.

Houat is just three miles long and half a mile wide so it’s easily explored on foot. A costal path leads around the island and up to the village, with pretty whitewashed houses and a couple of restaurants. We recommend Chez Loulou where you can eat fantastic fish soup and galettes (savoury pancakes) overlooking the sea.

You can get to Houat by ferry from Quiberon in 40 minutes. There are daily boat trips to the island in the summer from Vannes, Port Navalo and La Trinité. You can also sail there (see below).

Explore the Château de Suscinio

We were determined to visit this French château from the moment we first saw pictures of the fairytale castle surrounded by a moat, with a drawbridge, round towers and turrets.

The Château de Suscinio is on the Rhuys Peninsula, on the east side of the Gulf of Morbihan. It was built in the 13th century as a hunting lodge for the Dukes of Brittany, and later became their main residence. It was a haven for the young Henry Tudor (later to become King Henry VII), who lived here for 12 years when he was in exile from England during the Wars of the Roses.

The castle is fun to explore, especially with children, who will love all the stone spiral staircases, narrow passageways and watchtowers. There’s an exciting interactive light display telling the legends of King Arthur in one of the towers and school holiday activities include learning to shoot with a bow and arrow.

The Château de Suscinio is open every day from 10am until 7pm, until 8pm in July and August, and until 5pm or 6pm in the winter months. Adults, €9.80; children, €4.90; under 10s, free.

Discover the harbours

There are harbours all over the Gulf of Morbihan, from large marinas filled with the latest racing yachts to tiny fishing harbours. The harbour at La Trinité-sur-Mer is famous for being home to one of the oldest sailing clubs in France -regattas take place here six months a year.

We especially loved the pretty little harbour of St-Goustan in the medieval town of Auray. Fifteenth-century timber-framed houses line the riverbank and a few good restaurants overlook the cobbled square. It’s such a wonderfully atmospheric place in the evening that we ate here every night of our stay.

It has an interesting history too. St-Goustan is where Benjamin Franklin landed in France in 1776, on his way to ask King Louis XVI for help in the American War of Independence.

Sail around the gulf

Brittany is one of the best places in the world for sailing and the Gulf of Morbihan begs to be explored by boat. You can get ferries to the various islands but it’s even more fun on a yacht. We sailed to the island of Houat on a heritage sailing boat, the Krog e Barz, a copy of a lobster fishing boat from 1910

On the two-and-a-half-hour journey we helped to put up the three sails and steer the helm with the assistance of the captain and his mate. We had a three-and-a-half-hour stop on the island before we sailed home.

A day at sea on the Krog e Barz costs from €60 per adult and from €50 per child.

Drive to the Presqu’île de Quiberon

It’s quite a thrill driving to this peninsula on the west side of the Gulf of Morbihan because it’s linked to the mainland by a sandbank so narrow that at one point you can see the sea on both sides.

The Presqu’île de Quiberon is nine miles long and you’ve got the choice between the safe sandy beaches of the east coast or the rugged coastline of the west. At the peninsula’s tip you’ll find the coastal resort of Quiberon, which was once home to France’s main sardine port. There are still over 200 fishing boats in the town’s harbour and you can get ferries from here to some of the islands in the gulf.

Don’t miss the pretty village of Rochefort-en-Terre

It may not be strictly in the Gulf of Morbihan but Rochefort-en-Terre is only a 40-minute drive from Vannes and you really shouldn’t miss the opportunity to discover the place that was voted one of the most beautiful villages in France.

There are flowers everywhere in this medieval village – the tradition of planting colourful flowers in the village was started by an American who lived in the castle at the beginning of the 20th century.

The cobbled streets of Rochefort-en-Terre are lined with half-timbered buildings, many of which house quirky shops selling crafts, wooden toys, handmade candles and giant slabs of nougat.

Where to stay in the Gulf of Morbihan

Chambres d’hôtes, the French equivalent of a guest home or bed and breakfast, are a good way of meeting locals while staying in a comfortable environment for a reasonable price.

Our chambre d’hôte, at Ar Couette, was ideal for our family. Our bungalow in the large garden had two bedrooms and a bathroom and the boys were delighted to discover the small indoor swimming pool in the grounds. A breakfast of croissants, baguettes, cake, cheese, strawberries and homemade jam was served in the family kitchen.

How to get to the Gulf of Morbihan

Brittany Ferries runs regular crossings across the English Channel from Portsmouth to St-Malo. An overnight ferry takes just under 11 hours, arriving in St-Malo early in the morning. The daytime ferry takes eight hours. The city of Vannes in the Gulf of Morbihan is 111 miles south of St-Malo.

To find out more about visiting Brittany, take a look at the excellent guides on the Brittany Tourism website.

Disclosure: We visited the Gulf of Morbihan on a press trip and our stay was courtesy of Brittany Tourism in exchange for coverage on my blog and social media. All opinions are, of course, entirely my own.