Cycle Touring in Brittany, France

Here are a few little nuggets of information that may be of use to anyone considering a cycle touring trip in the Brittany area of northwest France. If you flick back thought the last month of this blog (any post from August 2020), you'll be able to get more specific information about our journey as we traveled some 700km around the region, but hopefully, this short article will help anyone planning a similar expedition with some of the logistics.

Terrain:

Brittany is a very bike-friendly area of the world, with cycle lanes connecting most towns and villages, either with a marked area on the roadside or more often a dedicated cycle lane away from the traffic.  The 'Greenways' that this area is famous for, are traffic-free cycling roads. Generally, they follow old railway lines or canal and river towpaths (Chemin du Haulage) that are wide enough to ride side by side, unlike a lot of towpaths in the UK.

The surfaces are mostly compacted sand and gravel, (but some are tarmaced), so allow for a slightly slower average pace when riding on the greenways, compared to super smooth, fast road tarmac. Given the features that they follow, they are generally flat, with very little in the way of inclines. Around the coastal areas, the geography dictates that you'll find more ups and downs as you travel between headlands, beaches and bays on quiet roads.

Weather:

We traveled in August and if anything, the weather was too hot at times, causing us to adapt our days to setting off early in the cool of the morning and sheltering in the shade of the afternoon. We experienced some rain, but usually in the afternoon or evenings, so it was usually unnecessary to ride in the wet. Maybe we were just lucky? Temperatures, which were generally in the mid to high twenties, meant that things soon dried up after a storm or shower.

Accommodation:

We mostly camped, which is by far the cheapest and easiest option. On average, two people and a tent cost about 12 Euros for the night. The cheapest campgrounds are called 'Municipal Camping' and could be as cheap as 8.40 Euros for two people, bikes and tent, including the obligatory tourist tax. These all had water, hot showers, toilets, the option of an electric hook-up and often a small shop - or a means of ordering bread for the next day. Private campsites, usually had bigger facilities, laundrettes, swimming pools, a bar, cafe etc and charged slightly more. The most expensive night we had under canvas was 18 Euros. The main advantage of camping (apart from being cheap) was that nothing was booked in advance, so we could decide where to stay based on how tired we were on a given day. Twice, we came across a campsite that was fully booked (coastal campsites, right by a beach), but these were in popular areas, so had other campsites nearby with space.

Hotels were far more expensive and harder to come by than in the UK. We stayed in a few, to either dodge bad weather or because we just fancied a night indoors. We used a few different search and booking websites, as no one site seemed to have many options, but there are tourist information centres in almost every town, which will happily make a booking for you. We found the hotels we stayed in to be clean but very dated. Minimum 65 Euro for a night and usually extra for breakfast.

Maps and Guides:

We downloaded a GPX track onto our Garmin GPS before we left, with all the cycle routes from  www.garmin.openstreetmap.nl. We took four rechargeable AA batteries. Two to power the GPS, while the other two were charging from a solar panel on the back of my bike during the day while we rode. We also had a paper map of the region and two cycling guides for the main 'Greenway' bike routes which we found through the informative Brittany tourism website. These gave a bit history of the areas as well as details of detours and nearby attractions.

Equipment:

We each had two rear Ortlieb panniers and a small drybag over the rear wheel as well as a handlebar bag. Tent, sleeping bags, therm-a-rest (and chair kit) and a small tarp blanket provided our living area. A Primus gas stove (small enough to pack inside a tiny Trangia kettle), a nest of two pans and two folding plates were accompanied by three sporks (one each and a spare) and of course, an Opinel penknife, provided for all our cooking needs. 

We had one set of clothes for riding in and one for the evenings as well as swimwear, a pack towel and a pair of sandals. Waterproof jackets and trousers got used, but the duvet jacket which I'd taken for wearing in the evening at camp, wasn't necessary due to the heat. We had a few staples in the bags along with some cereal bars, but otherwise bought food daily as required. Due to the sandy gravel of the greenways, we cleaned and oiled our chains every other day to prevent them from clogging up. We drove from the UK with everything we needed packed into the back of the car, which we then left with a campsite owner while we were away on our tour.

Highlights:

The north coast was much harder work than following the canal systems, but the coastline is stunning, with plenty of swimming opportunities. Big sandy beaches were well frequented, but it was usually easy to find a quiet secluded bay just around the corner.

We spotted plenty of Kingfishers, Herons and Otters along the Nante-Brest Canal and other river sections.

Many of the towns are built around beautiful old town squares - some medieval in age. We thought the old quarters of Malestroit and Josselin were particularly nice and incredibly well preserved. 

The regional capital of Rennes, has an impressive and spacious town centre and the river port in Redon, where the Nantes-Brest Canal intersects the other greenways was bright and lively.

As with any good adventure, the highlight is the overall vibe of being 'on tour' - good feelings come from living simply, having a set challenge, owning minimal kit and sharing it all with a good partner. Anything else you need, as we would often say "the tour will provide"....