I’d like to tell you more about the pays d’Iroise which is part of the Finistère in Brittany. I discovered this region randomly and I fell in love with it. We randomly spent there one week, as I found a house htere 10 days before departure.
Pays d’Iroise is located in north Finistère, west from Brest. The Iroise sea is at the junction between the atlantic ocean and the English Channel.
If you ask why you should visit the Pays d’Iroise, I’ll answer : for the beauty of the nature ! It’s one of the rare places in Brittany where there isn’t any beautiful, remarkable village or city : you come here for the nature, the landscapes, and if you love raw, genuine Britanny, you won’t be disappointed, believe me.
Le Pays d’Iroise : must see
Saint-Renan market (saturday morning): it’s the biggest market in north Finisètre and it was born around 500 years ago !
Le sentier des douaniers (between Plougonvelin and pointe Saint-Mathieu) : a quite easy and well landscaped walk, with beautiful scenery. It was the first walk ever for our 5 and 7 years old daughters and we loved it. Pointe Saint-Mathieu is by the way a remarquable place : a must see !
Blancs-Sablons beach : our fav’ beach there ! It’s absolutely beautiful, quiet, even in august. Perfect for sunset too :
Kerloas menhir : in Plouarzel, a 9 meter high menhir lost in the countryside : it’s the highest standing menhir in France. My eldest daughter who loves Asterix, discovered that menhirs did indeed exist !
Pointe de Corsen (1st photo of the article) : beautiful landscapes, land, a beautiful beach : you have to get lost on these small roads !
And finally, I recommend you to follow the road from Lanildut to go to the Pays des Abers : a very nice trip.
Pays d’Iroise : activities
Here are a few activities I can suggest, but there are many others !
Sea excursions on semi-rigit boats to disscover wildlife (seals, dolphins) or to discover Ouessant and Molène islands with Archipel Excursions (unfortunately they were full as we called although we called 3 days before, so we booked through Finist’Mer, but the excursion was finally because of the swell…)
We also tested Surfing Iroise to start surfing, on the beautiful beach of Blancs Sablons.
A taste of Pays d’Iroise :
If you like Kouign-Amann you should go to Bian in le Conquet, you won’t be deceived believe me…
Boulangerie-Pâtisserie Bian, 3 rue Lieutenant-Jourdain, 29217 Le Conquet
Crêperie la Cormorandière : a very original place : a building made of several floors overlooking the beach : it’s a good place to eat crepes, service is sometimes a bit overwhelmed but very pleasant. We ate there the first night we arrived, to feel straight away in the breton atmosphere.
La Cormorandière, route de Tregana, 29280 Locmaria-Plouzané
Crêperie Louise de Bretagne, le Conquet : a very typical and hearty place, delicious crepes : you’ll like it ! If you are with children, they even offer games and colourings. We had a great moment there.
Crêperie Louise de Bretagne, 6 rue Poncelin, 29217 Le Conquet
Pays d’Iroise : what we still need to do
If you know Pays d’Iroise, then you noticed that I haven’t talked about Ouessant island yet : it’s not possible to see everything in one week and so we decided to focus on mainland. Moreover, I’m sure that we will have to stay on the island to discover it really. I can’t wait to go there after what I read about it !
If we would go back to Pays d’Iroise, I would book my sea excursion before our arrival, especially if we go there in august again.
We hesitated a lot before our departure about sailing schools for our dautghters : we wanted here to discover navigation : they can start very early and it looks great. We finally gave up because we were staying only one week and we didn’t want to have to go to the school every morning, but next time it’s a must !
Here it’s my little travel guide on Pays d’Iroise. Before that I had been in Finistere only once : at the Pointe du Raz; I kept in memory its wild landscapes and the raging ocean. It was in February 1990 during great storms that remain in all memories in Brittany so as in mine. This time I discovered another Finistère : a more lenient, greener and still sublime nature. That’s what I love : this region is beautiful whatever the wheather.
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