THE HEART OF BRITTANY camping route
(Average mileage 23 mpd, maximum 28 miles - a couple of hilly days but no great mileages) This is a really lovely ride through the unspoilt heartland of Brittany.
Much of the route is on bypassed mainroads which gives pretty direct routes with good surfaces but very little traffic. The distances are pretty short although the route is generally one of the more hilly ones, but don't let that put you off!
First night (Saturday) spent at Gouarec
Day 1 (sunday)- 43 kms
After taking in the market at Bon Repos an easy and very quiet ride to take you to the town of Carhaix - quite large by Breton standards and with a choice of eating places/bars. The campsite is set by a lake and is quiet and wooded but has a little bar/grill on-site
Day 2 - 43 kms
This day takes you through several little villages (with lunchtime restaurants) and on to the market town or Chateaulin, near the coast and right on the canal/river. A pretty ride and Chateaulin is bustling with the campsite set well back from the town next to the river.
Day 3 - Free day
Lots of choice - hit the coast, wander round town, cycle up the 330m Menez Hom (fantastic views), visit the Raid de Brest (where France keeps its fleet) - up to you.
Day 4 - 41 kms
Off again into the wilderness, sprinkled with villages and tiny towns for the essential watering holes. Finally you reach Rosporden, another little town well worth walking round and with a lake side campsite...
Day 5 - 42 kms
Again a day 'lost in France' - nothing spectacular, just the most perfect cycling country. Le Faouet has one of the few remaining covered marketplaces - a beautiful slate roofed building with the most amazing roof timbers. Then on from there to the lovely lake side campsite at Priziac...
Day 6 - 32 kms
An easy ride back to Gouarec for Friday night, or if you don't have to leave early you could do this on Saturday morning (it's about 2 1/2hours) and pinch another day elsewhere.