Leisure Activities in Brittany

Whats on and around the area

As with all the regions within the department of Brittany, the region of Ille et Vilaine is full of tourist attractions and destinations. These include historic castles, beautiful parks, museums, stunning sandy beaches, picturesque fishing ports and quality restaurants. There is indeed much to explore both on the nearby coast as well as in the local countryside. For both young and those young at heart, the area around our GITE COMPLEX Maison La Perouse, our nearest small town of Bazouges La Perouse, and the larger nearby tourist towns of Combourg,  Dol de Bretagne and Pontorson have much to offer.

There are daily vibrant local town markets, good shopping centres and regular fetes, festivals and cultural events throughout the year especially during summer months. The area also offers a wide range of sports and activities including world renowned golf courses,  walking, wind surfing. cycling, boating, sailing, canoeing, paint balling, freshwater and sea fishing and swimming. We can also recommend the local horse riding school which is less than 5 minutes away. The school offers individual lessons and forest treks. Bookings can be made daily and staff can speak English. Cycling is very popular in the area with dedicated cycle routes available across the countryside. Hardly surprising then that the world famous ‘Tour de France’ has one of its stages in this area every year. Within the last eighteen months, two ‘state of the art’ swimming pool complexes have been opened in the local area and are now proving extremely popular both with the local population as well as with tourists.

One of the major assets we can recommend within five minutes of our property is the vast pristine forest of Villecartier which is perfect for a number of outdoor activities including walking, running, cycling and general exploring. Those of you who appreciate natural habitats will marvel at the sheer size, scale and variety of trees, shrubs, flora and fauna. Not surprisingly this forest is also home to a very wide variety of wild animals including two species of deer, wild boar, badgers, rabbits, hares, red squirrel, coypu and various amphibians and rodents some of which are not seen in the UK.. There is also a very rich abundance of bird life in the area – some of these bird species are also not found anywhere in the British Isles.

Here are some useful links for places of interest that are all within a few minutes drive of  our gite at La Boudonniere. For more information on what is happening week on week in the region, the nearest Tourist Information Office is situated five minutes drive away in the centre of Bazouges La Perouse.  You will find additional tourist information centres  in most towns and large villages in the area and many of the staff who work in these establishments speak and understand English.

http://www.ot-montsaintmichel.com/ – Mont St. Michel 

http://www.saintmalogolf.com/  – St. Malo Golf Course

http://www.aquarium-st-malo.com/  – St. Malo Grand Aquarium

http://www.vedettejamaniv.com/      – Boat Trips on the River Rance

http://www.zoo-champrepus.com/en   – Champrepus Zoo

http://www.parcdesgrandschenes.fr/ – Villecartier Forest Adventure Park

http://www.cobac-parc.com/  – Cobac Water Park

http://www.aukilhoukoz-bowling.com/ – Bowling at Dol de Bretagne

http://www.leblizz.com/   – Ice Skating at Rennes

http://www.bayeuxtapestry.org.uk/   – Bayeux Tapestry

http://www.fete-remparts-dinan.com/ – Medieval Festival in Dinan 

 

Places to see in Brittany – 2024

Beaches, coastal walks, rocky shoreline and small fishing harbours are a feature of the Breton coastline so not surprisingly Brittany remains a popular tourist destination. However moving away from the coastline, the region has an impressive collection of sites that are worth a visit, for their historic or cultural value, or just because they are really worth seeing. Here are several locations that we recommend. Mont St. Michel First among these - though technically in Normandy - is  the Mont Saint Michel. This is the most visited...

Useful Local Information – 2024

Nearest Ferries : St. Malo 40 mins,  Caen 90 mins, Cherbourg 120 mins. Nearest Airport : Rennes 45 mins. Nearest Bar/pub : Bazouges La Perouse 5 mins. Trans La Foret 5 mins. Nearest Garage: Bazouges La Perouse 5 mins. Nearest Supermarket : Bazouges La Perouse 5 mins Nearest Golf : Golf @ Les Ormes  20 mins. Nearest Train Station : Combourg 15 mins. Nearest Motorway :  E3 20 mins. Nearest Restaurant : Bazouges La Perouse 5 mins. Nearest Beach/ Coast : Bay of Mont St. Michel 20 mins. Nearest City : Rennes 30 mins. Nearest Bank : Bazouges La Perouse 5 mins. Nearest Sports Centre:...

French Markets in Brittany and South Normandy – 2024

France is renowned for its popular community based activities and fetes which are organised all year round and most particularly during the summer months when weekly programmes of events attract both tourists and residents alike. Brittany is typical of all the other regions in France and being a rural region with a famous coastline, attracts many very popular annual events which are advertised in all tourist centre offices. There are regular weekly markets in most of the local large towns in Brittany  - some of the...

Whats On in Brittany – 2024

Brittany boasts a whole range of family events and festivals throughout the year and especially during the summer months. You will find that numerous events occur on the same weekend but so popular are such events that the organisers continue to mount ever more celebrations of music and the arts, historical pageantry and nautical themed events. All the local Tourist Information Centres can provide full details on all events taking place around the region on a day to day, week to week basis.  The annual Lorient...