Guide Post: Building a Bike Tour of Brittany

Lighthouses, sunsets, crêpes, and Caramel au Beurre Salé. Brittany is an excellent destination for a French bike tour for food lovers, those in search of beautiful scenery, and everyone in between.

Bretagne as it is known to the French, has its charm in the old world style with its villages filled by rows of stone houses surrounded by extremely well kept gardens.  There is color wherever you look: brightly painted shutters, soft green fields, hollyhock, hydrangeas, fishermens' nets, well-kept boats and the sailors that navigate them. The mix between old villages and coastal harbors allows travelers to experience both the fields of the region and the views of the sea.

Sunrise on the Water

The biking is pretty easy and the locals say the biggest challenge is the easterly wind, but as long as we have it at our back (and the trip is designed to allow just that) we'll be smooth sailing. For anyone looking for a relaxing bike ride along beautiful coastlines, this is the place for you. When the breeze is just right, the crisp air soothes the senses and leaves you wanting to just cycle on and on.

We have visited many beautiful seaside towns full of fishing boats and ancient lighthouses, still a pride of the area even though they are seldom used for what they once were, lifesavers. At each one, we stop to enjoy the views and take in the smells of the sea.

One of Many Stone Houses

The food is simple but delicious, with only local ingredients: catch of the day, crayfish, sardines, thin pancakes also known as crêpes, chocolates, salted caramel, baked & caramelized sugar cake, the list goes on and on.  It's all so good. The mix of fresh seafood and tasty dessert treats leave us all watering at the mouth wishing our stomachs could handle twice the amount.

The first hotel we found to start the tour, Villa Tri Men, is a nautical themed comfort zone that is the perfect setting for some of the best sun rises you'll ever witness. The morning couldn't be any more relaxing when sitting and looking out over the water where the boats all rest with their sails flowing in the soft wind. The gleaming sun's rays bounce of the water and brighten the sky, leaving long shadows behind the autumn colored trees.

As we work our way southeast, down the Finistere coast we'll be witnesses to the French wild coast that few foreigners know about.  It is the French's best kept secret to date.  Tomorrow we will see Vannes and Belle Ile, and the next day will include Guerande (famous for their salt) and le Croisic. It looks like this weekend is going to be full of great treats.  We are really excited about this new bike tour in Brittany and it joins a long list of DuVine's famous bike tours in France.