It's a region full of sights and outdoor opportunities, with the food, wine and culture for which France is known as a bargain. Whatever you are looking for for a campsite or camping holiday in Brittany, you are sure to find something in the Hipcamp collection. We find places for families and places for romantic getaways, and we only give thumbs up to places we think offer something special.
Breton classic camping
France is a popular camping destination across Europe and its campsites have something for everyone. Brittany is no exception, with hundreds of campsites in the region. We've curated the best Hipcamp picks; these are generally smaller sites and often, but not exclusively, independently owned and operated. In France, classic camping usually means more services and comforts than what we expect from a basic camping at home. At check-in, you may be asked if you'd like morning croissants and baguettes from the local bakery, as well as a swimming pool, ping pong table, and sports fields.
Whether your continental campsite has these extra features or not, there's just something great about a classic campsite in France. Firstly, the weather is slightly better than in the UK, and then it is one of the easiest places to go on a camping holiday abroad. You can pack up your car and take the ferry directly to the Brittany coast or take a day trip from Calais across northern France. Once you pitch your tent and establish your home away from home, you'll enjoy the fresh air, often with views of the countryside or the sea, and you'll pay more if you don't just stay in a tent.
camping in brittany
If you don't have your own camping gear or don't want to cross the English Channel with it, there are the easiest ways to go camping. Choose a luxury campsite in Brittany and you'll easily enjoy all the benefits of a camping holiday. You won't have to pitch the tent yourself and you won't have to pitch it again, and you'll have more space in your car when you travel and possibly more space in your apartment. The size of the room depends on the glamping accommodation you choose.
Glamping includes everything from a simple tent for your arrival to an elaborate tree house that spans two stories. If you're camping as a couple, a simple one-room canvas tent might be what you're looking for, but if you're camping with the whole family, you may prefer a safari tent, which usually has a separate canvas bedroom. and living space. At the top of the glamping scale are log cabins, shepherd's cabins, gypsy caravans, geodesic domes, and pod camping. Some are simply furnished and require your own bedding, others offer luxury with bells, whistles, Jacuzzi tubs, and more. If you're holidaying in Brittany outside of summer, glamping is a great option for outdoor activities. You're just steps away from Brittany's stunning scenery, but if it gets cooler you'll also have a cozy place to hide from the weather, and you won't have to pack a wet tent at the end of your stay, either.
A family campsite in Brittany
A family camping holiday in France is one of the most rewarding ways to take your children abroad, and also one of the most memorable. If you didn't go on a camping holiday in France as a child, you probably know someone who did and probably still remember the experience. The fact that many families make an annual camping pilgrimage to France speaks volumes. It's not hard to see why it's so popular. Children often enjoy the adventure of camping, and France's generally better weather, variety of destinations, and proximity to the UK make it an attractive prospect. While the sun in the south of France is tempting, Brittany lies in the north, very close to the English coast, making it the perfect place for family camping. "Are we almost there?" the screams fade. Due to the relatively short journey time en route to Brittany, while the weather in the north of France can be slightly less reliable, it can be less muggy in the summer months than in the south.
Finding family campsites in Brittany is not difficult, as there are many. Most campsites are geared towards children and often offer playgrounds, sports facilities and activities for children. Choose a family-friendly place and you may find another big advantage: other families! Camping life is a social experience, and your kids will love making new friends while camping; in fact, they may have found playmates before you've pitched your tent or packed your bags. When you take your children on a family camping holiday in France, the only possible problem is convincing them to come home.
to brittany
From various UK airports you can fly to Brest or Dinard in Brittany, a short journey ending on the French coast before it's too late to call it a good trip. But the best way for campers to get to France is to cross the channel by boat. You can pack up your car or, if you want to be truly self-sufficient, grab a rucksack or pannier and catch the ferry in Portsmouth or Plymouth for an overnight cruise to Brittany. It's an exciting and romantic way to start your vacation, and it's convenient too. From Portsmouth, you'll disembark at the historic walled city of Saint-Malo, and from Plymouth, you'll disembark further west at Roscoff. If you don't like the idea of a long sea voyage, you can cross the narrowest part of the channel from Dover to Calais by ferry or Channel Tunnel, then head west through Normandy to Brittany.
brittany coast
If you like camping by the sea in Brittany, you will be delighted. Brittany is a peninsula jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean with a staggering 1,700-mile coastline. This rocky promontory with the highest concentration of lighthouses in the world is ideal for exploring on foot or by mountain bike. On the north side of the English Channel in Brittany you'll find a series of eastern spots where Brittany meets Normandy, the bay of Mont Saint-Michel. Stretching from Granville in Normandy to Cancale in Brittany, the 500-kilometre bay surrounds the tidal island of Mont Saint-Michel and its 13th-century abbey, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A must for many visitors to northern France, Cancale, at the western end of the bay, is a great place to sample the local seafood, as it is famous for its oysters. Not far from the bay is another of Brittany's great treasures, the walled city of Saint-Malo with its cobbled streets and granite buildings. More pink granite is used in buildings around Ploumanac'h in Brittany, an area known as the Pink Granite Coast where the geology is exposed in huge rock formations. It is also an area with wild animals in their natural habitat.
Finisterre's northeast coast has become wilder and more rugged. Here you'll find many of the iconic lighthouses Brittany is famous for, as well as Europe's largest port at Brest. Then there's Cornouaille, which, with its name, shared Celtic history, the fishing town and the rocky coastline, underscoring the link between Brittany and Britain's most westerly county. The Bay of Morbihan in southern Brittany offers a natural harbor sheltered from the storms of the Atlantic Ocean. The area is surrounded by monuments and rocks, as well as sandy beaches ideal for swimming, sunbathing and building sand castles. To the south is the department or county of Loire-Atlantique. Historically part of Brittany, this region includes Brittany's former capital Nantes and the Loire estuary, with sandier beaches facing the Atlantic and endless marshes inland.
Brittany town
Some of the most beautiful places on the Brittany coast and countryside are in the Regional Natural Park of America. The park meets the sea between Brest and Cornoy and extends inland to the Monts des Arrée, covering more than 450 square miles. If you're camping in or near a US Regional Wildlife Park, you'll want to wear hiking shoes, jogging shoes, or a bike to traverse this protected landscape on hundreds of miles of marked roads and trails. A mix of heather, dune and woodland bogs it is also home to Roc'h Ruz, the highest peak in Brittany, which at 385 meters offers stunning panoramic views while still being accessible to most people. This is of course one of the best places to see wildlife in Brittany.
Brittany was once wooded and a visit to Paimpont reveals its wooded past. A 25 square mile wooded area said to be the site of the mythical Arthurian Brocéliande where places related to Arthurian legends have been discovered. While camping or glamping in Brittany, you can visit castles with towers and other monuments. Brittany is full of historic sites, including castles, fortified cities and towns, and ancient monoliths and monoliths. An excellent way to learn how the Bretons lived in the past are also the many ecomuseums in the region, where old villages and industrial plants have been reconstructed or preserved. More information about camping or glamping in Brittany can be found on the Tourisme Bretagne website.
What to see and do on a campsite in Brittany
- Go up to the lighthouse.Brittany's lighthouses are classic symbols of the region. With such a rocky coastline, it's no wonder there are more lighthouses here than anywhere else in the world.
- Head to the beach.There are beautiful sandy beaches on the north and west coasts, perfect for sunbathing, sand castle building, swimming and water sports.
- go for a walk.The Brittany coast, the Armorique Regional Nature Park, and the historic streets of Saint-Malo, Quimper, and Rennes are best explored on foot.
- Try the local specialities.Start with oysters from Cancale and finish with delicious pancakes. Regional Brittany specialties include seafood and French classics!
- Explore medieval France.Northwestern France is full of well-preserved medieval towns and villages, so stop and explore: Mont Saint-Michel, on the border of the Normandy region, is perhaps the most picturesque.
- Try the local spirits.Both Brittany and neighboring Normandy are as famous for apples as they are for cider in the English Channel, which means that cider is a favorite local drink.
- Have fun on the boat.With so many oceans surrounding Brittany, it's no surprise that sailing is big business here. Even if you are not an experienced sailor, you can don your Breton stripes and go to sea with someone else at the helm.
- Discover the castle.There's a reason French castles are often described as 'fairytale', and when you see the tower's roof sticking out of the trees, you'll understand why.
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Ferry to France? Whether you're camping in Finistère or pitching your tent in the Cotes da Mou, explore the region's best campsites with a handpicked selection from best-selling guide author Hipcamp France.