map of Brittany

Getting Here

Our Brittany gites are perfectly located for easy access to beaches, local towns and a vast choice of places to visit -see the 'things to do' page. You can find exactly where we are by looking at the map of Brittany below.....Hortensia and Hirondelle are in the village of Reminiac

french gitesBrittany tourismMont Saint Michel

The large market towns of Guer, Malestroit, Ruffiac and Ploermel are all within fifteen minutes drive of both houses.The capital city of Brittany (Rennes) is approximately forty minutes drive to the north-east whilst cosmopolitan Nantes is seventy five minutes to the south. To the west, the fishing ports of Vannes and Damgan and their surrounding white sandy beaches are around thirty minutes by car

Map of Brittany

Map of Brittanymap of Briitany small

Brittany's Ports and Roads

Brittany is well served by motorways and there are no tolls to pay. St Malo port is an hour and a half drive, Caen is just over two hours and Cherbourg and Le Havre are under three hours. The motorways are generally exremely quiet and run as far as the local town of Guer, ten minutes away

Calais is about five hours plus away and the tolls through Normandy add up to about twenty five pounds. Most -but not all- French toll booths take credit cards. Mileages to our gites from the ports as supplied by the RAC Route Finder are as follows: Caen- 149 miles, Cherbourg: 169 Miles, St Malo: 76 miles, Roscoff: 169 miles, Le Havre: 203 miles, Calais 357 miles. You need to book your crossing yourself direct with the ferry company, Channel Tunnel or airline

 
 
Brittany Ferries France

Brittany Ferries
Portsmouth - St Malo. 9 hours
Portsmouth - Cherbourg. 3 hours
Portsmouth - Caen Fast Cat. 4 hours
Plymouth - Roscoff. 6 hours
Poole - Cherbourg. 4 hours

 
 
Brittany

DFDS


DFDS Ferries
Dover - Calais. Ninety minutes
Dover - Dunkirk. Two hours
Newhaven - Dieppe. Four hours

DFDS France

Ferry Condor

Condor Ferries
Weymouth - St Malo. Eight Hours
Poole - St Malo. Six hours
Portsmouth - Cherbourg. Four hours
Portsmouth - St Malo. Eight hours

Condor Ferries

Channel Tunnel France


Channel Tunnel and  P& O
Tunnel Folkstone - Calais. Half hour
P & O Ferry Dover - Calais. One hour

P & O Ferries

Flights to Brittany

Brittany Airports
Fly to Nantes from Gatwick with Easy Jet or to
Nantes from East Midlands and Stanstead with Ryan Air & EasyJet

Nantes Brittany

BRITTANY: TRAVEL INFORMATION, HEALTH AND INTERNET ACCESS 

CAR HIRE
Car hire is available at all the French airports but we recommend you book in advance from the UK. Locally you can hire a car at Europcar in Ploermel. Also car hire is avaiable at Nantes airport

DOCUMENTATION
You need to bring your Vehicle Registration, Insurance, MOT and Driving Licence. You may need a green card depending on your car insurer. It is advisable to take out European breakdown cover. You may need a warning triangle  and a yellow jacket. Note: If in doubt please check with the AA, RAC or other reputable source before you travel

SPEED CAMERAS
Although there are not too many fixed cameras, they do exist, particularly on the motorways. You will see large white signs with black pictures of different vehicles followed by radar lines. Recently these warning signs have been giving way to LED signs showing your actual speed. Normally within three miles of passing one of these there will be a speed trap camera. Hand held speed traps are also used and normally an on the spot fine of ninety euros or more will be given

The speed limit on Brittany's motorways is 110 Km/h whereas the speed limit on the paid autoroutes plus some others (e.g from Caen to Calais is usually 130 Km/h. As of the first of July 2018 the 'national speed limit' (i.e where it is not indicated to the contrary) dropped from 90 km/h to 80 Km/h. In towns and villages it varies between 50 and 30 Km/h. Speed limits are constantly changing on many roads so please check the signs as you are drive along to be sure

PRIORITY TO THE RIGHT- Priorite a droite
Please be aware of the priority to the right, particularly on small local roads. The traffic from side roads to the right often has priority

PETROL STATIONS
Motorway and dual carriageway stations are normally manned twenty four hours. There is one about ten minutes away on the N24 at Ploermel. Supermarket and local petrol stations are usually manned from nine in the morning until midday and from two until seven in the afternoon. Automated twenty-four hour pumps are available at all petrol stations and usually take UK credit and debit cards. All the large supermarkets have petrol stations - e.g Casino and Super U at Malestroit which are less than ten minutes drive from the gites. There is a small petrol station at Treal (less than two minutes from the gites) and you can pay by card or cash

CHANGING MONEY
You can use British credit /debit cards in most cash machines in Brittany to obtain your Euros. Most banks have an cashpoint machine

INSURANCE
Check that you are insured to drive in France and that you have adequate European Breakdown Insurance. Also make sure that you have medical and travel insurance. Holiday cancellation insurance is also recommended. Normally a bank or home insurance company will be able to assist you with these policies. We do not offer any insurance at all so you will need to arrange this yourself. The UK government is now offering a replacement to the E111 European Health Card and you should be able to find how to apply online or at your local Post Ofiice

HEALTH: Hospitals
The local A&E is at Ploermel (15 minutes away) and is open 24/7. Many doctors speak English. Ploermel hospital is large, new and very efficient. There are huge hospitals in Vannes and Rennes as well

FREE Wi-Fi
There is free Wi-Fi at both of the cottages and you will need to bring a tablet, laptop or smartphone with you if you'd like to use it

Please note that the internet speeds here in Brittany are not as fast as you may be used to in the UK (we have the highest available). It's fine for e mail, general internet use, social networking sites etc but we cannot guarantee its speed, reliability or functionality as we offer it as a FREE service. We are in the hands of Orange, and although it tends to be fine most of the time it does have hiccups occasionally

Many local cafe's and bars have a free Wi-Fi service as do most large supermarkets and restaurants. Mobile phone coverage is very good in most areas

BREXIT TRAVEL INFORMATION

The following is Brexit information (as of November 2021) as far as we can find out- we can't guarantee any of it unfortunately as things seem to change so please do check for yourself !

Brittany Ferries have said on their website. "Brittany Ferries will continue to operate all routes after the UK has withdrawn from the European Union. The fundamentals of travel by sea will not change regardless of the post-Brexit landscape, so please continue to book with confidence"

Passports: The Goverment advises that you should ensure that there are at least six months duration remaining on your passport from your date of arrival abroad. For the latest information, visit the government’s webpage on passports

EHIC Health Cards: EHIC cards are reported to be continuing to be valid as part of the 'Brexit Deal'.The EU have indicated (but not confirmed) that health care will continue to be given to all UK nationals traveliing in France in the future and vice versa.The UK governemnt is changing the name of the EHIC card, although it will apparently still look the same as the current card.. Don’t forget that an EHIC is never a complete replacement for comprehensive travel insurance. It is always best to be fully covered when travelling abroad. ABTA recommends you take out an adequate travel policy before making any trip

You need to verify with your car insurance company whether a green card is required for driving in France. We have heard that where it is required by the insurance company they will often provide it free of charge

All of the above travel, health and Brexit information is advisory only. If you would like more specific details then please speak to the French embassy in the UK or a travel organistion such as the AA or RAC. We carry no responsibility for the accuracy of this information