Cruising in Brittany - Cruise Map and Places to Visit

Suggested Routes

Your cruise will start and finish in Glénac on the Nantes-Brest canal. For one week cruises head for Redon through to La Gacilly on the river Oust. Two weeks allow you to cruise along the river Vilaine as far as Rennes, taking you past some of the great beauty spots of the region near the port of Guipry-Messac. Or simply head south to the city of Nantes.

Places to visit along the way:

Josselin

Josselin has a magnificent 11thC château with 3 turreted round towers overlooking the river Oust. The old town also has a doll museum, castle ramparts, an abbey and a number of good restaurants, crêperies, pizzerias and cafés.

Malestroit

Malestroit is a picturesque, quiet town dating back more than a thousand years. The river port allows you to moor very near the town centre where there are some lovely 15thC houses and a Thursday market.

La Gacilly

La Gacilly, a 'village fleuri', has pretty window boxes and botanic gardens. A number of traditional crafts are kept alive here with glass blowers, potters, engravers and ceramicists and the village is also famous for its Yves Rocher factory (cosmetics and plant-based beauty products) which has a shop and visitor centre.

Redon

Redon is an old river port which originally grew up at the confluence of the rivers Oust and Vilaine, and is now crossed by the Nantes - Brest canal (visit the Musée de la Batellerie to learn about the history of the canal). The town's old quarter has some lovely half timbered buildings clustered around its impressive abbey founded in 832 which was an important pilgrimage centre in medieval times.

Rennes

Rennes, Brittany's capital, is both a beautiful old town of medieval streets and a university city with a modern shopping centre. A visit to the Musée Breton is recommended to discover what life in Brittany was like in ancient times as well as the present day - there's also a fine art museum in the same building. You'll find a great choice of restaurants, bars and pavement cafés in the old town and one of the largest markets in France is held on Saturday mornings.