The Île de Bréhat
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Map of Ile de Bréhat

As you might expect, a high proportion of the homes on this island paradise now belong to summer-only visitors from Paris and beyond, and young Bréhatins leave in ever-increasing numbers for lack of a place of their own, let alone a job. In winter the remaining three hundred or so natives have the place to themselves, without even a gendarme; the summer sees two imported from the mainland, along with upwards of three thousand temporary residents and a hundred times as many day-trippers.

All boats to Bréhat arrive at the small harbour of PORT-CLOS, though depending on the tide passengers may have to walk several hundred metres before setting foot on terra firma. No cars are permitted on the island, so many visitors rent bikes at the port, at €11 per day. However, it's easy enough to explore the whole place on foot; walking from one end to the other takes less than an hour.

Each batch of new arrivals heads first to Bréhat's village, LE BOURG, five hundred metres up from the port. As well as a handful of hotels, restaurants and bars, it also holds a limited array of shops, a post office, a bank, and an ATM machine, and hosts a small market most days. In high season, the attractive central square tends to be packed fit to burst, with exasperated holiday-home owners pushing their little hand-wagons through the throngs of day-trippers.

Continue a short distance north of Le Bourg, however, and you'll soon cross over the slender Pont ar Prat bridge to the northern island, where the crowds thin out, and countless little coves offer opportunities to sprawl on the tough grass or clamber across the rugged boulders. Though the coastal footpath around this northern half offers the most attractive walking on the island, the best beaches line the southern shores, with the Grève du Guerzido at its southeastern corner, being the pick of the crop.