Where in Brittany?

[hearts]

We have been looking at going to Brittany end June for a fortnight and wondering where would be best to go - little girl will be 2 and a half and obviously have to keep her entertained as priority! I hate flying so ferry it is but which ports?...I'd like some decent weather but know that can't be guaranteed in the north really so don't know whether its worth the drive to southern Brittany. Any individual gite recommendations? (I am getting bamboozled by all the websites...) Any help gratefully received!

Ports - depends on where you are travelling from and to. We usually go Portsmouth-St Malo, coming from Oxford. That would be best from London, too. Plymouth-Roscoff is better for the far west of Brittany, but a long drive from most points east in the UK . On the weather issue - there is a risk of rain everywhere in Brittany (see the recent thread on Brittany versus Cornwall), but it's all lovely in the sunshine. We have stayed in the area around Benodet/Fouesnant several times and enjoyed the combination of good beaches and pretty countryside. Try Vintage Travel, VFB and French Country Cottages. Alternatively, a cousin of mine has a gite in beautiful countryside a few miles from Rennes. CAT me if you want details.

Oh we're going end of JUne but slightly furtehr south. I love Brittany!!! I'd go camping (stay in a mobile home thogh!) as your dd will be kept occupid. My mate took her kids to a gite and hated it as they got bored and she was on pool alert 24/7. We've stayed in Baden (Camping mane Guernehue) which ahd the best pool complex ever! So geared up for little ones - gently shelving pool anda kids pool too. Thye ahd a little tykes climbing frame at the corner of the pool bar/restaurant which meant we could actually enjoy meals! The food was great, lots of swing park areas, a bouncy castle etc. Lovely quiet sleepy area and you could walk into the wee village. All pitches came with BBQs and it's sociable in the evenings. 3 fishing lakes which came with ducks! We fed them every night! There is also a field next to the lakes with donkeys in and another one with goats so the kids loved it (they were 15m and 30m). Onlky drawback is that it is a distace to the beach so you do have to drive. Great towns nearby - had little trains which toook you round them. We went to Le Guivenic last eyar (Camping village la PLage) which was fantastic location wise as it's right ona sandy beach but the pool wasn't good - kids pool too deep and we preferred the site at Baden. We pay the extra and go on the overnight ferry to St Malo (DO NOT get the fast craft daytime to St malo as everyone vomits!).. Overnight is v relaxing - check into cabin, explore, play in the play area then hit the mini disco (live band really) where they exhaust themselves while mummy has first vino of the holiday! Good nights sleep then short drive the next day! fantastic!
We go with french Life cos you can use your tesco deals with them but check out the Matthews holidays (www.matthewsfrance.co.uk) as their discussion froum is good - just scroll over a destinationa nd the discussion board is a scroll down option. Bonnes vacances!

If you end up anywhere near St. Malo, the aquarium is absolutely fantastic for all ages, not to be missed. When we went, we took the ferry from Portsmouth-Cherbourg which was fine but thought we'd take the superfast back to cut the journey time in half- never again, there is only one lounge and no deck. Half the time but felt twice as long as there was nothing to do, and that was without children. The ferries are great.

Thank you for your replies! We did start off thinking of camping/mobile home - but we were worried about little one settling at night and think a proper house room might be better - and we may have this one year left of getting away with a gite type holiday....!Do you think it will be "Wimbledon" weather late June/early July?

Benodet is very nice as a family holiday site. Gites de France have loads of properties on offer

I wouldn't worry about settling the little one. We took our youngest at 3 months and she was fine. Last year my oldest was 3.5 and youngest was 2 and they were great - mucky every day and thoroughly enjoying themselves! They are usuualy so exhausted after a day by the pool and being out in the fresh air. very relaxing atmosphere and very family friendly on the camp sites. A swing park area is great for daddy to take them to when you unwind! I'd go to a camp site rather than a gite personally as there is so much to keep them entertained and you don't have the worry of an unsupervised pool.

they do call Brittany the 'piss-pot' of France you know

it does rain - a lot.

We have been every year for 4 or 5 years and we have had 2 really good years. The rest have been a rain/sun combo. Yes it does make a difference the further south you go.

We normally stay near Pont Aven/Concarneau and it is a lovely area with loads to do and some beautiful, beautiful beaches.

hearts, really really recommend Guidel Plage, its a small town on the coast with a stunning beach backed by dunes, and also child friendly things like a small playground bear the beach if its wet. Its also within driving distance of other great places to visit for the day, such as Quiberon, which is a bustling little port. We've been going to Guidel of an on for years, since eldest was a baby. If you type it in on the net you should find their tourist page, and you can get gites of that. We have travelled a number of ways, but you can reach Guidel by autoroute in half a day from St Malo, Cherbourg, Le Havre.

Sorry for typos!

Thank you all for your suggestions - we had to bite the bullet and book something last week as we were just going round in circles - we've gone for a gite with Brittany Ferries, its near St Meen le Grand, not far from Josselin. The gite is really spacious and there is a little farm/"zoo" on site and a playground area, so thats good for the little one. We are hoping that we can get out and about for days out to the coast north and south, and Josselin etc of course. Any suggestions as to good rainy day options in the area would be great. We've booked the overnight ferry from Portsmouth to St Malo and hope that it will be a good experience!

Glad ot hear you booked something - that sounds great! if you're going 12th June we'll see you down the mini disco on the ferry!! Best bit is whil the little people wear themselves out on the dancefloor mummy gets to pay French prices for the wine! Yeah! Hope you enjoy it. Don't knwo about the area, never heard of Josselin so can't help - sorry!

We're going 16th June actually, back 1 July - would have been nice to share a bottle de vin with you!