Brittany Holiday & Travel Guide: The Brittany region is made up of four départements with beautiful sandy beaches, secret caves and stunning jagged cliffs… it is most picturesque.  The east département is called Ille-et-Vilaine and the main towns here are the capital, Rennes and St Malo, on the coast.   Brittany is one of France’s most rural regions and so the département in the North of the region, Côtes d’Armor, is so called the ‘rural county’; the main towns here are St-Brieuc and Dinan. In the west is Finistère and the main towns here are Brest and Quimper. Morbihan spans the south of Brittany, claiming the most hours of sunshine, with Lorient and Vannes being the major towns.The population of Brittany is just over 3 million with a large proportion of people living along the coast. Inland here tends to be very quiet and there are a number of strong agricultural communities.

Cuisine
Boasting lots of coastal towns, it is no wonder that Brittany is particularly renowned for its fish dishes and recipes. Some of the most famous dishes are:
Palourdes farcais: this is baked clams stuffed with herbs, shallots, herbs and white wine.
Cancale oyster: the town of Cancale is world famous for its oysters. This dish is served on rye bread.
Coquilles Saint Jacques from St Brieuc: These are scallops from St Brieuc in the north served with cheese, mushrooms, breadcrumbs, capers, shallots and white wine.
Breton Cotriade: this is fish stew with the main ingredient being conger eel. Additional ingredients include onions, hake, mackerel or monkish with onions, white wine, garlic, parsley and potatoes.
Pot au Feu de homard: for this with a bigger budget, try the famous fish stew with ingredients including lobster, oysters, scallops, shrimp and mussels.

Brittany is also well known for its versatile Crepes and Galettes, pancakes which could be complimented with sweet or savoury ingredients. Perhaps Brittany is most well known for its onions, with an onion museum situated in Roscoff. Being a rural region, Brittany is abundant in farms producing a fine range of vegetables, poultry, pork, lamb and dairy products. Breton butter (buerre) is also highly regarded around the world and is oftened flavoured with the local sea salt. The butter is also used to make gorgeous biscuits, not ideal for those watching their waistlines however!


History and Heritage
Brittany has an interesting heritage with a number of cathedral cities oozing with character and charm. The ports of Brittany and the bigger cities have prioritised tourism and culture, meaning that you are never short of activities in and around these areas.
Tourists were originally attracted to Brittany by its traditional fishing ports scattered along the coasts. This was the followed by tourists coming in for the beaches and in turn, sailing, which Brittany is now world famous for, being one of the best sailing destinations in the world.
Brittany’s coasts are lined with a number forts and castles where the area was once very vulnerable to attack. These places are now renowned for their beauty and are great places to visit for those interested in learning more about the history behind them.  
Rural Brittany is characterised by farms, windmills, tidal mills and idyllic looking, old rustic industrial buildings. Perhaps more interestingly, a number of museums are in existence today which are generally quite small and with very specific traditional displays and exhibits.
Brittany’s religious background heavily revolves around the Church. The churches in Brittany are slightly different to the ‘usual’ Church, with huge carved cavalries outside of the Churches, they are hard to be missed.

You may also find the Brittany Tourism site useful for all things Brittany!

Brittany Holiday & Travel Guide is one of a number of guides for the area. To find out more about Brittany, view it's individual départements and see what they have to offer for your perfect holiday...