Nantes-Brest canal

城市概覽

The Nantes-Brest Canal is a 19th-century canal between the two important coastal cities Nantes and Brest, constructed as a safe inland route eliminating the need to navigate the dangerous currents around the Brittany coast. It also connected many smaller industries in the towns along its way. Most of the canal was built by connecting and canalising numerous smaller rivers with a series of locks, like the Blavet, Aulne and Erdre. Since the advent of the railways for transporting goods, the canal lost most of its industrial significance and a dam was constructed in 1920 near Guerlédan for electricity production. This created the beautiful namesake lake, but also cut off the possibility of navigating the entire canal as a through route. Nowadays, parts of the canal and its associated rivers are navigable by small pleasure craft and kayaks, and it's possible to cycle and hike along most of the route using its old towpaths. A large part of this itinerary also coincides with the long-distance cycle route EV1.

如何抵達

You can choose to start this adventure in either Nantes or Brest, or join in from one of the towns along the way. If you want to go by bike, you can take your bicycle on all local TÉR BreizhGo trains in Brittany to get to your starting point. Transporting your bike is free, except between June and September, when you have to reserve a spot for €1. Towns along the route with train stations are Nantes, Nort-sur-Erdre, Redon, Carhaix-Plouguer, Châteaulin and Brest. Tickets are available on the SNCF website (in French only) or their mobile app SNCF Connect. Note that the distance along the canal between Redon and Carhaix is about 200km without any functional rail service, though some coaches go to Ploërmel (just off the canal) and Pontivy. They may or may not take a bike depending on whether it's deconstructed, without bags or packed, and your French language skills in convincing the driver. Contrary to the name, the canal does not actually reach all the way to Brest. Between Brest and Châteaulin, it's more of a meandering tidal river leading into the . It's perfectly navigable by boat, but there is no official route along this section, meaning pedestrians and cyclists will complete this 50-km leg via countryside roads. If you wish to skip this section, you can go by train to Châteaulin with a local TÉR service from either Brest or Quimper.

順遊推薦

Visit the city of Brest, enjoy the coastline and see some of the largest tidal differences in the world. You can leave the canal at several points and link up with other cycling routes. In Pontivy, you can choose to follow the Blavet all the way until the south coast of Brittany at Lorient.

This article is an itinerary.