Quiberon Peninsula

Quiberon runs about fourteen kilometres south from the mainland on an isthmus that narrows to around a hundred metres at Penthievre, and the two sides could not be more different: the eastern shore is sheltered with calm beaches and the harbour, while the western is the Cote Sauvage, an exposed Atlantic front of low cliffs, blowholes, stacks and heavy surf where swimming is prohibited outright and people are regularly swept off. The contrast is the point of the place. Ferries to Belle-Ile and the smaller islands leave from Quiberon, and the peninsula is a centre for surfing, kitesurfing and thalassotherapy.

What you actually see

• The Cote Sauvage - an exposed western coast of cliffs, stacks and surf.
• The sheltered east - calm beaches and the harbour on the other side.
• The Penthievre isthmus - the neck narrowing to about a hundred metres.
• The island ferries - departures for Belle-Ile, Houat and Hoedic.

When to go

May to September; the peninsula jams with traffic in August and the seasonal train helps. Winter storms on the Cote Sauvage are spectacular and dangerous.

Honest expectations

Swimming on the Cote Sauvage is prohibited and drownings occur when people ignore it. Summer traffic down the single road is severe. Ferries to the islands book out in August.

Nearby

Belle-Ile lies offshore; Carnac is northeast.