サンブリューク国立自然保護区周辺のアトラクション＆必見スポット - トップ18

Beautiful landscape, nice hike

Stop in front of the orientation table and enjoy this exceptional landscape. At low tide, the mussel farms are clearly visible. Hillion Bay has been home to several mussel farming concessions since the 1960s. Here, we are talking about bouchot mussels, on wooden stakes planted in the sand. The bay and its powerful tidal ranges (the sea retreats up to 7km) are suitable for the growth of mussels, ready to be enjoyed from June to October. They have been Label Rouge certified since 2017. Direct sales in the Bon Abri mussel farming area. Photo credit: Emmanuel Berthier

Located on a strategic point of the Bay of Saint-Brieuc, facing the points of Roselier (Plérin) and Cesson (Saint-Brieuc), it overlooks the Nature Reserve of the Bay. A belvedere has been built on the platform of the former blockhouse of the German occupying army during the 2nd World War. To defend the Atlantic Wall, 500 artillery posts have been installed throughout the department, including about ten on the Hillion peninsula. Photo credit: Emmanuel Berthier

Today, La Grève des Courses is part of the GR34, a coastal hiking trail that allows you to discover all of Brittany’s coasts. From here, you can enjoy magnificent views of the Anse d’Yffiniac. The area is also home to mussel farms, known as “bouchots”, which are a local specialty. The Réserve Naturelle de La Baie de Saint-Brieuc itself is the largest nature reserve in Brittany.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, La Grève des Courses was a festive place where horse races and aviation meetings took place. However, it later became a wild dump where waste was thrown directly onto the sand, polluting the bay. Thanks to the efforts of environmental associations, it was transformed into a nature reserve.

Volunteers work to perpetuate the memory of the “Little Train” present from 1905 to 1956 in the Côtes-du-Nord department. Free access site, two exhibitions in passenger cars, one of which is permanent on the history of this little train. For a more fun moment, board one of the “Boutdeville Tramways” which crisscross the magnificent park.

Wild and secret, the Yffiniac cove is the most advanced part of the land of the Bay of Saint-Brieuc. Located in the heart of the largest Nature Reserve in Brittany, it can be discovered along the Chemin des Grêves.

The fifth bay in the world for the amplitude of its tides is located on the Channel-Atlantic migration axis. Between 30,000 and 40,000 birds make a migratory stopover here or reside there for the winter: Siberian geese, spotted locusts, Balearic shearwaters, skylarks, melodious linnets, brent geese... These guests know that in this landscape of more than a thousand hectares, apparently desert, intense animal life animates the waters and sand. A real pantry! The bottom of the bay is also home to remarkable geology, dunes, salt meadows...