12 BRETAGNE - DE SAINT-MALO À ARZAL, DE LORIENT À NANTES ET DE BREST À GOARIVA

inland waterways guide

The Rance and the Ille et Rance Canal (from Saint-Malo to Rennes), the Vilaine (from Rennes to Arzal), the Blavet (from Lorient to Pontivy), the canal from Nantes to Brest (East branch),  the Erdre (as far as Nort), the Aff (as far as La Gacilly), the Aulne and the canal from Nantes to Brest (from the lock at Goariva to Landevennec).

Isolated from the rest of the navigable waterways, but saved from being forgotten by the fierce determination of a handful of associations supported by the local authorities, the Brittany network is currently one of the most beautiful in Europe. It is formed from two main routes that cross at Redon, the river-traffic capital of Brittany:

• The Manche-Océan link, from St Malo to Arzal, leaves the Ille et Rance Canal at Rennes to follow the Vilaine as far as its mouth ;

• The Nantes to Brest canal begins with the Erdre –a superb river "the most beautiful of my kingdom" said François 1st – then, at Pontivy, it is interrupted by the Guerlédan barrage. It then proceeds towards the sea, as far as Lorient, taking a pretty salmon river, the Blavet.

After the barrage at Guerlédan, the Finisterre branch of the canal is navigable over about 100 km. The channelled Aulne meanders through a wild and romantic valley, before joining the Brest roads.