Carnac Travel Guide

  My painting of the alignments at Carnac
by Beausoleil
 
  • My painting of the alignments at Carnac
      My painting of the alignments at Carnac
    by Beausoleil
  • Dolmen in the foreground, Menhir in the background
      Dolmen in the foreground, Menhir in the...
    by cochinjew
  • By the road (Route de Crach)
      By the road (Route de Crach)
    by alza
  • Flowers on menhirs
      Flowers on menhirs
    by alza
  • Menhir alignments
      Menhir alignments
    by alza
 

Pro

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  sit back, have a crêpe with cider 


Con

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  mostly rocks 


In a nutshell

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  La mer! toujours formidable! 

 

Explore Carnac

Things to Do  

Le Musée de Préhistoire à Carnac

Le Musée de Préhistoire à Carnac, Carnac

 black_mimi99 Says:  One thing make me smile when see this information of Human species... The last is Homo Stress... can be true.... LOL 

Le Musée de Préhistoire à Carnac

Le Musée de Préhistoire à Carnac, Carnac

 black_mimi99 Says:  The prehistoric 'megalithic site of Carnac? Just visit the museum prehistoric of Carnac. 

Small Menhir

Small Menhir, Carnac

 black_mimi99 Says:  These small size of menhir formation. 

Small Tower

Small Tower, Carnac

 black_mimi99 Says:  From this tower, we can see more wide of these menhirs, from bih size to small size... 

Dolmens

Dolmens, Carnac

 black_mimi99 Says:  Besides the menhirs, another well-known monument is the 'Dolmen'. The term means "stone table" (from the Breton 'dol' (table) and 'men' (stone). In practice this is a series of menhirs on top of which large stones are placed, forming a sort of room or tunnel. 

Why were the standing stones built?

Why were the standing stones built?, Carnac

 black_mimi99 Says:  Numerous interpretations have been placed on these megalithic monuments - sometimes fanciful and not very credible. Nowadays most experts are inclined to believe, on the basis of the disposition of large stones, that they had a close relationship with studies of the stars... 

Neolithic Temples and Burial Grounds at Carnac

Neolithic Temples and Burial Grounds at  Carnac, Carnac

 ranger49 Says:  Text to follow! 

In Town See the Church of St. Cornely

In Town See the Church of St. Cornely, Carnac

 hquittner Says:  The facade of the 17C Church of St. Cornely (the patron saint of horned cattle) is relatively severe. His statue stands above the door withtwo oxen. The interior has a ships' keel curved and decorated wood ceiling with a wrought iron pulpit and choir grille (18C). The... 

Quiberon and the Cote Sauvage

Quiberon and the Cote Sauvage, Carnac

 hquittner Says:  Quiberon is the name of a small town (pop 5K) and also the peninsula on which it sits. Alonng the west it fronts on the Atlantic Ocean and it is there that we went to see the Cote Sauvage. Both it and the whole Morbihan area reminded us of the coast of Maine. There were no... 

Locmariaquer: The Dolmen of Kercadoret (?)

Locmariaquer: The Dolmen of Kercadoret (?), Carnac

 hquittner Says:  Up the D781 toward Auray, about 0.5 km from the area of the Great Menhir, on the right (east) side is the dolmen of Kercadoret(?). It is not visible from the road but is up the path about 50 yd. behind the backs of some houses in a clump of trees. There is a sort of mound... 

Locmariaquer: The Dolmen of Mane-Lud

Locmariaquer: The Dolmen of Mane-Lud, Carnac

 hquittner Says:  There are several other lesser sites near Locmariaquer not usually visited, each with different objects of interest. The nearest were the dolmen of Mane Lud and the tumulus of Er Grab (Vingle). We chose the former .The Dolmen of Mane Lude is in the area of the Merchants’... 

Locmariaquer: The Merchants' Table Menhir

Locmariaquer: The Merchants' Table Menhir, Carnac

 hquittner Says:  The Merchants’ Table is the name given to the large dolmen 200 m away from the Great Menhir. It was buried in a tumulus, part of which remains, about 36 m long. Like Gavrinis it is also a passage grave, but the capstone of the chamber is so large that part of it covers some... 

Locmariaquer: The Great Menhir

Locmariaquer: The Great Menhir, Carnac

 hquittner Says:  The Great Menhir and the Merchant’s Table Dolmen are together as a single visit. The menhir was overthrown and broken into 4 pieces in prehistoric times (not struck by lightning) during an iconoclastic period. Assembled, it is the biggest menhir known. Apparently it stood... 

Gavrinis: A Prehistoric Abstract Art Gallery

Gavrinis: A Prehistoric Abstract Art Gallery, Carnac

 hquittner Says:  The most remarkable aspects of our visit were the stone surfaces of the passage. Each of the 23 stones is decorated with a mysterious array of designs. The patterns are graceful, somewhat like whorls of a fingerprint. A predominant patter is a lateral or inverted “U”, with... 

Gavrinis: Examine the Cairn

Gavrinis: Examine the Cairn, Carnac

 hquittner Says:  A cairn is a hill of stones covering a grave site (if further completely covered with dirt with or without stones, it is called a tumulus). This cairn is 8m(25 ft) high and 100m (328 ft) round and sits on a hillock. It once overlooked a fertile valley where there were... 

Gavrinis:Go to This Island for Its Cairn

Gavrinis:Go to This Island for Its Cairn, Carnac

 hquittner Says:  If you spend time in the Carnac area, you should definitely not miss the cairn on Gavrinis Island. It takes planning and time to visit the island as it is only reachable by boat from the little port of Lamor-Baden. The trip is 15 min. each way and the visit to the cairn... 

The Alignment of Kermario is Next to Menec

The Alignment of Kermario is Next to Menec, Carnac

 hquittner Says:  The Kermario Alignment is 250 m from the Menec ones. There are also passage graves nearby to see but you need local maps and directons. These ,\may not be as interesting as some cairns and tumuli further off. It depends upon your time and interests. This one did no t add... 

The Alignments are North of Town (at Menec)

The Alignments are North of Town (at Menec), Carnac

 hquittner Says:  The main alignement extends eastward from the cluster of houses (called the village of Menec). This is the most famous group of alignments and the largest. It covers an area in a filed tha measures 1167m long and 100m wide. The stones (menhirs) are in long rows (about 11 in... 

Hotels  

Hotel Le Churchill

 37 Opinions

Best Western Celtique

 93 Opinions

Restaurants  

Restaurant La Côte: A great experience in the Morbihan, Brittany

Restaurant La Côte: A great experience in the Morbihan, Brittany, Carnac

 alza Says:  The Restaurant La Côte in Carnac is celebrating 17 years of passion for good food in 2011 so I thought I'd update my tip. I haven't been back to Brittany since 1999 but when I do return to this favourite place of mine, I will go back to Carnac and to Pierre Michaud's... 

All the Better Restaurants of Morbihan Bay Area: Oyster Farms in Morbihan Bay

All the Better Restaurants of  Morbihan Bay Area: Oyster Farms in Morbihan Bay, Carnac

 hquittner Says:  As we went to the Island of Gavrinis in Morbihan Bay (See Things to Do Tips), we passed workers busy in their oyster beds. These delicacies were expensively featured in our gourmet dinners at the Hotel at which we stayed (See our Hotel Tip). We had not yet moved to our... 

The Place

Plan a Carnac vacation with reviews, tips and photos posted by real travelers and Carnac locals

Experience Carnac
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The People

 
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Questions and Answers

DaisyWhite profile photo

Q:  I´m going to Vannes and I want to know if I can go to Carnac by train or also by bus. I want to know too if the stones are close... 

Sarastro profile photo

A: Here is a site with information about bus travel to Carnac: http://www.carnac.fr/default.php?page=29 Located about 1/2 - 3/4 mile north of town, the stones are... 

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Top Carnac Writers

1

The Center of the Megalithic Monuments

hquittner profile photo

 The megaliths are in several places, obviously not in the town (pop. 3K) itself, except for the fine prehistory museum which we missed. We started our tour of Brittany in this area of Morbihan lodging... 

2

And the big mystery is.. why?

Mique profile photo

 So impressive. And why were they put up inthe first place? What purpose did they serve? 

3

Prehistoric, and Ancient Stone Formation

black_mimi99 profile photo

 When we arrived in this city, all of these ancient stone formations had welcome us... such a great view and make me amazed of the prehistoric people who built this.... Carnac is on the Morbihan... 

4

Brittany in general

alza profile photo

 Les alignements mégalithes de Carnac -- babelfish should help.... It was summer everytime I went to Brittany, but there was always lots of wind, sometimes a drizzle (was it the ocean mist?) Bring...... 

5

Megaliths at Carnac

Kate-Me profile photo

 I've got some interesting experiences in Carnac. I'd love to share with you the 1 tip I've written, the 7 photos uploaded, and 1 travelogue I've created. 

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