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(DA) Depart from the Parc à Chaînes car park. With your back to the sea (facing the high walls), go to the far left of the car park and cross the small roundabout at the corner of Rue Commandant Mabert to climb a staircase.
Continue straight on after the stairs, towards the castle (i.e. turn left into the street).
Take a detour through the small Jardin de l'Académie de Marine (popular lawns in summer, and panoramic view of the harbour).
Then continue to the Château de Brest, following a winding uphill street.
Pass the entrance to the Musée de la Marine (Naval Museum), i.e. the Château de Brest (open to visitors), and walk along the park at the edge of the château.
After the park, do not go down Boulevard de la Marine, but cross over to the other side at the foot of a white residential building, a pedestrian area, to Pont de Recouvrance (large double concrete pylons).
(1) Cross the Pont de Recouvrance (large concrete drawbridge, emblematic of the city despite its purely functional aesthetic).
After the bridge, turn left and walk down to the Tour Tanguy (a large medieval tower, open to visitors, which houses a small museum).
(2) Walk past the foot of the Tour Tanguy and continue down a staircase into the street. Walk along the perimeter wall (military grounds) via Rue de l'Église, but immediately after a large house, turn right onto a wide stone staircase marked "Petite Rue de l'Église".
The staircase zigzags between buildings. Exit by turning left onto Rue Traverse de l'Église. At the end, turn left.
(3) At the corner with Rue de la Pointe is the Maison de la Fontaine and its public fountain (one of the oldest houses in Brest, open to visitors).
Note the plaque on the fountain referring to the thirst of the people of Brest, and next to it a very old crucifix carved from a single block of stone.
Opposite the fountain, the high wall has an opening with a gate: this is the entrance to the Jardin des Explorateurs.
(4) Enter the Jardin des Explorateurs, which has a belvedere promenade with a breathtaking view of the harbour (see "During the walk or nearby").
Exit at the other end of the garden and take Rue de Rochefort opposite.
Go around the church via the small square on the left, then turn right at the corner of the church towards Place Vauban.
Cross straight ahead, then turn left onto Rue de la Communauté, which then becomes Rue Bouillon.
When you see a tree-lined square on your right below, take the second right onto Rue Docteur Thielmans, which runs alongside small buildings on your left without going down to the tree-lined square.
Further on, at the bend in Rue Thielmans, leave the street and continue straight ahead up the steps towards Pont de Recouvrance.
Go down a series of steps to pass under the Pont de Recouvrance bridge.
On the other side, walk along the white fence overlooking the military zone, then continue along Rue Quartier Maître Bondon, then Rue "Place Jean Bart" followed by Rue Jean Bart.
Take a detour through the Jardin du Deuxième Dépôt on your right.
A little further on, at the garden exit, turn right onto Rue du Pontaniou, then turn left and climb the very steep Rue Victor Rossel.
Turn right onto Rue Lars. Halfway down, on the right-hand side, you will find No. 16 Rue Lars, with its remarkable columns on the street side and the building's entrance dating from 1759 (although the building itself appears to be more recent).
At the end of Rue Lars, slightly to the left, enter through an opening in the vegetation and go down a staircase that leads to a courtyard.
(5) Just after the courtyard, turn right onto Rue de Saint-Malo, or more precisely its older section (it is the oldest street in Brest). Ruins can be visited.
At the other end, go up a staircase to reach the corner of Les Ateliers des Capucins.
(6) Take the Belvédère Cesaria Evora pedestrian walkway, which goes around the large building that forms Les Ateliers des Capucins.
Be sure to visit the Ateliers des Capucins (see "During the walk or nearby").
After walking around, return to Rue de Pontaniou and take the staircase opposite Les Capucins. Cross the square and take a second staircase opposite, which goes up alongside a modern building.
Turn immediately right to walk along another building on your left and pass in front of a large cylindrical concrete reservoir.
Continue straight ahead as if to pass under the bridge visible opposite, and at the foot of the bridge you will find a staircase leading up to the Pont de l'Harteloire.
At the roundabout, cross the street and, opposite the pedestrian crossing, take a path through the grass that runs behind a large light blue building with red edges.
Follow the path which ends up (after passing communal gardens and a small park) at the entrance to the Remparts de Quéliverzan (marked by a round metal sign on the ground saying "Balcon Penfeld").
(7) Take the path that leads to the Remparts de Quéliverzan (ramparts visible beyond a large depression in the ground, covered with vegetation).
The path winds for several hundred metres through a wood; follow it and at each fork take the path that goes downhill.
The path leads to Route de Kervallon, a tarmac road, with numerous ruins of buildings and ramparts visible on the other side.
Turn right onto Route de Kervallon to descend towards a wooden barrier and colourful street art. Continue straight ahead: cross the small dam on the Penfeld.
(8) On the other side, pass the Porte de l'Arrière Garde on your right and follow the hairpin bend.
Opposite, you will see a high stone wall with a sign saying "Rue des Archives"; at the corner, you will find a small staircase leading up into the woods.
Follow the stairs and then the narrow path that runs along the high wall, then enters the woods (stay on the widest path).
After the path crosses a clearing, it leads to two paths with a white and blue building and a well-kept lawn opposite. Stay under the woods and take the path that turns right (ignore the building and the lawn).
Continue along the path, staying under the woods (further on, ignore another path on the left towards the lawn). Find a path that turns right and leads to a winding wooden staircase: take it.
At the bottom of the stairs, turn left and walk along the top of the military enclosure wall, straight ahead to the end.
After about 500 metres, leave at the corner of the wall and climb up the lawn opposite, veering to the left.
You will need to cross the street (behind the bush) and reach the stadium on the other side: find a white metal gate - if it is locked, use the tunnel just below. Reach the edge of the stadium.
On the other side of the stadium (rugby field surrounded by an athletics track), find a grassy area and cross it heading south towards Porte Castelnau, a very visible stone arch.
From the grassy area and the stadium, you can see the entire southern part of Brest, including the Pont de Recouvrance bridge and the cable car.
(9) Pass under the Porte Castelnau.
Like many monuments in Brest, these are ruins from the Second World War that have been salvaged, reassembled and often moved.
On the other side, go down Rue de Lille, then turn left to go back up it.
At a small roundabout, take the second right, still on Rue de Lille (dead end).
Follow the fence on your left, then at the first entrance, cross to the other side of the fence and continue along the other side through the university car park alleys.
Turn left between two buildings when you can no longer continue straight ahead (you will pass the Armen university restaurant on your right).
Continue straight ahead through the car park but do not exit onto Avenue Victor Le Gorgeu opposite: turn right before the small steps to walk alongside a rounded blue/green building on your right.
Further on, when the lane curves to the right, take a small path on the left, which passes under the Schuman Bridge.
Follow the main path down through the woods via several sets of steps.
You will come to Rue Lanrédec via a staircase; turn right there.
Then turn right again onto Rue de la Digue and follow it until you reach the bridge.
Almost directly under the bridge, turn right under the dense trees into Impasse du Bois de Boulogne.
Climb this charming little shaded cul-de-sac with its winding path to the end.
At the very end, at the foot of a house with a veranda, and almost invisible from the cul-de-sac, you will find a staircase leading to several houses.
Go down this narrow staircase, which leads back to Rue de la Digue, then continue on the other side to reach the parallel street: Rue du Moulin à Poudre, and turn right there.
Follow the street for 300-400 metres: note the remains of the ramparts on the right; pass a roundabout surrounded on one side by the Porte de la Brasserie (military) and opposite the remains of an old building: the Octroi; then a little further on, you will find a large double staircase on the left.
(10) Bravely climb this large staircase located on Rue Latouche-Tréville (note that it is surprisingly warped).
Turn immediately right onto Rue Lamotte-Picquet, then take the first right onto Rue Louis Delobeau.
At the next bend, you will see a modern, completely black house on the right-hand corner.
Turn right onto the grass to go around the black house and end up in a small public park that is invisible from the street.
Exit the park in the opposite direction and continue straight ahead on the street, which becomes Rue Jules Vallès.
At the end of the street, in a car park, ignore the staircase on the left that goes up, and at the very end, take the staircase that goes down under the Pont de l'Harteloire bridge. Cross the street.
Continue under the bridge, passing between the piers as much as possible, until you reach the bend, then turn left onto Boulevard Jean Moulin.
Follow Boulevard Jean Moulin for about 600-800m, along the high fence that marks the boundary of the military zone and overlooks the Penfeld river, with a breathtaking view of the Ateliers des Capucins.
(11) Along the way (in a small triangular park opposite a roundabout), you will find the reconstructed remains of the Péristyle de la Caserne Fautras.
Continue along the boulevard to the cable car terminal (shunned by skiers, even in winter).
With your back to the cable car, take Rue Ducouedic and its steps opposite, then take the first left onto Rue de Siam.
Walk up Rue de Siam, a long street with the Town Hall at the top, which is emblematic of life in Brest both day and night.
After passing two crossroads, you will arrive at Place des Fontaines (which lives up to its name), surrounded on the left by the Dialogue bookshop and on the right by a passageway under a building leading to a square with a lawn.
The Dialogue bookshop is worth a visit (see "During the walk or nearby").
(12) Turn right (opposite the bookshop) through the passageway under a building into Square Commandant L'Herminier and its Porte de la Caserne Guépin.
Continue straight ahead to Place Wilson (with a round concrete kiosk in the centre) and cross diagonally to the left to reach the corner opposite (small roundabout).
Take Rue Jean Macé, which slopes downwards with a view of the harbour.
On Rue Jean Macé, take the first left onto Rue Voltaire (going around a primary school).
Continue straight ahead on Rue Voltaire, pass a first crossroads, then just after a second crossroads, you will arrive at a park (with a small car park under the trees), the Jardin Alphonse Juin.
Continue along the small car park under the trees on your right, and take a path on the right to cross the very shady park.
Cross the park under the trees, heading south.
Exit at the other end of the park (at the intersection of Avenue Salaun Penquer and Rue de Denver), and on the other side of Rue de Denver, take a path leading into a new park: Jardin Victor Ségalen.
Cross the Jardin Victor Ségalen, then continue straight ahead for about 300 metres through the Cours d'Ajot (tree-lined path).
You will reach the American First World War Memorial (Brest) or "Tour Rose", as the locals call it (its real English name is "Naval Monument"). It is a memorial owned by the USA, built after the First World War in 1930, destroyed by the Nazis and rebuilt in 1958.
It also offers a breathtaking view of the Brest harbour, as does the entire promenade along the Cours d'Ajot (as the locals write it, although it is actually spelled Cours Dajot without an apostrophe).
Continue along the promenade for 100 to 200 metres after the monument, then turn left onto the large staircase that leads down to the commercial port and a roundabout.
Cross the roundabout carefully and on the other side take a second staircase that leads directly to the Parc à Chaîne car park (S/E).
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