Brocéliande: a legendary forest

For the potential believer, this is the forest where a magician (Merlin the Enchanter) and a fairy (Viviane the Fairy) met. For the same walker, it's also where Arthur's Knights met at the Round Table. Finally, will the walker see the fairies who took to the water? before meeting the fairy Morgane, who locks up all knights unfaithful to their oath of love in an impenetrable prison of air (the Val sans Retour). A vast program.

Details

814097
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 6.03 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 2h 05 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 119 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 115 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 190 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 86 m

Photos

Description of the walk

_ Start _: Park in the car park in the centre of the village of Tréhorenteuc, near the Tourist Office and the chapel.

(S/E) Leave the car park, heading due South on Rue du Pâtis.
When you reach the D141, turn right for about 20 m and then, at the crow's-foot, follow the road to the left. The path soon follows the Ruisseau du Gué de Mony. Before you reach the pond, take the left-hand path to see the Arbre d'Or. Make a U-turn and turn left along a pond.

(1) ''Look at the reflection of the trees in the water of the pond; Is it not, rather, the fairies who put themselves in the water without ever showing themselves to men? Continue along the Ruisseau du Gué de Mony on your left to a second pond.

(2) At the end of the pond, ignore a footbridge on the left to continue along the Ruisseau du Gué de Mony, keeping it to your left as long as it runs North-East.

(3) After crossing a small stream, continue eastwards, turning right to reach the Vallée des Portes. The path bends southwards, again crossing the stream.

(4) Ignore the path on the left and continue straight ahead on a wide curve to the right, ignoring a path on the right.

(5) On the road, turn left in a hairpin bend and head due North along the edge of the wood.
Pass the Hôtié or Maison de Viviane (see below), then continue straight ahead to rejoin the outward path.

(4) Turn right into the Vallée des Portes.

(3). Continue with the Ruisseau du Gué de Mony on your right to the end of the pond.

(2) Leave the outward path and continue over the footbridge to the right. After a hundred metres, take the path on the right and head for Val sans Retour.

(6) View of the forest and Val de Mony. Continue westwards, keeping the valley on your left. Ignore a path on the left that leads down to the pond. Continue for 100 m, then turn right. Before you reach the road, you'll see "Merlin's Seat" on your right.

(7) Turn left onto the road and follow it to the main road. Turn right, passing the Manoir des Rues-Neuves, also known as Château de Gurwan. Follow Rue de Brocéliande to the left, then turn left to find the car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 89 m - Town centre car park
  2. 1 : km 1.02 - alt. 97 m - The Fairy Mirror
  3. 2 : km 1.95 - alt. 121 m - On the outward journey = Straight on / On the return journey = To the right
  4. 3 : km 2.15 - alt. 127 m - Right after the bridge
  5. 4 : km 2.61 - alt. 161 m - Press right
  6. 5 : km 3.06 - alt. 179 m - Left hairpin
  7. 6 : km 4.51 - alt. 138 m - Viewpoint over the Val sans Retour
  8. 7 : km 4.98 - alt. 138 m - Left on the road
  9. S/E : km 6.02 - alt. 89 m - Town centre car park

Notes

_ Start _: Park in the car park in the centre of the village of Tréhorenteuc, near the Tourist Office and the chapel.

Worth a visit

Le Miroir aux Fées: reflection = mirage or reality.
The Valley of the Doors.
L'Hôtié de Viviane: Neolithic tomb dating from around 4500 BC. Viviane is the guardian of nature and lady of the lake.
The Valley of No Return.
L'Arbre d'Or: Work of art by François Davin. It's a chestnut tree gilded with gold leaf, installed after the fires of 1990. The work symbolizes the power and inalterability of the forest, the majesty of the tree and the antlers of the stag, a mythological animal often associated with Merlin.
Merlin's Seat: fault in a schist ridge.
Le Manoir des Rues Neuves one of the oldest residences in Brocéliande (late 15th century).

Reviews and comments

4.3 / 5
Based on 23 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.2 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.1 / 5
Route interest
4.5 / 5
erictual
erictual
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 25, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

A short but intense walk in places, alternating relaxed sections with tricky, even steep passages. Best reserved for experienced walkers.
Apart from that, the route is very popular in summer, which is hardly surprising given the growing popularity of everything to do with Arthurian legend.

Machine-translated

jeanmichel.t
jeanmichel.t
• Edited:

circuit without interest if not the walk ... very disappointing ...

Machine-translated

grumffy91
grumffy91

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 15, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A lovely walk in the forest, with a route that has been around for a long time, allowing you to avoid the groups that follow the itineraries provided by the tourist office. It's not very easy, though, with a few steep spots on rock that can throw a weak-legged person like me off balance.

Machine-translated

abhervas
abhervas

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 23, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Nice walk. I did it in light rain and there was no-one there. But I found out later that it was forbidden until the end of March! You'd have to find out and indicate this in the description.
I think that, as the forest here is quite young and unspectacular, the title should be changed.
I agree with the 2019 notice stating that "due to nature protection restrictions, passage no. 7 will have to be modified". In fact, this is the route described at no. 6 ("Ignore a path on the left that descends towards the pond. Continue for 100m then turn right. Before you reach the road, you will see "Merlin's Seat" on your right"). This requires you to climb over a low fence and disregard the no-passing rule to encourage plant regeneration. Impossible to find without a GPS, as there are no markers to indicate this. The alternative is to follow the ledge path that bends to the right as far as the main road, too bad for Merlin's Seat.

Machine-translated

CCch
CCch

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 30, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Descriptions made with water... but the second lake was dry!
A beautiful walk, very popular at the end of July 2022, especially on the lower part at the start and the ridges at the end of the route (storytelling walks on the "val sans retour" circuit). The sites in the region are all very popular.
Passages over outcrops of rock a little tricky, especially if wet.
All in all, a great little tour that's definitely worth doing.

Machine-translated

pp77
pp77

Overall rating : 2.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 14, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Very busy route : Yes

disappointed in general, no description of areas of interest, no highlighting, lots of schools present.

Machine-translated

yannherbert
yannherbert

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 15, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very pleasant walk in varied surroundings, forests and meadows, with a nice surprise in the shape of Trécesson castle.

There are a few minor marker and description difficulties at level 4 of the walk.

Not a very popular route, with the exception of the "val sans retour", which is very popular.

Thank you

Machine-translated

pdelac
pdelac

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 13, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A lot of people, a little too well signposted, but beautiful scenery, especially on the second part.

Machine-translated

Domi et Michèle
Domi et Michèle

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : May 19, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Not a very popular walk, but certainly worthwhile given the date.
No difficulties if you don't make a mistake at number 6 and keep to the right.
Not to be done if it has rained too much.

Machine-translated

Mme Jeannin
Mme Jeannin

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 12, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

This tour is great for nature and the environment, with its pretty viewpoints. Nevertheless, I agree with other reviews on your site: the route needs to be revised with annotations of things to see, because we didn't see them, e.g. Merlin's Seat, etc. Moreover, the markings in the region are very poor, if not completely absent. The markings in the region are very poor, if not completely absent. Above all, please revise your "easy" description, as there are some rocky sections both up and down. Also, because of the "nature protection" restrictions, you'll have to change passage no. 7. I've attached a screenshot.

Machine-translated

cpjf
cpjf

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 23, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Without difficulties

Machine-translated

coco68@
coco68@

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 17, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

What a beautiful day!
Brocéliande and its legends cannot fail to seduce.
Definitely worth doing again.

Machine-translated

jozzoj
jozzoj

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 13, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : Yes

I missed out on the magic of the Broceliande forest. Probably because the route is so busy, but also because it's well signposted and has a grid pattern. You feel like you're on a toboggan for hikers. It's impossible to step sideways. The mystique takes a hit... I'm sure there are plenty of other ways to discover this famous forest.

Machine-translated

MagDalie
MagDalie
• Edited:

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 31, 2020
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very pretty nature walk, lots of shade, and at the end, some very beautiful landscapes high up in the heather and rocks. The stream was dry, but when it's flowing, it must also add a real "freshness" pleasure...

On the other hand, the description contains some errors regarding the height difference: the positive height difference is 249m and the negative is 238m.
The highest point is 244m and the lowest 128m.
This was a bit of a problem for us, as the hike is rated as "easy", but the difference in altitude and the rocks belie this description, as far as I'm concerned. Of course, you can do it without worry if you're in good shape, but there are some real "climbing" spots in the rocks, so with people who have a few difficulties, or small children, I wouldn't recommend it.
There were 3 of us, including one person with a bad back, so it wasn't easy for him.
And just so you know, it's obviously impossible with a pushchair.

We did the tour on a summer's evening after 5.30pm, which I think is why it wasn't very busy... But otherwise I think it's very busy, though...

But apart from these "details", the walk is well worth the diversions. Thanks for sharing!

Machine-translated

henri57
henri57 ★

Hello,

Thank you for taking the time to give us your opinion.

Were there any problems with the description and layout? If so, what can be done about it? Can you make any suggestions?

A+

Machine-translated

Other walks in the area

For more walks, use our search engine .

The GPS track and description are the property of this route's author. Please do not copy them without permission.