Gardens, heritage, greenway and river around Pont-l'Abbé

Departure from the car park on Rue Mstislav Rostropovitch, near the bus station.

No signposts

(S/E) With your back to the Pont-l'Abbé River, follow Rue Mstislav Rostropovitch, ignore Rue Hoche on your left and continue to a roundabout. Turn left onto Rue Jules Simon, turn right onto Rue Arnoult, then left towards the small car park at Place des Camélias. Take a path on the right, cross a stream via a footbridge and continue to the end of the Jardin des Camélias.

(1) Turn left to cross a footbridge and return to Place des Camélias via the other bank of the stream. Shortly before the square, turn right onto a path that continues along a narrow alleyway and leads back to Rue Jules Simon. Follow it to the right, continue straight ahead along Rue Lamartine and you will arrive at Place Gambetta.

(2) Go around the square on the left, then turn left onto Rue Jean Le Berre. Continue left onto Rue Burdeau, then take the path on the right that leads to the Jardin des Douves (or Square de l'Europe) at the foot of the Château des Barons du Pont.

(3) Go around the château on the right, turn right onto Rue du Château, then left onto Rue Marceau. Cross Rue Pasteur, continue straight ahead onto Rue de l'Église (note the Chapelle du Sacré-Cœur on the right) and you will reach the Église Notre-Dame des Carmes. Continue along Rue de l'Église until you reach Quai Saint-Laurent.

GR® trail markers (white and red)

(4) Follow it to the left (note the Monument aux Bigoudens on the left) and reach the Pont Habité. Turn right to cross the bridge, then right again onto Quai de Pors Moro. Follow the quay, turn left onto Rue Saint-Jacques and you will come to the ruins of the Chapelle Saint-Jacques de Lambour (note the semi-buried fountain and steps on the right). Walk past the chapel on your left along Rue de Lambour and look for Chemin de Lambour on the left.

No signposts

(5) Follow this small street until you cross Rue des Chevaliers. Turn left and then right onto Rue Louis Lagadic and continue to a roundabout (note the Polnareff Tree in a small park on the left). Cross the roundabout, continue to an intersection just after the gendarmerie and turn left onto Rue Pen Enez until it intersects with Rue du Ménez.

PR® signposting (yellow)

(6) Continue straight ahead on this small street, which becomes a footpath. Follow it, cross a small road, turn right onto a footpath in the woods, then left to cross the D785 at a large roundabout.

(7) Cross this busy departmental road carefully at the pedestrian crossing, follow it on the right for a few metres and continue, slightly to the left, along Rue Hyacinthe Le Bléis. Pass the hotel, then turn left onto a discreet path just after the hotel and turn right at the end of the path. Continue along this path through the woods (note the fountain on the left) until you reach the greenway, part of the GR® de Pays Bigouden.

GRP® signposting (yellow and red)

(8) Follow it to the left, cross a small road, go under the bridge on the D785 (shortly after the bridge, you will see the remains of the Pont du Train Carottes bridge) and cross the Route de Saint-Julien. Cross it, take a path on the right that runs along the left bank of the Rivière de Pont-l'Abbé and continue to the Centre Culturel le Triskell.

No signposts

(9) Walk along the Triskell on your left, then cross the Rivière de Pont-l'Abbé on a footbridge. Walk along a wetland area until you reach a small road. Follow it to the left, cross a bridge, turn left and then quickly right to reach the car park where you started (S/E).

Between (5) and (6), the route follows the busy and noisy Rue Louis Lagadic for about 500 metres. However, this is not a problem for groups as the pavements are wide and several speed bumps limit motor vehicles to 30 km/h.

The PR® route has been redesigned between (6) and (8). The IGN map is not yet up to date, but the signage on the ground is perfectly adequate and easy to follow.

Some sections are very muddy or even flooded in winter on the banks of the Rivière de Pont-l'Abbé. If necessary, after the greenway, return to the starting point by taking Rue de Ster Vad southwards and then Rue de la Gare.

At the point (4), the Quai Saint-Laurent may be flooded at high tide. In this case, retrace your steps to Rue du Château, follow it to the right to reach the Pont Habité and continue the route.

Don't hesitate to lose yourself in the small pedestrian streets of Pont-l'Abbé. The only risk is that you'll make some wonderful discoveries.

There is a market every Thursday in Pont-l'Abbé, the largest in the Pays Bigouden.

Alternative car parks: Quai Saint-Laurent, Quai de Pors Moro, Place Gambetta and Place de la République. The latter two are closed on Thursdays due to the market.

Picnic tables in the grounds of the Château des Barons du Pont, near the Church of Notre-Dame des Carmes and the Church of Saint-Jacques de Lambour.

Numerous information panels along the route.

Toilets near the castle and the church.

Château des Barons du Pont, which now houses Pont-l'Abbé Town Hall and the Bigouden Museum.

Pont Habité, one of the only inhabited bridges left in France, along with those in Landerneau and Narbonne.

Notre-Dame des Carmes Church (late 14th century), usually open.

Remains ofthe Church of Saint-Jacques de Lambour (built between the 13th and 16th centuries).

Chapel of the Sacred Heart (19th century).

Monument to the Bigoudens by sculptor François Bazin.

Greenway, former railway line from Quimper to Pont-l'Abbé. Some traces of another line between Pont-l'Abbé and Pont-Croix, called the Train Carottes, still remain on the route, including the piers of a bridge over the Pont-l'Abbé River on the greenway after the D785.

Pont-l'Abbé River.

Camellia Garden and Moat Garden.

Weeping willow adorned with a pair of glasses, a tribute from the town to Michel Polnareff.

Beautiful old houses in Pont-l'Abbé and the surrounding countryside.