The V45 cycle route from Guidel to Riantec

Route marked by cycle route signs with the inscription V45. For more information on the V45 (from Roscoff to St-Nazaire), visit the France Vélo Tourisme website

The route continues to Plouhinec and its neighbouring towns. For more information, click here.

• The port of Guidel: in the 1920s, this site was covered with pastures where cows grazed. Behind it was the jetty, which had been home to the ferry connecting the two banks of the Laïta since medieval times.
• The Loch ponds: the Loch ponds Regional Nature Reserve covers an area of 125 hectares.
• The Fort du Loch: built in 1756 to protect Lorient from English invasions. Today, it occasionally hosts exhibitions.
• Fort Bloqué: built in 1748 on a small island, located about a hundred metres from the shore, to defend the flourishing city of Lorient against English attacks. The fort, which is privately owned, can be reached on foot at low tide. The current buildings were rebuilt in^{the 19th} century.
• The Kaolin Quarry: kaolin extraction and processing began in 1904. Kaolin is used in the manufacture of porcelain and ceramics, but is also used in the paper, medicine and cosmetics industries.
• The anti-landing wall: in 1942, the Germans began construction of the "Atlantic Wall". In Courégant, concrete walls were built to prevent an Allied landing. Today, these remains are gradually disappearing under the effect of the tides and storms.
• The port of Lomener: Maps showing changes in the landscape, particularly military maps from the period 1820-1860, show that the old settlement was clustered around the port of Lomener in the form of a fishing village. It was from the^{18th century} onwards, and particularly in^{the 19th} century, that Ploemeur's maritime activity developed. This was the era of sardine fishing and the rise of canneries.
• The Kerguélen marshes: The lagoon was drained in 1902 for health reasons. The dune was raised with deposits of granite sand and kaolin waste. This wetland, filled in the 1960s with marble and household waste, was rehabilitated in 2006 to limit flooding and increase the capacity for water birds.
• Fort Loqueltas: occupied by the army since the^18th century. A fort flanked by two bastions, defending the entrance to the enclosure on the land side, was built there in 1758, with further modifications carried out until the end of^{the 19th century}. It was occupied by the Germans in 1939-45.
• The port of Kernevel: the port and defensive area of Kernevel was a strategic site in the^18th century, as it defended Lorient and its prestigious Compagnie des Indes from an English landing. The star-shaped fort built in 1761 complemented the citadel of Port-Louis built on the left bank of the harbour.
• The Ter ponds: the Ter stream now feeds the two ponds of Saint-Mathurin and Kermélo. The first was created in 1756 during the construction of the Moulin Neuf dyke. The Kermélo pond was formed in 1967 following the reconstruction of the dyke bridge destroyed by the Germans during the^Second World War.
• The former submarine base: between 1941 and 1944, the Germans built a large base to house their submarines. Part of the Atlantic Wall, it was the largest reinforced concrete military complex built by the^Third Reich outside Germany. There are visitor attractions such as the Cité de la Voile Eric Tabarly, the Flore submarine, the Underwater Museum, the K3, the international offshore racing centre and Hydrophone, the contemporary music venue.
• The fishing port: inaugurated in 1927, the tidal port with two basins stands in the Keroman cove and has been linked to a ship repair platform and an ice house since its foundation.
• Avenue de la Perrière: a former road leading to a stone quarry in the^17th century, Avenue de la Perrière became the backbone of the port area after 1945. The avenue, punctuated by red and green beacons, distributes the fishing and commercial ports in a herringbone pattern.
• The floating dock: at the beginning of^{the 19th} century, when the former port of the Compagnie des Indes closed to trade to become exclusively military, a new merchant port with a floating dock, lock and outer harbour was built in the Faouëdic riverbed.
• The quay and the Peristyle promenade: home to the Compagnie des Indes' warehouses used to store goods brought back from India. Today, the site is home to the Maison de l'agglomération de Lorient, designed by architect Jean de Giacinto.
• Sainte Catherine: a convent founded by monks in^{the 15th} century, accessible by a small bridge, which was later converted into a hospital. The estate was purchased by Raymond Rallier du Baty in 1925. In 1834, a ferry service was established between Ste-Catherine and the Perrière district of Lorient.
• Commune of Locmiquélic: in Breton, Locmikaelig, comes from the words loch (hermitage) and Mikaelig (Michel). Long part of the commune of Riantec, it was established as a parish in 1907 and a commune in 1919.
• Kerzo Castle: built around 1878 on the Kerzo headland by Henri Guiheneuc, mayor of Port-Louis, on the site of an old disused fort dating from the late^18th century. Only two turrets remain of the castle, which was partially destroyed during the war in 1939.
• The port of La Pointe: the heyday of the port of La Pointe was during the era of the Compagnie des Indes. Numerous ships, sometimes up to 200, from various countries, anchored in the harbour. After the sardine crisis at the beginning of^{the 20th} century, the port of La Pointe became a tuna port, arming dundees (there were up to 80 of them), then turned to offshore fishing and coastal trawling. It faced competition from the new port of Keroman in Lorient, built in 1927.
• Port-Louis and its citadel: the Citadel of Port-Louis was built in the^16th century by the Spanish during the conflict between Catholic Spain and Protestant England, then modified in the^17th century when King Louis XIII decided to give Port-Louis the status of a royal town. In 1666, the East India Company established itself in the harbour of Port-Louis and the town of Lorient was created. The citadel's current appearance dates from this period. It now houses the East India Company Museum and the National Maritime Museum.
• The Locmalo fish market: this former fishing village was redeveloped in the^19th century for sardine fishing.
  The Port-Louis fish market opened in 1889. Competition from Keroman in Lorient led to its closure in 1927. Restored after a fire in 1943, the former fish market now houses the Salle des Fêtes.
• Petite Mer de Gâvres: this area is rich in plant and animal species. Every winter, thousands of birds come here to recharge their batteries before returning to their nesting sites.
• Sainte Radegonde Church: built in^{the 11th} century in the Neo-Gothic style, Sainte Radegonde Church was destroyed by fire in 1917. It was rebuilt in 1927 in its current form. Its originality lies in the material used for its reconstruction: reinforced concrete.