The coastal path in Brétignolles

The sound of waves crashing on the beaches, the smell of salt air and invigorating sea breezes: this is what you can expect on this hike, which follows the coastline as closely as possible.

Details

11607
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 6.11 mi
  • ◔
    Average duration: 2h 50 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 30 ft
  • ↘
    Descent: - 30 ft

  • ▲
    Highest point: 66 ft
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 16 ft

Photos

Description of the walk

Start from the Town Hall car park.

(S/E) Head towards La Parée Plage via Avenue de la Plage.

(1) Opposite the mini-golf course, turn right onto Rue des Morinières and continue straight ahead.

(2) After the entrance to La Motine campsite, leave the road (before it starts to climb) and take the path on the left which leads into the Parc des Morinières. At the following crossroads, continue straight on until you reach a pond, which you should go round on the right. Cross at the pedestrian crossing between the two roundabouts towards the Étang des Morinières.

(3) Walk round the pond, following the left-hand bank (anti-clockwise). Join Rue de la Martinière and follow it up via the footpath on its right. At the end of Rue de la Martinière, take the path opposite.

(4) Return to the tarmac and continue straight ahead onto Avenue de la Garenne de la Chalonnière, using the footpath on your right. Carry on straight ahead, following this avenue all the way.

(5) When you reach La Sauzaie, follow the footpath to the left along the cliff top to explore the Brétignolles coastline. Walk past the esplanade with its wooden promenade.

(6) Continue along the promenade overlooking the Sauzaie surf spot. Keep following this promenade.

(7) At Allée Sainte-Véronique, on your right, you’ll see the Rocher Sainte-Véronique.
Carry on along the coast (following Avenue de la Corniche) to reach the La Parée neighbourhood

(8). After passing through this neighbourhood, one of the town’s oldest seaside resorts, carry on along the coast, following Avenue de l’Océan, until you reach a roundabout near which there is a hotel-restaurant.
Carry on along the coast for 700 metres until you reach the Marais Girard car park.

(9) Opposite the ‘L’Oasis’ crêperie, turn right onto Rue du Marais Girard until you reach the farm of the same name. Continue along the pavement to the right (Rue de la Source).

(10) Turn onto the first road on the left (signposted as a dead end at the entrance) – Rue des Prairies – which continues as a track.

At the end of the track, turn left to reach a roundabout. Take the first road on the right to reach the car park of the U hypermarket. Turn left onto Avenue de Verdun and follow it to the right.

After passing the Town Hall, head for the car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : mi 0 - alt. 46 ft - Town Hall car park
  2. 1 : mi 0.34 - alt. 46 ft - Mini-golf
  3. 2 : mi 0.48 - alt. 30 ft - Entrance to the Parc des Morinières
  4. 3 : mi 0.88 - alt. 36 ft - Étang des Morinières
  5. 4 : mi 1.9 - alt. 62 ft - Le Châtelier
  6. 5 : mi 2.56 - alt. 26 ft - La Sauzaie and its boat launch ramp
  7. 6 : mi 2.86 - alt. 33 ft - Esplanade at the Sauzaie surf spot
  8. 7 : mi 3.47 - alt. 33 ft - Sainte-Véronique Rock
  9. 8 : mi 4.07 - alt. 20 ft - La Parée and its cafés
  10. 9 : mi 5.06 - alt. 30 ft - Crêperie l’Oasis
  11. 10 : mi 5.23 - alt. 30 ft - Dead end
  12. S/E : mi 6.11 - alt. 46 ft - Town Hall car park

Worth a visit

Reviews and comments

4.5 / 5
Based on 33 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.7 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.6 / 5
Route interest
4.1 / 5
kartavan
kartavan

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 11, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A well-described walk that’s fairly easy to follow.
A straightforward walk, very quiet and suitable for everyone.
Parking in the Super U car park is very easy

Machine-translated

Tannier
Tannier

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 18, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

A well-described hike, particularly enjoyable along the coast, not too busy on this winter's day, with numerous benches for picnicking facing the sea. It remains a fairly urban hike, not very wild, quite close to the road along the coastal path. But the view of the sea and the rocks is magnificent.

Machine-translated

sachot54
sachot54

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 11, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

Easy and simple for everyone, but be careful with parking during high season, otherwise you can find spaces in the adjacent streets. Avoid the lake tour, as it is muddy and not interesting. Nice walk along the ocean. Food available along the route, shaded areas but mainly in full sun, so bring a hat. Timing was good.

Machine-translated

marcheur marsien
marcheur marsien

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 16, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

an easy walk that takes you through the town and along the seafront. No difficulty, with the option to sit by the sea and enjoy the waves. The only downside is the parking, which is in a blue zone throughout the town, limiting the length of your walk. We went on a market day in April and found it difficult to find a space

Machine-translated

Braud
Braud

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 15, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Hi
Everything's great

Machine-translated

Sport:6985
Sport:6985
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 07, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Nice hike, but I would have preferred to walk more along the coastline. That's just my personal opinion. 😏

Machine-translated

CC63
CC63

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 24, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Given the weather on the day of the hike, with rain and strong winds, we decided to stick mainly to the coast. For us, coming from Auvergne, it was very interesting to see the sea at high tide with huge waves crashing against the rocks along the coast.

For all the trails, it's a shame that we only had to answer "yes" or "no" to the question "was the trail very busy?", because as we're not from the area and given the bad weather on that day, we would have liked to be able to answer "I don't know". This is because there were people on the part of the trail along the coast, but for the rest of the trail and all the other hikes we did, there was often no one else around.

Machine-translated

nineuil
nineuil

A beautiful, easy and enjoyable hike that we often do. The explanations are clear and provide good guidance

Machine-translated

nineuil
nineuil

A very beautiful hike along the coast. We do it from time to time

Machine-translated

daniel.goral
daniel.goral

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 09, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

nice route, but at point 9 the explanations are a bit confusing; an IGN map would be better

Machine-translated

nineuil
nineuil

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 03, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A wonderful discovery

Machine-translated

AIRBUS2016a
AIRBUS2016a

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 20, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Pleasant walk in the park and around the pond and the coastal area

Machine-translated

laborderie
laborderie

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 29, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Very pleasant for exploring Bretignolles and its coastline. Passes through a very pleasant park. Not too busy at this time of year.

Machine-translated

hera
hera

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : May 08, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

Unmarked walk but very well described, impossible to get lost
No difficulty but very busy when the weather is nice because the stretch near the sea is a popular place for locals to take a stroll after lunch
Quite nice despite everything

Machine-translated

brossed
brossed

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 14, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

A lovely family walk with an easy route and beautiful views.

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.