Jennifer Gruenke — Trip report – Hiking / Camping the GR34 St Brieuc to St Malo – 28 June to 6 July, 2026
About my trip
I hiked / took the bus between St Brieuc to St Malo along the GR34. I had previously done part of this same trail in a different section, Finistère, and wanted to try a different part of this very long trail. The whole thing takes 2-3 months, and I am only walking for 5-7 days each time.
A little about the GR (Grande Randonnée) network – Long-distance hiking trails all over France, GR trails are marked with a white over red blaze. There are also local trails marked as yellow over red.
After WW1, hiking enthusiast Jean Loiseau noted that many other countries had marked trails, and when France implemented labor reform including paid vacations in 1936, he wanted people to be able to use their leisure time walking in nature without getting lost. There are now over 200,000 km of marked trails in France.
The GR34 runs along the coast of Brittany, and is about 1700 km (1100mi). It was originally a footpath for customs collectors, created after the French revolution. The customs collectors were there to stop smuggling, but also to look out for shipwrecks. In the 1960s, people started to restore the path for hikers, and in the 1970s, a law was passed to give pedestrians the right to walk along the coast.
In the GR in the alps there are refuges as places to stop and sleep. On the coast of Brittany there are campgrounds and hotels. The campgrounds don’t need to be booked in advance, but especially in the high season the hotels are all booked up.
Camping in France
Campgrounds, like hotels, have the option to participate in the 1-5 star system so that people know what level of amenities are offered. There is a points system, so what you get is not always exact, but with 3+ stars, reception desk offers English. Amenities that get points include things like
o Playground for the kids
o Swimming pool
o Security gate with code to get in at night
o Restaurant and/or bar
o Wifi
It’s pretty common for even municipal campgrounds to invite a food truck in the summer. Most also have a mini grocery in the reception building. Pretty much all of them ask when you check in if you want to order pain au chocolat or croissant to pick up in the morning.
I was carrying a small tent, but most campgrounds also offer structures like tiny homes or cabins that can be rented for longer periods. Lots of people bring a camping car or a regular car and a large tent and stay all summer. Looking online, campgrounds in this area, a 2BR cabin is 6-700 per week high season and half that once school starts. For a space with electricity to park a camping car or a car plus large tent, it’s about 300/wk high season, half that low. For me as a hiker with a tent the cost per night ranged from 8 to 20 euros depending on how much civilization there was nearby.
Itinerary
Day 1 Paris to St Brieuc
My original train ticket was canceled due to the heat, so I had to rebook a different route. About 10% of trains were canceled nationwide. I arrived in the afternoon, checked into the municipal campground (Camping des Vallées), and checked out the town a little. The old town is a bit run down. There are nicer neighborhoods closer to the bay. I wouldn’t recommend St. Brieuc in itself, but I just needed a place to stay for the night.
Day 2 St Brieuc to Plage Bon Abri near Hillion.
o Lunch at La Cabane de Mytilus (excellent moules)
o Camping Village Nature d’O (one star)
Small campground overlooking the bay. Very large tides. Watched moules harvesters bringing in the moules
Campground was oriented around hikers – lodge with seating and a fridge. Overall pretty rustic
Day 3 (the most difficult hike) Plage Bon Abri to Pléneuf-Val-André
o This hike is rated difficult on the All Trails app, because it’s more than 6 hours of up and down trails without much shelter from the sun.
o I could have taken the bus around it but because the summer bus schedule didn’t start until July 1, I would have to wait until the afternoon to get the bus.
o But we should talk about the bus as an option for those who can’t or don’t want to do the hard climbing parts of the trail.
Bus 202 covers the first part of my journey and 214 the second part. These are buses on the BreizhGo network. There is a BreizhGo app to buy tickets on your phone, or you can pay in cash on the bus. It’s 3 euros per trip. To skip this section of the hike I would have taken Bus 202 from Morieux la Ville Tinguy to Pléneuf-Val-Andre. It’s about an hour and a half walk but it’s flat, and that’s a lot easier than six hours of up and down.
In order to find the bus stop, look on the website https://www.breizhgo.bzh/ choose Horaires, enter the name of the stop you are looking for, a map will pop up, click the arrow at the top right of the map, and you will be prompted to give permission for your location to be found. Then you will be able to see your current location in relation to the bus stop that is your destination. Most bus stops are not labeled in google maps.
You can also search for 202 instead of the name of a stop, and see a map of where bus 202 goes and from there click on a stop to get more info.
o The long route was pretty but also a lot of effort.
o Camping du Minihy
I liked this one because it had a nice lounge area with a place to charge my phone. The owners apparently lived on site and they have a nice dog that was chilling in the lounge area.
o Le Best Of restaurant for dinner
Moules with wine marinade with a view of the pier. Also very good.
o Pléneuf-Val-André looks like a nice little town but I was too tired to explore it.
Day 4 Pléneuf-Val-André to Erquy
o Mostly beach walking, which I like. Short hike after the long one the day before
o Camping du Val (3 star) – indoor pool, bouncy house. Lounge in bar/restaurant area to sit and charge my phone.
Day 5 Erquy to a little further down at Erquy
o Another short day
o Camping Hautes Grées. Three star, lots of amenities, indoor pool, sauna, massage room
o Le Petit Saint Michel for a Breizh Cola and a galette.
o Explored the Ilôt St Michel, which is a tidal island with a small chapel on the top that can be visited at low tide. This visit was pretty rocky, so bring a hiking pole if possible.
o Took pictures of the chapel and the Ilôt that I am now turning into a painting
Day 6 Erquy to Pléherel plage (Municipal camping)
o In the afternoon went to Camping municipal du Pont de l’Étang, which is on an amazing beach. Very little cellphone signal. My phone kept picking up the signal from the UK. Campground rather disorganized.
o Café de la Plage – Nice beach hut ambience, food just okay. Venue for live music but no music while I was there.
Day 7 Pléherel plage to Saint-Cast-le-Guildo
o Took the bus from the municipal campsite to Saint-Cast-le Guildo
o Walked a lot around the town but not at all on the trail. Nice little resort town on the beach.
o I skipped a section of the trail without a lot of amenities. There is a lighthouse and the ruins of a chateau in that section. It is the end of the 202 bus line and only gets one bus a day. I skipped forward so that I would be solidly in bus 214 territory to go forward to St Malo to get back to Paris.
o Camping les Mielles (4 star)
Day 8 Saint-Cast-Le-Guildo to Saint-Jacut-de-la-Mer
o Three hour hike, but I took the bus to skip the first half. Got off the bus at the Chateau du Guildo ruins and walked to the town.
Bus stops were on line 214, from Office du Tourism in St Cast le Guildo to Le Port, also technically in St Cast le Guildo
o Bit of a weird vibe in this town
o At the Pointe du Chevet there is another tidal island. Lots of people walking around on the exposed sand, digging for some kind of seafood, picking up seashells
Day 9 Saint-Jacut-de-la Mer to St-Malo to Paris
o Bus line 214, Maison SNCF to St Malo Gare
o Walked around St Malo, got lunch at a grocery store, took an afternoon train back to Paris, where it was 95F.
Conclusion
Overall, I had a fantastic time, and plan to fill in more of the GR34 in the future. The coastline is beautiful and not very crowded even in the summer. The food is excellent, especially the moules. I think I would get bored staying in one little town for a week, but seeing a different little town each day is a lot of fun.