La Grande Métairie has a pool complex that includes waterslides (Image: Eurocamp) This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
Banana curry, lavender… liquorice? Or go crazy with a Guinness stout or whiskey and Coke? With 180 wild and wonderful flavours to choose from, holding up the queue at L’Igloo ice-cream shop in Carnac, France, is a daily hazard. Tourists have been flocking to this Breton institution to sample its record-breaking concoctions since 1974.
In a state of overwhelmed panic, I opt for a scoop of matcha green tea-flavoured ice cream in a waffle cone, then sit on the wall, watching holidaymakers mooching around the boutiques and sipping wine in the pavement cafes on a sunny August afternoon.
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Victoria Lissaman put the camp through its paces (Image: DAILY MIRROR)
Carnac had a classic French seaside charm (Image: Victoria Lissaman/Mirror)
Famous for its five beautiful beaches, 3,000 mysterious standing stones, and this number-crunching retro ice-palace, Carnac, on Brittany’s west coast, is a French seaside resort par excellence.
Easy to reach – after hopping aboard the overnight Brittany Ferries’ service from Portsmouth to St Malo on its brand new and first-ever hybrid-LGN ship, the Saint Malo – within a two-hour drive, you can be catching some rays on the sands of the Gulf of Morbihan, marvelling at the ancient megaliths or enjoying a sorbet in the town centre.
Our base for the week was Eurocamp’s five-star La Grande Metairie campsite, opposite the stones, and a mile and a half from the coast. Set in woodland, and with its own menagerie of goats and rabbits (the campsite name translates as The Great Farm), the mobile homes are well spaced.
The park is close to the beautiful Brittany coast (Image: DAILY MIRROR/Victoria Lissaman)
Plus, there’s the on-site Blue Lagoon restaurant and bar, a shop with a bakery selling croissants and baguettes, a games room, entertainment, and organised activities, from kids’ crafts and sports to fitness classes. Its waterslide complex with heated indoor and outdoor pools with a Jacuzzi surrounded by plenty of sunbeds is a great place to hang out in the daytime.
Floating around in its lazy river was one of the best crowd-pleasing activities on our family holiday. With zero queueing, no chance of elbow burn, or an uncontrolled flop into the water at the end, it was an endless loop of rapids and relaxation. There is also an awesome tree-top high-rope adventure course with zip wire and mini golf.
We stayed in a three-bedroom Premium mobile home with air-conditioning, dishwasher, and gas barbecue. Sipping Breton cider and sizzling French steaks and garlic saucissons out on the decking in the evening as the sun went down became a nightly ritual and was such a good way to wind down after a day on the beach, at the pool, or a day trip.
La Grande Metairie has its own farm (Image: Eurocamp)
There was always a jolly, friendly vibe on the campsite, with a good variety of nationalities all enjoying outdoor life in the warm summer weather. Live music nights and after-dark discos with DJs from French radio station NRJ were always hilarious fun.
When the beach calls, head for Carnac Plage, a 1.2-mile arch of pearly white sand and the largest of the town’s beaches. Very upmarket, backed by seaside villas, a wide boulevard for strolling and al fresco beach bars, the coast here is beautifully wooded with evergreen oak and Mediterranean mimosa, stone pine and cypress trees.
If you like your beaches big, sandy, and with plenty of waves, take your surfboard to the dune-backed Plage de Kerhillio, which has gorgeous views of the Quiberon peninsula and Belle Ile.
Those who prefer more sheltered sand head for Men Du beach, between La Trinite-sur-Mer and Carnac. From here, you can walk out to the pretty little Isle de Stuhan at low tide by a curved sandbank. For any seafood foragers – a major pastime in these parts – there’s a handy sign in the carpark indicating what you can pick off the beach – cockles, mussels and clams – and at the sizes of the shells you are allowed to take.
We drank local cider while sitting on the decking outside our accommodation (Image: DAILY MIRROR/Victoria Lissaman)
Kouign Amann – a Breton favourite (Image: DAILY MIRROR/Victoria Lissaman)
One day, we took a drive to the Quiberon peninsula via a slender isthmus linking it to the mainland. On the east side, facing the Bay of Quiberon, the beaches are sheltered and family-friendly. On the west, dubbed the Cote Savage, they are wild, rugged, with inlets and pounding surf, a thrilling mix of untamed beauty for dramatic coastal walks.
But, of course, if you’re in Carnac, you must visit the world’s greatest concentration of standing stones. Pre-dating Stonehenge by about 100 years, no one knows for sure what inspired this neatly organised collection of menhirs, dolmens, cromlechs, tumuli, and cairns to be erected between 5,000 and 3,500BC. The heaviest weighs around 300 tonnes.
Many tourists try to unravel the mystery of this open-air museum as they circumnavigate the stones on foot or via the tourist train. There’s an information point, Maison des Megalithes, which explores the site’s history and offers a rooftop viewpoint overlooking the alignments. You can also visit after dark for Skedanoz, a mystical sound and lightshow, where lights and moving images are projected onto the stones, bringing their stories to life. Shows start at 10pm and 10.45pm, tickets 6 Euros in advance (under threes free), 8 Euros on the day, on selected dates in August. See the schedule and book at ot-carnac.fr/skedanoz.
We visited the medieval town of Vannes (Image: DAILY MIRROR/Victoria Lissaman)
The walled town of Vannes is a charming option for a potter. Dominated by the magnificent 13th-century Gothic Cathédrale Saint-Pierre, spectacular fortifications with medieval gates encircle its meandering alleyways, cobblestone squares, and wood-beamed houses. The ramparts are lined with a moat and spectacular flower-filled gardens. Seek out the black-roofed Vieux Lavoirs (old laundry house) along the water and take the Rue Francis Decker on the wall’s eastern exterior to see it all.
After a stroll around the sparkling Vannes Marina with its yachts, cafes and townhouses, we ventured into the Place des Lices, a vibrant square with colourful old buildings, which was once a tournament ground for jousting. We visited La Huche A Pain (The Bread Hutch), an exquisite bakery painted in French blue and festooned with white and pink flowers. Do try the kouign-amann, a Breton speciality made of puff pastry, butter and sugar.
Around the corner, at the crossroads of the Bienheureux-Pierre-René-Rogue and Noé streets, you can meet Mr Vannes and his wife. This painted sculpture of a pair of bon vivants, who seem to be welcoming customers at a shop, is a classic selfie spot.
The town has contemporary sculptures by Marc Didou (Image: DAILY MIRROR/Victoria Lissaman)
But for some more sophisticated art, head for La Cohue with its rotating exhibitions of cutting-edge contemporary works. We got to marvel at Elonge de la Craquelure (In Praise of Cracking), where giant sculptures of an armchair and a pair of shoes by artist Marc Didou looked mysterious, set within this historical cobbled space with its dim lighting.
For our final day out, we headed to La Trinite-sur-Mer, a yachting town renowned for its sailing competitions, fish market and seafood restaurants. There was just time for one last ice-cream before setting sail home, at Moustache, an artisan glacier on the seafront.
This time, there was a choice of 40 flavours, and we sat on its terrace on the Quai des Croisade, overlooking the Crac’h River, the old port and its boats, enjoying a simple vanilla scoop and thinking summer in France is always time well spent.
Our stay at La Grande Metairie was the perfect way to experience the French seaside (Image: PR HANDOUT EUROCAMP)Book it
Get there: On Brittany Ferries’ daily Portsmouth to St Malo route, fares start from £570 return for a car and family of four, including an en suite cabin on the outward overnight sailing. Book at brittany-ferries.co.uk or call Brittany Ferries’ Plymouth-based contact centre on 0330 159 700.
Accommodation: Seven nights from Saturday 23 May 2026 (May half term) staying in a Comfort two-bedroom holiday home that sleeps up to four guests, from £331.87 per party. Seven nights from Saturday 8 August 2026 (summer holidays) staying in a Classic two-bedroom holiday home that sleeps up to four guests, from £1,206.80 per party. Seven nights from July 25 (summer holidays) staying in a Classic two-bedroom holiday home sleeping up to four, from £959.42 per party.
Book via Eurocamp’s official website.