Ile de Houat travel guide

Visit Ile de Houat (Brittany, France)

The island of Houat is off the Morbihan coast and is easily reached by ferry from Quiberon (a 40 minute voyage), Vannes or Port Navalo. Fishing continues to be the main activity for the couple of hundred residents of the island, with tourism also playing an important role.

Explore the Ile de Houat

The Ile de Houat is only about four kilometres long and one kilometre wide, and can be well explored by bike, or even better on foot by following the coast path around the island (you can not bring your car to the island).

There is only one village on the island - called Houat and on the northern coast - which is a pretty little place with traditional whitewashed cottages sat above the harbour (the Port of Saint Gildas) below, with a fleet of small fishing boats.

You will find basic facilities in the streets of the town around the village church, including restaurants and small shops and also bike hire during the summer months.

The main beach, Treac'h ar Goured is also known as the grand plage and covers much of the the eastern coast of the island. The coast of the western half of Houat is much more rocky and rugged - although there is also a small beach at the western extremity of the island, called Treac'h ar Beniguet, and another on the south-eastern coast, called Treac'h ar Salus.

The coast path is a very good way to see the various granite rock formations and causeways that surround much of the island, and a great deal of lovely coastal scenery, both beaches and cliffs.

The path takes about four hours to walk all the way around Houat, a tour that is highly recommended: indeed it is almost the only activity on the island so you will probably only come here if you plan to follow the coast path...

Pictures by rene boulay are copyright: see 1 and 2 for details.

Attractions nearby

A short boat trip from here will take you on to the small island of Hoedic, off the south-east coast from Ile de Houat.

Depending where you take your ferry to the island, both Quiberon and Vannes are both charming towns to visit: Vannes is further, to the north of the Morbihan Gulf, but is one of our favourite towns in Brittany.

See more islands of France. You can find more travel ideas in the Morbihan guide and the Brittany guide.