Dinard Pointe de la Malouine visitor guide

Visit Dinard Pointe de la Malouine, France

The Pointe de la Malouine is the promontory to the west of the town centre in Dinard, the seaside resort on the north coast of Brittany.

Explore the Pointe de la Malouine in Dinard

France This Way review: the Pointe de la Malouine is one of our favourite regions of Dinard, with several impressive 19th century villas, lovely views and a pretty coast path among its attractions

From the beach in the centre of Dinard, the view is dominated by the promontory to the left which is a raised area with several imposing villas along the top of the ridge. This area of the town is called the Pointe de la Malouine and these villas are among the earliest to be built in Dinard, at the end of the 19th century.

A very pleasant walk follows the top of the ridge to see the villas, then you can carry on to explore more villas or descend to the sea from where a coast path return to the town centre. The walk will take you about 45 minutes to complete.

To start the walk, from the west end of the beach (the Plage de l'Ecluse) you can take a staircase to the Avenue Poussineau, the main street with the majority of the villas.

The villas of Pointe de la Malouine in Dinard

A large part of the charm of the villas in Dinard is that they each have their own characteristics such as different window styles, chimneys and brickwork patterns. The principal villas in the order that you reach them are:

Villa Reine Hortense, above the west end of the Plage de l'Ecluse at the start of your walk
Villa Kerozar, Villa Belle Assise and Villa Roche Plate, the three villas on your right as you follow Avenue Poussineau
Villa Les Roches Brunes, the most important of the villas and constructed at the end of the headland in the 1890s in the Louis XIII style. The views from villa Les Roches Brunes extend in all directions, and as you can see from below the villa, its position involved the construction of very extensive supporting walls.
Villa Ker Annick and Villa Vélox, the two villas on your left after the Villa Les Roches Brunes, notable because of the balconies and bow windows they include, to best profit from the extensive views
Villa Cézembre, the imposing villa ahead of you when you see the stairs that descend to the sea with a facade that incorporates several carvings of fantastic animals. This villa was originally called the Villa Port Salut because of the port it overlooks.
Villa Greystones, a more recent villa that you can see further along the headland, in the art deco style

If you turn left from Villa Cézembre and return to Dinard centre along Rue de la Malouine you can see some more imposing villas such as Villa Bel Esbat, Villa l'AAjonc and Villa Bambino.

If you go down the stairs from near Villa Cézembre, the coast path that returns to Dinard centre along the edge of the Pointe de la Malouine has lovely views as you approach the town.

Before returning you can first follow the coast path further to the west if you have the time. This path is popular with joggers in the morning, so a good place to start the day with a bit of exercise!

Attractions nearby

Dinard is one of our favourite French seaside resorts: see the Dinard guide. Another promontory can also be explored with a coast path that leads from the large open air pool at the east end of the beach to the port area further to the east: see Pointe du Moulinet.

To the south of Dinard you can visit the pretty village of Saint-Suliac and the historic town at Dinan.

You can find more travel ideas in the Ille-et-Vilaine guide and the Brittany guide.