Guerlesquin travel guide

Visit Guerlesquin (Brittany, France)

The town of Guerlesquin is in eastern Finistere, to the south-east of Morlaix. It is listed as a 'small city of character' and well placed for exploring the Regional Natural Parc of Armorique to the west. Guerlesquin is also classified as a 3* ville fleurie.

Explore Guerlesquin

The town centre in Guerlesquin is attractive with streets of buildings in the traditional granite stone leading between several open squares in the centre and there are numerous architectural highlights to discover in Guerlesquin both on the buildings and as you explore such as window surrounds, statues and fountains.

The most important monument here is the Guerlesquin prison, on the Place de la Liberte. The prison dates from 1640 and is quite small, with round towers capped by dome at each corner, extremely well preserved in its original state and very interesting to visit. There is an original 16th century wheat measure in front of the prison.

Near the church the Champ de Bataille is a well maintained garden based around an attractive water feature - despite its name there is no record of a battle actually ever taking place here!

The main church in Guerlesquin is that of Saint-Tenenan, with a 15th century belltower featuring ornate stonework and gargoyles (the rest of the church was rebuilt in the 19th century).

Guerlesquin also has several small chapels to discover (the Chapel of Saint Jean, once part of a convent here, nearby Chapel of Saint Modez and Chapel of Saint Tremeur and the ruins of the chapel of Saint Thegonnec).

Other notable monuments in the town include the market hall (a 19th century granite replacement of the 16th century wooden hall that previously stood here) and some substantial stone manor houses, several with small towers.

Next to the hall in a room above guerlesquin tourist office there is an exhibition of miniature agricultural machines.

The weekly market in Guerlesquin takes place on a monday morning, which is a very lively place during the summer months.

Attractions close to Guerlesquin

If you are here in search of ancient prehistoric monuments there is a six metre high menhir (standing stone) near Guerlesquin called the Menhir de Kerhellou, and another called the Menhir de Menez-Meur near the ruins of the Chapel of Saint-Thegonnec.

There are also several attractive walks through the countryside around the town, including a short walk around the lake on the edge of Guerlesquin and a longer walk from the town that goes around the edge of the Etang de Guic (to the east of the town, this lake is on the border between the Finistere and Cotes d'armor departments of Brittany).

Note: photo by ghislainedarmor is copyright

You can find more travel ideas in the Finistere guide and the Brittany guide.