Brest

Brest is a city on the west Atlantic coast of France. It has a long history of navigation. There are very large tides here.

Get in

By plane

• 1 Brest Bretagne Airport (BES  ^IATA) (To the north-east of the city. A bus shuttle service connects the airport to the closest tram station (Porte de Guipavas). The fare is the same as other trams and buses of the bibus network.). Regional airport used mainly by Hop! - Air France for its domestic routes (Paris-CDG, Paris-Orly, Lyon, Marseille, Nice), but also by Easyjet (Lyon), Ryanair (Marseille), and other companies for regular routes (Bordeaux, Toulon, Barcelona) or special services.
  Ryanair has also flights from Luton, Dublin, Exeter, Manchester Airport, and Southampton.  

By boat

Brittany Ferries operates a daily route between Plymouth (England) and Roscoff (about 55 km to Brest) and a weekly route between Cork (Ireland) and Roscoff.

By train

The SNCF provides TGV route to Paris (8/day) and regional trains routes to Saint-Brieuc and Rennes or Quimper, Lorient, Vannes and Nantes.

By car

Brest is linked with Saint-Brieuc and Rennes (N12) and also Quimper, Lorient, Vannes and Nantes (N165) by toll-free divided highways.

Get around

By tram

BiBus operates an electric tram that runs through the centre of Brest. A day ticket costs 4,50 € and a ticket valid for 90min costs 1,70€ and can be bought from machines at the tram stops. These tickets include the use of the Capucins cable car. More information in French can be found here.

See

• Océanopolis (at the Moulin Blanc port), ☏ +33 298 34 40 40. This giant aquarium has 3 thematic pavilions (polar, tropical and temperate) that offers a discovery of the world's oceans. 
• 1 Brest Castle (Château de Brest), ☏ +33 298 22 12 39. The houses the Navy Museum, which has a collection of craft models, paintings and sculptures.  
• The Tanguy Tower, near the Recouvrance bridge, houses a permanent exhibition on the history of the town.
• Art gallery, 24 rue Traverse. Phone: +33 298 00 87 96.
• The Vallon du Stang Alar houses a famous botanic garden and greenhouses.
• Ateliers des Capucins, 25 Rue de Pontaniou. The biggest covered public square in Europe. (updated Jan 2022)

Do

• Football: Stade Brestois 29 play soccer in Ligue 1, the top tier in France. Their home ground Stade Francis-Le Blé (capacity 16,000) is 2 km northeast of city centre.

Eat

Budget

All these are in the city centre:

• 1 Nectar'In, 43 Rue d'Aiguillon. (updated Feb 2023)
• 2 Les Maraichers, 7 Rue J-B Boussingault. (updated Feb 2023)
• 3 Crêperie Les Cocottes, 34 Rue Jean Macé. Savory crêpes. (updated Feb 2023)
• 4 Nachos - Fajita, burrito, tacos, bowl, 12 Pl. de la Liberté. (updated Feb 2023)
• 5 Crêperie Saint Michel Mr Philippe Pasquier, 53 Rue Yves Collet. (updated Feb 2023)
• 6 La Cantoche, 51 Rue de la Porte. (updated Feb 2023)
• 7 New School Tacos, 4 Rue de Glasgow. (updated Feb 2023)

Mid-range

• 8 Chez Zaza, 5 Rue Coat ar Gueven. (updated Feb 2023)
• 9 Restaurant Les P'tites Recettes, 40 Rue du Château. (updated Feb 2023)
• 10 Restaurant Chez Coco, Port de commerce, 38 Quai de la Douane. (updated Feb 2023)
• 11 Le Coup de Fourchette, 21 Rue de Lyon. French cuisine (updated Feb 2023)
• 12 L'Atelier Gourmand, 33 Rue Navarin. French cuisine (updated Feb 2023)

Splurge

• 13 Le M, 22 Rue du Commandant Drogou. (updated Feb 2023)

Drink

The Blind Piper Pub is one of many Irish pubs in Brest. It's located in the block southwest of the Liberté square. They serve their Kilkenny fresh, with the expected Irish pub ambience.

Connect

As of June 2022, Brest has 5G with all French carriers.

Go next

• Take a ferry to the islands of Molène and Ouessant, in the Mer d'Iroise
• Visit the touristic and picturesque port town of Douarnenez
• Take a train to nearby Châteaulin, and cycle through the heart of Brittany to Nantes along the Nantes-Brest Canal.