Maison des Mégalithes

What it is

The Maison des Mégalithes is the visitor centre of the Carnac megalithic site, run by the Centre des monuments nationaux. It is at Le Ménec, opposite the first field of menhirs, and is the starting point for all visits: this is where you buy tickets for the guided visit, ask which fields are open and begin the path that leads to Kermario and Kerlescan.

Inside there is a ticket desk with a welcome area, an exhibition space, a video room and a bookshop-gift shop. The exhibition and the video room give you the context you cannot see from the path: who raised the stones around 4500 BC, how they are arranged and why the fields have been fenced since 1991. Since July 2025 the complex has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Hours

• From 1 April to 30 June: from 9:30 to 18:00.
• July and August: from 9:30 to 19:00.
• September: from 9:30 to 18:00.
• From 1 October to 31 March: from 10:00 to 13:00 and from 14:00 to 17:00.

Closed on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December. In 2026, the shop is closed from 23 to 25 November for stocktaking, but the ticket office, the exhibition and the video room stay open.

Price and visits

Entry to the Maison is free. What you pay for is the guided visit of the alignments, of around an hour:

• Adult: €13.
• Ages 7 to 17, and some groups with proof: €6.
• Under-7s: free.

Visit times change with the season and are available on the official website or at the ticket office. You can book online on the national monuments ticket site. With the Pass des mégalithes, which groups five sites in the area, you get a reduced price from the second monument.

If you go on your own, the monument's web app works in Spanish from your phone and accompanies the route along the path. Everything about visiting the fields is in the entry for the Ménec, Kermario and Kerlescan alignments.

How long

Half an hour for the exhibition and the video. If you add the guided visit, allow an hour and a half; with the walk to Kerlescan and back, half a day.

Getting there and parking

From Auray, follow the D768 towards Carnac and Quiberon to the Purgatoire roundabout, take the D119 towards Carnac and then the "Alignements du Ménec" signs. The last stretch is one-way and shared with pedestrians and cyclists.

The Maison's car park is reserved for people with a ticket for a visit or a workshop. If it is full, or you are only going to the path, use the Kerabus car park, about 900 m away, with spaces for motorhomes.

Without a car: train to Auray and BreizhGo bus to Carnac; in high season there are shuttles. By bike you arrive along the lane that skirts Ménec; there are bike racks, a repair kit and a water point.

Facilities and rules

There is a drinks machine and, in summer, an ice cream seller on the esplanade. There is no left-luggage. Small dogs may enter the Maison in a bag or rucksack; on the path they go on a lead and they are not allowed on guided visits. Smoking is forbidden throughout the site, outdoors too.

For the rest of the day, the Grande Plage is at Carnac-Plage and Le Diana is opposite it.