# Customs Officers' Path (GR 34) The path opened by customs officers to watch the coast and which today goes round the Breton coast on foot from Mont-Saint-Michel. Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/regions/customs-officers-path-gr-34 · Revisado: 2026-11-12 Forma parte de: [Brittany Coast](https://www.geocalia.com/en/regions/brittany-coast.md) Países: France ## Destinos de esta zona - [Saint-Malo](https://www.geocalia.com/en/france/brittany/saint-malo.md): A corsair city of granite shut within its ramparts. At low tide you walk out to the islands; at high tide, the sea reaches the foot of the wall. You can see it in a day and it deserves two. - [Pink Granite Coast](https://www.geocalia.com/en/france/brittany/pink-granite-coast.md): Between Perros-Guirec and Trégastel the granite takes the shape of animals, hats and stacks of crêpes. You walk it on the customs officers' path and it looks different with every tide. - [Crozon Peninsula](https://www.geocalia.com/en/france/brittany/crozon-peninsula.md): A cross of land at the western tip of Brittany, with cliffs, sandy coves and two ports: Camaret and Morgat. Allow two or three days, and the GR 34 runs all the way round it. - [Pointe du Raz](https://www.geocalia.com/en/france/brittany/pointe-du-raz.md): The tip of the Cap Sizun, a spur of rock facing the Île de Sein and its lighthouse, with currents you can see from above. Half a day is enough; Locronan and the Pointe du Van complete the day. - [Carnac and the Gulf of Morbihan](https://www.geocalia.com/en/france/brittany/carnac-and-morbihan-gulf.md): In Carnac thousands of standing stones are lined up in the fields, raised more than six thousand years ago. Half an hour away, the Gulf of Morbihan is an enclosed sea with dozens of islands reached by boat in minutes. The GR 34 is the slowest and most complete way to see Brittany: a trail that follows the coast almost without leaving the sea, from cove to headland and from harbour to harbour. It is called the customs officers' path because it began as the patrol route of the agents who watched for smuggling, and even today it passes their stone lookout huts. Nobody does it all in one trip: you choose a stretch and walk a few days. ## What is the customs officers' path? After the Revolution, in 1791, a customs corps was created to patrol the Breton coast, and its men opened a continuous path hugging the cliff to see every cove. During the 20th century it was abandoned, and from the late 1960s walkers gradually recovered it: the first long-distance stretch opened near Lannion in 1968, and in 2008 the Breton coast was waymarked continuously. A 1976 law also guarantees a three-metre right of way beside the sea for pedestrians. Today the GR 34 is about 2,000 km long. It starts at Mont-Saint-Michel, in Normandy, and ends at Saint-Nazaire, on the Loire estuary, after crossing six départements. In 2017 the Finistère stretch was voted the French people's favourite GR. The waymarks are those of all French GRs: a white stripe over a red one. ## How do you get there and walk it? By car from Spain, Saint-Malo is about 720 km from the Irún border, and the Pink Granite Coast about 830. By plane, the useful airports are Nantes, Rennes and Brest. The high-speed train from Paris reaches Saint-Malo, Brest, Quimper, Lorient and Vannes, and from those stations regional buses leave for the coastal villages. The trail is walked in stages of 15 to 25 km, from village to village, sleeping in campsites, guesthouses or hotels. The comfortable way to do a stretch is to settle in one place and move by bus or local taxi to get back to the car. Many stretches can be done as a circuit, returning through the interior. The terrain is more demanding than it looks: there are no great heights, but the path climbs and drops continuously between the coves and the cliff, and in Finistère the cumulative ascent in a day can be considerable. The tides matter: at some points the path crosses beaches or estuaries that can only be passed at low tide, and there are waymarked variants for high tide. ## Which stretches are worth it? In the north, Saint-Malo is the walled corsair city where the sea rises about 13 metres on spring tides; at low tide you walk out to the islands, and the GR continues towards Dinard and Cap Fréhel. Further west, the Pink Granite Coast is the most famous stretch of the whole trail: between Perros-Guirec and Trégastel the pink rocks take impossible shapes, and the Ploumanac'h walk is 5 km that takes about two and a half hours. Finistère concentrates the cliffs. The Crozon peninsula has the Pen-Hir headland, Camaret and Morgat, and the GR goes right round it in two or three days. To the south, the Pointe du Raz is the tip of Cap Sizun, facing the island of Sein, with the Pointe du Van next to it. On the south coast, the trail changes character: less cliff and more gulf. At Carnac and the Gulf of Morbihan you walk among thousands of aligned menhirs and along the shore of an inland sea full of islands. ## When to go? May, June and September are the best months: long days, heather in bloom on the cliffs, free places in campsites and car parks and the sea still mild in September. July and August are good for walking, but the coastal villages fill up, everything has to be booked and the car parks at the headlands are saturated by midday. From November to March there are spectacular storms and empty paths, but many places to stay and almost all campsites close, and rain and wind are the norm. ## How many days do you need? A weekend is enough for a short stretch, such as the pink granite or the Crozon peninsula. With a week you walk a whole sector of 100 to 150 km, for example from Saint-Malo towards Cap Fréhel or the full circuit of Crozon. Walking the 2,000 km takes months: those who do it all usually spread it over several holidays across the years. ## What is worth knowing before going? Wild camping on the trail is not generally permitted: a good part of the coast is protected land and many municipalities ban it, so the sensible thing is to plan with campsites. Always bring a waterproof, even if the day starts clear, and check the tide timetable before stretches that cross beaches. Erosion forces the route to be diverted from time to time; respect the diversions and do not go near the cliff edge. There are fountains and bars in the villages, but on headland-to-headland stretches there can be several hours without services. ## Un consejo más ### Check the tides before setting out In Brittany the difference between low and high tide is among the largest in Europe. A tide table tells you whether you will be able to cross a beach or an estuary, and at what time the landscape will be most spectacular. ## Cuándo no ir ### August without a booking In August the campsites and hotels on the famous stretches fill up weeks in advance and the car parks at Ploumanac'h or the Pointe du Raz collapse by mid-morning. ## Preguntas frecuentes ### How long is the GR 34? About 2,000 km, from Mont-Saint-Michel to Saint-Nazaire, following the coast of Brittany. ### What is the prettiest stretch of the GR 34? The most famous are the Pink Granite Coast, at Ploumanac'h, and the Finistère cliffs, at Crozon and the Pointe du Raz. ### Is it difficult? It has no great heights, but it climbs and drops non-stop between coves. For a 20 km stage you need to be used to walking. ### Can you camp on the trail? Generally not: many areas are protected land or have a municipal ban. The expectation is to sleep in campsites and other accommodation.