Things to do in Quimper
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Quimper
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best months: long days, coast and gardens at their best, festival crowds absent.
Warmest and liveliest, but priciest; July holds the Festival de Cornouaille.
Workable shoulder months with rising rain; pack for four seasons in a day.
Worst months: wettest and darkest, coastal businesses on winter hours, boats not running.
What's on
- Festival de Cornouaille Late July, around the third Sunday
Five days of bagadou, costume parades, fest noz dancing and the Queen of Cornouaille in the old town.
- Troménie de Locronan July
Annual Petite Tromenie in costume; the Grande Tromenie runs every six years, most recently 2023.
- Festival Interceltique de Lorient Usually the first ten days of August
The Celtic world's biggest festival in Lorient, day trippable from a Quimper base.
Best things to do in Quimper
Cathédrale Saint-Corentin
Brittany's great Gothic cathedral with a visibly bent nave, twin spires and fine choir glass, free to enter.
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Quimper
Quimper's superb art museum, strongest on Breton scenes and the Pont-Aven school, opposite the cathedral.
Musée Départemental Breton
The reference collection for Breton costume, coiffes, furniture and folk art, in the old bishops palace.
Musée de la Faïence de Quimper
Three centuries of Quimper faience, from blue and white beginnings to artist designed 20th century services.
Faïencerie Henriot-Quimper
The surviving historic faience factory, where guided visits show casting and hand painting still done on site.
École de Broderie d'Art Pascal Jaouen
Pascal Jaouen's embroidery school and gallery, where Breton gold thread work meets haute couture.
Les Halles Saint-François
Quimper's covered market since 1847, best on Wednesday and Saturday mornings for fish, cheese and a picnic.
Le Jardin de la Retraite
A walled terraced garden on the old ramparts, lush and quiet, two minutes from the cathedral.
Where to stay in Quimper
Vieille Ville
first trip, walk everywhere
The pedestrian old town around the cathedral, walkable to museums, market and creperies.
Locmaria
quiet and character
The faience quarter across the Odet, with the priory, pottery, embroidery school and evening calm.
Station and Créach Gwen edge
drivers, families and value
Modern chain hotels south of the centre with easier parking, family rooms and some pools.
Think twice about
- Out-of-town retail zones
Not unsafe, just dead: roundabouts and shuttered big box stores, no dinner on foot and thin evening buses.
Best restaurants in Quimper
Allium
Quimper's one star, Lionel Henaff's seasonal, nature led cooking with a noted value lunch menu.
La Ferme de l'Odet
A farmhouse restaurant on the Odet with a garden terrace, generous local cooking and a value lunch formule.
Restaurant Ti Coz
Great-value contemporary French cooking from local ingredients in a small, warm, intimate room.
Le Bistrot de Louis
The highest rated all round bistrot in town, market driven plates and a welcome reviewers praise as often as food.
Le Cosy
A stone walled bistrot with a daily blackboard menu, robust French dishes and a loyal local following.
Côté Bistrot
A calm, grown up bistrot running a short fresh menu and thoughtful wines, with unhurried service.
Crêperie Chez Mamie
A creperie that eats like a restaurant, generous galettes and crepes, and the friendliest gluten free option in town.
Ty Loulic
The connoisseur's creperie by the Odet, crisp lacy dentelle crepes in the South Finistere tradition.
Outdoor things to do in Quimper
Les Gorges du Stangala
A steep, wooded river gorge on the city's edge, with marked trails from easy viewpoints to the river itself.
Mont Frugy
The small wooded hill across the Odet from the cathedral, climbed for shade and views back over the spires.
Vedettes de l'Odet
The classic boat run down the wooded Odet from Quimper to Benodet and the sea, in season.
Archipel des Glénan
A lagoon of white sand and turquoise water reached on a full day maxi catamaran sailing from Port la Foret.
Golf de Cornouaille
The 1959 Hawtree course above the Bay of La Foret, with views to the Glenan islands from three holes.
Golf Bluegreen de l'Odet
A wooded two course golf estate near Benodet, with an 18 hole course and a compact 9 open to all.
Pointe de la Torche
Brittany's most famous surf point, where local schools teach beginners in the gentler Pors Carn bay.
Pointe du Raz
A Grand Site de France headland facing a feared tidal race, with heath walks and offshore lighthouses.
Best hotels in Quimper
Hôtel Ginkgo - Spa Biloba
Quimper's top in town stay, a small four star spa hotel in a former abbey setting in Locmaria.
Escale Oceania Quimper Centre
The reliable central three star, five minutes from the Breton museum and under ten from the cathedral.
Best Western Plus Hôtel Kregenn
The modern four star with a pool and easy parking, a strong festival week and family fallback.
Hôtel Dupleix
A basic two star two minutes from the cathedral, chosen for price, position and its own garage.
ibis budget Quimper
The predictable cheap bed, clean and air conditioned with free parking, a driver's hotel.
Domaine de Lanniron
A riverside orangery estate south of town, with cottages, glamping and kayak rental on the Odet.
Is Quimper expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | €55 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | €115 a person |
| Splurge | €260 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Faïencerie Henriot-Quimper: a few days ahead
- École de Broderie d'Art Pascal Jaouen: weeks ahead
- Vedettes de l'Odet: a few days ahead
- Archipel des Glénan: a few days ahead
- Golf de Cornouaille: a few days ahead
- Golf Bluegreen de l'Odet: a few days ahead
- Pointe de la Torche: a few days ahead
- Allium: weeks ahead
- Book Allium weeks ahead at weekends, and the other top tables days ahead in season.
- Book Festival de Cornouaille accommodation months ahead; late July sells out.
- Book the Glenan sailing a few days out for the best forecast day, and golf tee times in summer.
- Check Henriot workshop tour times on arrival; groups are small and set by the day.
Is Quimper safe?
- Swim only in supervised zones at La Torche; rip currents called baines catch swimmers every summer.
- Stangala paths are slippery after rain and the Pointe du Raz has unfenced edges in high wind.
- The sea is cold everywhere, including the Glenan lagoon, even in August.
- Emergency number in France is 112.
Quimper travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Printed imitation faience is sold near the real hand painted ware; very cheap means not handmade.
- Locronan and the Ville Close at August midday are queues, not villages; go before 10am.
- Kouign amann is glorious warm in the morning and greasy by evening; timing matters most.
- A sweet crepe is dessert; the meal is a buckwheat galette, cider in a bowl.
Getting around Quimper: public transport and more
- Walk the centre: cathedral, Locmaria, market and station sit inside a 15 minute walking circle.
- A car transforms the excursions; BreizhGo buses reach the coast but thin out in the evening.
- TGV trains link Quimper with Paris in about three and a half to four hours.
- Use edge of centre public car parks and walk in; do not drive the pedestrian lanes.
Who Quimper suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Quimper your trip
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