Six days in northern Brittany, on the east coast

Walking around Dinard, with its Belle Époque villas and stripy beach tents, is like taking a trip back to the 19th century. The most British of Brittany’s resorts is popular with families who are attracted by its sandy beaches and coastal walks. Nearby Saint-Briac and Saint-Lunaire are also worth a visit.

Dinan is without doubt one of the most attractive and best preserved small towns in Brittany. With its 1.8 mile (3km)-long ramparts, half-timbered houses, attractive port and cobbled streets filled with art galleries and craft shops, it’s worth a day of anyone’s time.

What a charming contrast between these close neighbours on the eastern Bay of Saint-Brieuc: the port of Dahouët hiding in its cove and the resort of Le Val-André stretching out for all to admire along a very long curving bay. The Île Verdelet adds a magical touch at the end of the latter.

Bearing the pretty nickname ‘the beauty spot of the Côtes d’Armor’, Binic marks the entry point to the Goëlo Coast. The town’s port, quays and fine sandy beaches are all linked by the GR34 coastal hiking trail that makes its way along the picturesque, jagged shoreline, meandering through the history of deep-sea fishing and the pleasures of a seaside resort.

North of Saint-Quay-Portrieux, you’ll find the tallest cliffs in Brittany. At 341ft (104m), the Pointe de Plouha is the highest point on an 8-mile (14km) stretch of rocky coast that takes in hidden coves, bird nesting grounds, an ancient harbour, wartime heroics and a chapel with chilling murals.

Like an upright tail on the end of the strange creature that is the Pink Granite Coast, the Sillon de Talbert is a truly extraordinary geological phenomenon: a long, thin trail of pebbles stretching far into the Channel from a striking headland known as the Presqu’ile Sauvage, or wild peninsula.