Carnac: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
Around 6,500 years ago, Neolithic farmers set up some three thousand standing stones in long rows across the land north of Carnac. Nobody knows why: a calendar, a road for processions, a show of power, a gathering place for the dead and the living are all argued. The rows run for about four kilometres, broken into fields, with burial mounds older than the rows themselves watching over them. Do this on foot or by bike, early or late in the day, when the low sun throws the stones' shadows across the grass.
A short history of Carnac
Near the village of Carnac more than 3,000 standing stones are set out in long rows, raised in the Neolithic period, mainly in the 5th and 4th millennia BC. Beside them large burial mounds were built, such as the Saint-Michel tumulus, where polished stone axes brought from the Alps were found. No one knows for certain why the rows were set up. In 2025 the megaliths of Carnac and the shores of Morbihan were declared a World Heritage Site. In the village itself the church of Saint-Cornély was built in the 17th century, and a small seaside resort developed nearby.
The ten best sights in Carnac
1Ménec AlignmentsThe biggest field of standing stones, at the edge of town; best at sunrise or sunset
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2Maison des Mégalithes
The visitor centre by Ménec; books the guided walks inside the fences
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3Kermario Alignments
The tallest stones; a wooden tower by the road looks down over the rows
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4Kerlescan Alignments
The quietest of the three fields, ending in a stone enclosure
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5Géant du Manio
A single menhir over six metres tall, ten minutes on foot through the woods
6Tumulus Saint-MichelA huge burial mound with a chapel on top and the view over the bay
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7Kercado Tumulus
A mound you can walk inside, with a stone passage and a menhir on top
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8Museum of Prehistory
Axes, jewellery and pottery from the tombs; see it to understand the stones
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9Saint-Cornély Church
The village church of the saint who, the legend says, turned an army to stone
10Table des Marchand and the Broken MenhirAt Locmariaquer, 20 minutes east: a carved dolmen and the largest menhir ever raised
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Carnac →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Carnac:
Free walking tours in Carnac
The stone rows of Carnac
Around 6,500 years ago, Neolithic farmers set up some three thousand standing stones in long rows across the land north of Carnac. Nobody knows why: a calendar, a road for processions, a show of power, a gathering place for the dead and the living are all argued. The rows run for about four kilometres, broken into fields, with burial mounds older than the rows themselves watching over them. Do this on foot or by bike, early or late in the day, when the low sun throws the stones' shadows across the grass.
- Tumulus Saint-Michel · The mound is about 125 metres long and 10 high, raised over chambers of the dead. When it was dug in 1862, polished axes of jade were found inside, made from stone quarried in the Italian Alps more than a thousand kilometres away.
- Ménec Alignments · Ménec is the largest field: more than a thousand stones in eleven rows, running for about a kilometre. The rows get taller towards the west end, where the remains of a stone enclosure wrap around part of the hamlet.
- Kermario Alignments · Kermario, the house of the dead in Breton, holds about a thousand stones in ten rows, some over four metres high. The fields have been fenced since the 1990s, because millions of feet were wearing away the soil around the stones.
- Kercado Tumulus · Kercado is one of the oldest monuments here, built around 4600 BCE, before the rows. You can walk down its stone passage into the burial chamber.
- Géant du Manio · The giant stands alone at about six and a half metres, the tallest stone in the Carnac fields. Next to it is the Quadrilatère, a low rectangle of stones whose purpose is as unknown as the rows.
- Kerlescan Alignments · Kerlescan has about 555 stones in thirteen rows, ending at a stone enclosure on its west side. It is the field fewest visitors reach, and the one where the stones feel most like a crowd.
The giants of the gulf
East of Carnac the land opens onto the Gulf of Morbihan, an inland sea full of islands, and here the Neolithic builders made their grandest monuments. The route links a broken menhir larger than any other, a carved tomb whose stones were reused from older monuments, and an island grave covered in carvings. Gavrinis needs a boat from Larmor-Baden, booked ahead and in season only. The last stop is in Carnac again, in the museum where the small finds from all these tombs are kept.
- Grand Menhir Brisé d'Er Grah · The great menhir was about 20 metres long and weighed some 280 tonnes, the largest single stone known to have been raised by Neolithic people in Europe. It now lies on the ground in four pieces.
- Table des Marchand · The roof stone of this dolmen carries part of a carving that was broken up long ago. Another piece of the same slab roofs the tomb on Gavrinis, four kilometres away across the water, and a third lies in the Er Grah mound.
- Pointe de Kerpenhir · The point stands at the narrow mouth of the Gulf of Morbihan, where the tide pours in and out of the inland sea at high speed. The gulf is said to hold an island for every day of the year, though the real count is smaller.
- Cairn de Gavrinis · Almost every stone lining the passage is carved, wall to wall, with spirals, arcs and axe shapes, which makes it one of the richest decorated tombs of the Neolithic world.
- Saint-Goustan, Auray · In December 1776 Benjamin Franklin landed at this little port, on his way to Paris to win French support for the American Revolution. A plaque on the quay marks it.
- Museum of Prehistory · The museum grew from the collection of James Miln, a Scot who dug around Carnac in the 1870s. His local helper, Zacharie Le Rouzic, started as a boy carrying his tools and became the great archaeologist of the stones.
Carnac by the sea
Carnac is really two places: the old village around the church, and Carnac-Plage on the bay, built as a resort from the early 20th century. This route stays near the water, from the village and its saint to the beaches and the salt pans behind them, then out along the Quiberon peninsula to the wild coast. It is an easy day for the car, with swimming in the sheltered bay and only looking on the ocean side. Leave the stone rows for the morning, and spend the afternoon here.
- Saint-Cornély Church · Cornelius, a pope of the 3rd century, is said to have fled here from Roman soldiers and turned them to stone, and that, the legend says, is what the rows are. He became the protector of horned cattle, and the carving over the porch shows him between two oxen.
- Grande Plage · The beach faces south into Quiberon Bay, sheltered from the Atlantic swell by the peninsula. That is why Carnac-Plage grew up here as a family resort.
- Carnac salt marshes · Salt was harvested in these pans behind the beach for centuries, until the work stopped in the 20th century. The water is now left to herons, egrets and other birds.
- La Trinité-sur-Mer · The port is a base of French ocean racing, and the big racing trimarans and monohulls are often moored along the pontoons. The bridge over the river gives the best view down on them.
- Fort de Penthièvre · The fort guards the narrow neck where the Quiberon peninsula joins the mainland, only a few hundred metres wide. In 1795 French royalist émigrés, landed nearby by British ships, seized the fort and were then crushed here by the Republican army of General Hoche.
- Quiberon Côte Sauvage · The west side of the peninsula takes the full Atlantic, with strong currents under the cliffs, and swimming there is banned. A coastal path follows the edge for kilometres.
Getting to Carnac and getting around
- Auray Station · The nearest TGV stop, 20 minutes from Carnac; trains from Paris in about three hours
- Plouharnel-Carnac halt · The little summer train from Auray to Quiberon stops here; summer only
- Lorient Bretagne Sud Airport · A small airport about 40 minutes west, with flights from Paris
Cheap eats in Carnac
In Brittany the quick meal is the galette: a thin pancake of buckwheat flour, folded around ham, egg and cheese, eaten with a bowl of dry cider. Sweet crêpes of wheat flour come after, with salted butter caramel. The bakeries sell kouign-amann, a cake of butter, sugar and dough that is not light in any way. Prices are French, but a crêpe lunch is still the cheap way to eat by the sea.
- Crêperie de la Pompe · Galettes and crêpes in the village, about €4-13
- Bolée Bleue · Café by the beach, a crêpe and coffee about €4-10
- Chevillard · Bakery in the village; kouign-amann about €2-4
- La Boulange · Bread and sandwiches on the way to the beach, about €3-8
- Crêperie Saint-Georges · Crêpes at Carnac-Plage, about €4-13
- L'Igloo · Ice cream on the seafront, about €3-6
Museums in Carnac
- Museum of Prehistory · The finds from the tombs, from flint tools to Alpine jade
- Maison des Mégalithes · Start here for the guided walks into the fenced rows
- Cairn de Gavrinis · Guided visits only, boat included; book well ahead in summer
- Écomusée de Saint-Dégan · Thatched farmhouses showing country life in old Brittany, near Auray
Nature and day trips near Carnac
- Pointe de Kerpenhir · Watch the tide race through the gulf mouth
- Carnac salt marshes · Birds in the old salt pans, a short walk from the beach
- Quiberon Côte Sauvage · Cliff path above the breakers; stay well back from the edge
- Plage de Saint-Colomban · The windier beach west of town, for surfers and kitesurfers
- Pointe du Conguel · The southern tip of the Quiberon peninsula, with Belle-Île on the horizon
Things to do in Carnac with kids
- Kermario tower · Climb up and see the rows stretch away like a stone army
- Grande Plage · Calm water and lifeguards in summer
- Géant du Manio · A forest walk to the tallest stone; who can reach the highest?
- Kercado Tumulus · A real tomb tunnel to walk into; bring a torch
- Saint-Cornély Church · Find the saint and his two oxen over the door
Where to eat in Carnac
- Hôtel du Tumulus · Dinner at the foot of the Saint-Michel mound, with the bay below
- Ty Gwelig · Crêpes and Breton dishes in the village
- Le Râtelier · Small restaurant in an old stone house in the village; book in summer
- Côté Cuisine · Modern French cooking between the village and the beach
- Maison Quintin · Seafood at La Trinité-sur-Mer
- Huîtres La Toulverne · An oyster farm on the gulf selling straight from the shed; cash is useful
Frequently asked questions about Carnac
What is there to see in Carnac?
The top sights in Carnac are Ménec Alignments, Maison des Mégalithes and Kermario Alignments. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Carnac?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Carnac without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Carnac?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Carnac, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The stone rows of Carnac.
How do you get to Carnac and get around?
The main ways are Auray Station, Plouharnel-Carnac halt and Lorient Bretagne Sud Airport. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Carnac, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Carnac that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Carnac for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.