The primary reason to visit the island is its interesting Megalithic cairn or tomb which is in the... read more
The primary reason to visit the island is its interesting Megalithic cairn or tomb which is in the... read more
You need to book this in advance as the number of visitors is limited. Well worth a visit if you... read more
To get to Gavrinis Island you need to go to Larmour Baden where you catch the boat. We were early so we bought some lunch at a small store and ate whilst we waited for the office to open which it did at 13.30.
We were booked on the 14.30 trip. We received a discount from our visit to Locmariaquer (Table of the Merchants) entry for €8.
Tours leave every hour. The round trip takes 1 hour 20 minutes. Not allowed to carry backpacks or bags but if you do take them there is a locker on the island to leave them whilst you do the tour. No photography whilst inside the cairn, only outside.
Launch left on time at 14.30 and it was only a 15 minute trip to the island. The tour is about 50 minutes then another 15 back in the launch.
It was a guided tour in French but our brochure gave us enough info about the site estimated to be Neolithic built around 3500 BC.
The cairn has a 14m corridor with stunningly engraved stones on either side of the tunnel leading to a 2.5m square chamber at the end. Apparently the roof stone is carved on top and is a third of a seriously enormous stone. The other two bits of it are in Locmariaquer one in the tumulus, which you can’t see as it is buried but the third is in the Merchants Table dolmen where the carving is visible.
Well worth the effort of going. The guide and boat crew were friendly and informative. Would suggest booking in the season or at weekends.
We are on Gavrinis Island, looking at a cairn that was built at least 4000 years BC and it has around 28 slabs fully covered with wonderfull engravings. The only problem is they do not let you take any picture inside, but just looking at it is really wonderfull.
We love archaeology, we have visited several sites in Northern Africa, Asia and Europe, and I can tell you this is awsome.
You have to get the tickets in advance, at leas 10 days, so you can cll this number and they will make a reservation Phone : 02 97 57 19 38. You will pay upon arrival and a boat will take you to the island where s lady will give you a full explanation of the ruins.
Others have done a nice job of explaining what you see and there are several good websites that can provide more information. TripAdvisor does not permit me to post them, but they are not that hard to find. I suggest you do your own homework before you go because the tour is all in English. There are about a dozen signs with information in English as well as French, but they provide only the most basic facts.
I tried to make a reservation via email but received no response so I used a prepaid phone card to call about 10 days before our visit and made the reservation via phone. This was easy to do in English.
The boat ride, dock to dock, took about 12 minutes.
We had about 45 minutes on the island. The guide took our group into the dolmen in two separate groups of about 20 each. It is lit by rope lighting along the walls at the floor, and by a few well-placed spotlights. The guide highlighted sections of most of the stones with a bundle of flashlights.
It was not claustrophobic even though the passage is pretty tight and low in some places.
The return took about 20 minutes because we circled around the other side of the island to see the horseshoe shaped lines of stones that run into the water.
In a region rich in menhirs and dolmens, if you want to visit only one site, this is it! It is a passage dolmen covered by a cairn located on an island. The passage is quite long over 13 meters (45 ft). What makes Gavrinis unique are the 23 standing stones that are etched with art. These stones line both sides of the passage.
Gavrinis is accessible only as a part of a guided tour (in French) that includes the boat ride from Larmor Baden. Even if don't understand much French, it is still worth going. They do have brochures in English and the interpretation of the art is just a series of hypotheses anyway. What counts is to experience this in situ Megalithic art with your own eyes.
The number of trips they run and their departure times vary from day to day. So it is a good idea to call them ahead and make a reservation. They just require a name and no credit card. Allow at least one hour to drive to Larmor Baden from Carnac. Once or twice a day during the Summer these tours go by the Er Lanic site which has 2 stone circles. Depending on the tide, they are more or less submerged. The stones have become perches for cormorants and other sea birds. It is well worth the extra few euros they charge for going by Er Lanic.
In the slow and winter months, these tours are offered only on certain weekends and more frequently during French school holidays. Some guidebooks suggest that it is possible to get to the island on your own and visit the dolmen on you own. That's no longer the case. The dolmen has a door with a lock!
We took the tour on a Friday afternoon in August, having booked in advance. (Those who hadn't were disappointed.) It's tricky to park near the port so be prepared to spend time finding a parking place further away at a busy time of year.
The boat trip itself is pleasant, with a brief commentary though this can be hard to hear.
The guide on the island was excellent: extremely well-informed and able to give some commentary in English and answer questions even though the main presentation is in French. There is a lot of background information and some reproductions of various artefacts to look at.
The time in the tomb itself is amazing. They hand out torches so you can light the carvings for yourself. Photography is not allowed inside, but you get a really good look at the stunning carvings.
Although it's years ago I went there, I am still impressed with this cairn. The boat ride to the island is wonderful in the summer and once you arrive, you're steeped in history. It's rare to find a place that is this well-preserved. The rich internal decorations make Gavrinis one of the major treasuries of European megalithic art.