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Salt pans in the Guérande marshes

Guérande & its Salt Marshes

A walled medieval town and the salt pans where fleur de sel is raked by hand.

Photo: H. Grobe, CC BY 3.0
  • DepartmentLoire-Atlantique
  • SpecialtyFleur de sel
  • From Nantes~1 h
  • TimeHalf day

Guérande is in the Loire-Atlantique department, part of historic Brittany though now in the Pays de la Loire region. Its ramparts are among the best preserved in France, and its salt marshes produce the famous fleur de sel.

The salt marshes

Between Guérande and Le Croisic, a patchwork of clay pans has been worked by salt-makers, the paludiers, for more than a thousand years. In summer you can watch them rake salt by hand. Terre de Sel runs guided walks and has a shop.

The walled town

Walk the full circuit of the 15th-century ramparts, enter through the Porte Saint-Michel, and explore the Collegiate Church of Saint-Aubin and the crêperies inside the walls.

Nearby

  • La Baule, with one of Europe's longest beaches.
  • The harbour town of Le Croisic.
  • Nantes, about an hour east.

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Salt pans in the Guérande marshes
Salt pans in the Guérande marshes. Photo: H. Grobe, CC BY 3.0

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