5 Star Hotels Uk - Visit Prehistoric Brittany

000 years ago, providing a fascinating glimpse into life here 5, brittany has the greatest concentration of prehistoric standing stones to be found in the world. And quaint fishing villages, wildlife havens, there's more to Brittany in north-west France than fine beaches!

Because you will be seeing a lot of them! Two important words to learn before you visit - menhir and dolmen, but first.

Originally the dolmen would have been covered with earth to create a form of shelter. With at least two uprights (or even with complete walls) and a large stone placed on top, a dolmen is a more complex structure. Standing upright, a menhir is a single large stone.

Although a link with water sources seems likely, the purpose of the structures is unclear. Both of these 'structures' are found in very large quantities in Brittany - there are more here than anywhere else in the world and date from the prehistoric occupation of the region.

000 of these standing stones, footpaths and viewing platforms you can admire more than 3, but from roadsides, because of possible damage to the menhirs, visitor access to most of the formations has unfortunately had to be limited. The greatest numbers of these stones are found in and around Carnac in southern Brittany.

As we can only speculate on how and why prehistoric man felt compelled to spend so much time and effort relocating these enormous boulders, this adds to the mystery of course. The reason for these so-called 'alignments' remains tantalisingly unknown, again. Each containing approximately 100 of the stones over a total length of more than one kilometre, so for example the menhirs at Kermario consist of ten rows, the standing stones are usually laid out in multiple rows.

And nearby Erdeven, other very large sites containing more than 500 menhirs are found at Menec and Kerlescan.

And no need to worry - there are still plenty of beaches and traditional villages to explore when you have had enough of prehistoric remains! Vannes and Quiberon, in the region around Auray, the best places to stay close to the stones are in the Morbihan department, if you are visiting.