Pontivy, France
Self Catering Pontivy Holiday Cottages and Gites, Morbihan, Brittany
Pontivy is found in the Morbihan department of the Brittany region in north-western France. It lies at the confluence of the river Blavet and the Canal de Nantes. When you rent a self catering cottage or gite in Pontivy, you’re actually staying in the centre of Brittany.
Pontivy has a rich and fascinating history: a monk called Ivy built a bridge nearby over the river Blavet in the 7th century, and the town is named after him ("pont" being the French for "bridge"). Yet even more interestingly – when you stay in a Pontivy holiday rental property, is this: on November 9, 1804, the name was changed to Napoléonville after Napoléon Bonaparte, under whom it had around 3,000 inhabitants. Napoléon planned to make the town an important part of his administration. Yet after his downfall, it was renamed Pontivy again, then later Bourbonville, and Napoléonville again after Napoléon III came to power.
Today when you rent holiday rental cottages in Pontivy, Brittany it means residing in a largely agricultural town. Yet it’s an attractive one which offers sightings of Napoleon’s legacy everywhere. In fact most people regard Pontivy as having two faces: there is its medieval centre, including the Rohan castle, which then completely contrasts with the area imagined and built by Napoleon Bonaparte.
When you stay in a self-catering holiday home in Pontivy, don’t forget to visit the town’s famous castle of Rohan. It dates from the 15th century and has its own moat. There is also the Notre-Dame-de-Joie basilica and the Saint Joseph church.
To reach your Pontivy accommodation, there are a wealth of local airports to choose from. These include Saint-Brieuc – which offers flights with Skybus. Other airports include: Rennes and Nantes. Rennes is served by Flybe and Nantes by Air France, CityJet, easyJet, Flybe and Ryanair. Roscoff and St-Malo are the nearest ferry ports. Roscoff serves Brittany Ferries from Plymouth and Cork and Irish Ferries from Rosslare. St Malo welcomes Brittany Ferries from Portsmouth and Condor Ferries form Weymouth, Poole, Guernsey and Jersey. The nearest train station is at Loudéac. Travel time to Paris Montparnasse is approximately 4 ½ hours, there is a change at St Brieuc.
Brittany is warmer and drier than the south of England, particularly in summer. The south coast of Brittany can be scorching in July and August. However, being in the north west of France, the weather can also be wet at any time of the year.