Roscoff
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Garden of Roscoff

The opening of the deep-water port at ROSCOFF in 1973 was part of a general attempt to revitalize the Breton economy. For a stay in a Roscoff hotel, have a search on this website. The ferry services to Plymouth and to Cork aim not just to bring tourists, but also to revive the traditional trading links between the Celtic nations of Brittany, Ireland and southwest England. In fact, Roscoff had already long been a significant port. It was here that Mary Queen of Scots landed in 1548 on her way to Paris to be engaged to François, the son and heir of Henri II of France. And it was here that Bonnie Prince Charlie, the Young Pretender, landed in 1746 after his defeat at Culloden.

Roscoff itself, nonetheless, remains a small resort, where almost all activity is confined to rue Gambetta and to the old port – the rest of the roads are residential back streets full of retirement homes and institutions. One factor in preserving its old character is that both the ferry port and the gare SNCF are some way from the centre.

The town's sixteenth-century church, Notre-Dame-de-Croas-Batz, at the far end of rue Gambetta, is embellished with an ornate Renaissance belfry, complete with sculpted ships and protruding stone cannon. From the side, rows of bells can be seen hanging in galleries, one above the other like a wedding cake created by Walt Disney. Some way beyond is the grand Thalassotherapy Institute of Rock Roum, while a kilometre further on is Roscoff's best beach, at Laber, surrounded by expensive hotels and apartments.

The old harbour is livelier, mixing an economy based on fishing with relatively low-key pleasure trips to the Île de Batz. The island looks almost walkable; a narrow pier stretches over 300m towards it before abruptly plunging into deep rocky waters. The Pointe de Bloscon and the fishermen's white chapel, the Chapelle Ste-Barbe, make a good vantage point, particularly when the tide is in.

In 1828, Henri Ollivier took onions to England from Roscoff, thereby founding a trade which flourished until the 1930s. The story of the "Johnnies" – that classic French image of men in black berets with strings of onions hanging over the handlebars of their bicycles – is told in La Maison des Johnnies, across from the tourist office (mid-June to mid-Sept only, daily except Tues 10am–noon & 3–6pm; €1.50).