Throughout the year, the Societé Morbihannaise et Nantaise de Navigation (tel 08.20.05.60.00, or, if you're calling from outside France, tel 02.97.35.02.00, www.smn-navigation.fr) sends at least five ferries daily from Port-Maria, on the Quiberon peninsula, to Le Palais. The crossing normally takes 45 minutes, though the high-speed vessel Locmaria 56 makes up to three crossings daily between May and September in just 20 minutes. The standard adult return fare is €20.60, rising to €22.80 for the high-speed trip; under-25s pay €12.55 or €13.85. Small cars can be taken on the slower crossings for €84.40 return, while bikes cost €10.50 return.Between June and mid-September, the same company sends two or three boats daily direct to Sauzon from Port-Maria, which takes 25 minutes. The same passenger fares apply, but no cars or bikes can be carried. From mid-July until the end of August, the Locmaria 56 also makes one daily return trip to Sauzon from Lorient (8am; adults €25.85 return, under-25s €18.10, under-13s €12.95). The island's tourist office is next to the gare maritime in Le Palais (mid-March to mid-Oct Mon–Sat 9am–6pm, Sun 10am–12.30pm & 5–6.45pm; mid-Oct to mid-March Mon–Sat 9am–6pm, Sun 10am–12.30pm; tel 02.97.31.81.93, www.belle-ile.com). Accommodation in Le Palais includes the simple Frégate, above a nice little bar on the quayside (tel 02.97.31.54.16; under €30; closed mid-Nov to March) and a couple of more expensive options: the Hôtel Vauban, 1 rue des Remparts (tel 02.97.31.45.42, www.hotelvauban.com; €55–70; closed Nov to March), and the Hôtel-Restaurant de Bretagne on quai Macé (tel 02.97.31.80.14; under €85), both of which have excellent sea-view restaurants. There are also three campsites, including the three-star Camping de l'Océan (tel 02.97.31.83.86, www.camping-ocean-belle-ile.com; closed mid-Oct to March), and a hostel (tel 02.97.31.81.33, [email protected]; €10.67; closed Oct), which despite holding almost a hundred beds is always wildly oversubscribed; it's located a short way out of town along the clifftops from the Citadelle, at Haute-Boulogne. Sauzon has one good hotel in a magnificent setting, the Du Phare (tel 02.97.31.60.36; €40–55; closed Oct–March) – where guests must eat its delicious fish dinners – and two two-star campsites, Pen Prad (tel 02.97.31.64.82, [email protected]; closed Oct–March) and La Source (tel 02.97.31.60.95, www.belle-ile-en-mer-camping-la-source.com; closed Oct–March).
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