Plage du Môle (Saint-Malo)

Plage du Môle is a small, west-facing family beach of sand at the foot of the ramparts of Saint-Malo intra-muros, the walled port city on the north coast of Brittany. The 500-metre Môle des Noires jetty shelters it, so it is calmer than the open beaches to the east, and it suits anyone who wants a swim after walking the old town.

Sheltered by the Môle des Noires jetty

The beach lies on Rue Guy Louvel, in a corner protected by the Môle des Noires, the long jetty with a lighthouse at the entrance to the harbour. Lifeguards watch the beach in summer, and there are showers. Dogs are not allowed from 1 April to 30 September. Like every beach on this coast, the Môle changes greatly with the tide, and at high water little sand is left.

Ramparts walk and the rebuilt walled city

Saint-Malo intra-muros was largely destroyed in the fighting of August 1944 and rebuilt after the war to look much as it had before. The walk along the ramparts above the beach gives views over the bay and its islands. Saint-Malo Cathedral is about 400 m away.

Tidal crossings to the Grand Bé and Fort National

Offshore, the writer Chateaubriand is buried on the islet of the Grand Bé, about 700 m from the beach, and the Fort National stands on another rock nearby. Both can be reached on foot across the sand at low tide; the rising tide cuts off the crossings quickly, so check the tide tables before setting out. The Bon-Secours tidal swimming pool, refilled by the sea at high tide, is about 500 m along the shore.