Carnac is one of the most important prehistoric sites in Europe. It is thought that the area has been continuously inhabited longer than anywhere else in the world. The rows stretch west to east across the width of Carnac for 3.75 kilometers. However the alignments in the area cover a distance of 15km from the rows at Erdeven in the west to La Trinité-sur-Mer to the east. There are more than 2700 standing stones in the area and many burial chambers and cromlechs – circles or enclosures.

Most of the chambered tombs are to the north of the rows and the rows themselves often have terminal cromlechs that were raised on level ground with the rows running up to them. It is thought that the cromlechs were built first and the rows added and extended over the centuries. Stories about the origins of the alignments are many ranging from the early belief that they were Roman soldiers turned to stone in their ranks to a more modern belief by US soldiers in the last war that they were German anti-tank obstructions. The sites below are from east to west.

The rows at Kermario

We came into Carnac to visit the rows from the east from Locmariaquer. The only problem for UK drivers is that most parking spaces are on the left so traveling west to east would be less stressful. However in April the sites were almost empty and there was little traffic. All the rows are now fenced off and are only open during the winter, unfortunately for us we missed the end of “winter” by two days so all gates were locked. The road where the alignments are in is well signed and there is a free map in the middle of the tourist guide in the Carnac tourist office that is helpful. They also have them hidden away in the visitor center at Kermario. 

Gavranis 
What was to be one of the high points of our visit to Carnac was a trip to Gavranis which was a disappointment as when we got to the harbour where the boats go from there was a sign saying it was closed due to technical problems and no opening date was available as the tourist office staff were not there either and nobody knew when it would “open”.