Brest: how to get there and around
Airports, stations, ports, where the hotels are and what the numbers say, from public data rather than a brochure.
Brest is a city of 144,899 people in France (Brittany), 49 m (161 ft) above sea level. The nearest large airport is Brest Bretagne airport (BES), 8 km (5 mi) from the centre. It has 1 railway station on record, including Brest railway station. It is a port city: Port of Brest and 3 more.
Key facts
Daylight in Brest runs from about 8 h 23 min a day in late December to 16 h 10 min in late June (computed for 48.39° latitude), which matters more than the forecast when a day is built around one flight or one crossing.
Getting there
Brest is served by one airport with scheduled flights. The closest large one is Brest Bretagne airport (BES), 8 km (5 mi) from the centre, whose 10,171-ft runway is long enough for long-haul wide-body aircraft.
Flights to Brest: every airport, routes and times
By rail: stations on record include Brest railway station. Trains to Brest
Buses to Brest · Driving and car hire · Ferries
What people come for
| Sight | Visitors a year | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Brest national naval museum | 75,128 | 2017 |
| Brest’s Museum of Fine Arts | 23,687 | 2019 |
The busiest is Brest national naval museum at 75,128 visitors in 2017. Figures are the latest each site has published, so they are not all for the same year.
Tours, tickets and day trips from Brest
Nearby cities, and how to get between them
- Bristol, 367 km (United Kingdom)
- Cardiff, 356 km (United Kingdom) — trains · buses · car rental · ferries
- Nantes, 255 km — trains · buses · car rental · ferries · tours
- Swansea, 361 km (United Kingdom) — trains
- Southampton, 357 km (United Kingdom) — trains · buses · car rental
- Plymouth, 222 km (United Kingdom) — trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Rennes, 210 km — trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Portsmouth, 363 km (United Kingdom) — trains
- Le Havre, 357 km — trains · buses · car rental
- Angers, 310 km — buses · car rental
Twin towns and sister cities: Denver, Plymouth, Kiel, Taranto, Yokosuka, Dún Laoghaire, Cádiz, Saponé, Constanța, Qingdao, Brest, Béjaïa.
Common questions
Which airport serves Brest?
Brest Bretagne airport (BES), 8 km (5 mi) from the centre.
How big is Brest?
About 144,899 people live in Brest, across 50 km² (GeoNames and Wikidata).
What time zone is Brest in?
Europe/Paris, currently UTC+2.
What currency is used in Brest?
The Euro (EUR). Traffic drives on the right.
Which cities are near Brest?
Bristol (367 km), Cardiff (356 km), Nantes (255 km), Swansea (361 km), Southampton (357 km).
Where these facts come from
- GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, elevation, time zone, postal codes
- Wikidata (CC0): area, sister cities, visitor numbers, heritage listings, stations and ports
- OurAirports (public domain): airports, runways
- Natural Earth (public domain): map outlines
Data compiled 13 September 2026. Hotel figures are from our booking partner’s catalogue on that date. Journey times on this page are estimates from distance, not timetables; check the operator before you rely on one.