The , or GR 8 for short, is a long distance hiking trail on the French

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

coast. It is part of the

Grande Randonnée The GR footpaths are a network of long-distance walking trails in Europe, mostly in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain. They go by the following names: french: link=no, sentier de grande randonnée, vls, link=no, Groteroutepad, nl, L ...

network and runs from

Saint-Brevin-les-Pins Saint-Brevin-les-Pins (; also ; br, Sant-Brewenn) is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France. It is known as the site of the serpent d'océan, a giant sea serpent sculpture by artist Huang Yong Ping. Population Histo ...

(

Loire-Atlantique Loire-Atlantique (; br, Liger-Atlantel; before 1957: ''Loire-Inférieure'', br, Liger-Izelañ, link=no) is a department in Pays de la Loire on the west coast of France, named after the river Loire and the Atlantic Ocean. It had a population ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

) on the south of the

Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhôn ...

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

, opposite the large port city of

Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean ...

and currently terminates at Sare in the

Atlantic Pyrenees The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...

Route

The path descends from the Côte de Jade of the

Pays de Retz The Pays de Retz (; br, Bro-Raez, link=no; ) is a historical subregion of France that currently forms part of the Loire-Atlantique department, but which previously formed part of the Duchy of Brittany. The area lies between the southern shore o ...

, through the

Vendée Vendée (; br, Vande) is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.

and

Charente-Maritime Charente-Maritime () is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region on the southwestern coast of France. Named after the river Charente, its prefecture is La Rochelle. As of 2019, it had a population of 651,358 with an area of 6,864 square ...

towards

Royan Royan (; in the Saintongeais dialect; oc, Roian) is a commune and town in the south-west of France, in the department of Charente-Maritime in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. Its inhabitants are known as ''Royannais'' and ''Royannaises''. Cap ...

, takes the ferry over the

Gironde estuary The Gironde estuary ( , US usually ; french: estuaire de la Gironde, ; oc, estuari de aGironda, ) is a navigable estuary (though often referred to as a river) in southwest France and is formed from the meeting of the rivers Dordogne and Ga ...

and continues in the

Gironde Gironde ( US usually, , ; oc, Gironda, ) is the largest department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1, ...

then the

Landes ''Landes'', or ''Lanas'' in Gascon, means moorland or heath. ''Landes'' and ''Lanas'' come from the Latin ''plānus'' meaning “‘flat, even, level, plain’”. They are therefore cognate with the English plain (and plane), the Spanish word ...

, while following the Atlantic coast, before crossing the Adour further east, in

Urt Urt (; ; )AHURTI
GR 10 GR 10 is a French GR footpath, or hiking trail, that runs the length of the Pyrenees Mountains. It roughly parallels the French–Spanish border on the French side. Those attempting the entire trail often choose to walk it from west to east, fr ...

which continues westward to

Hendaye Hendaye ( Basque: ''Hendaia'')HENDAIA
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

border and town of

Irun Irun ( es, Irún, eu, Irun) is a town of the Bidasoaldea region in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. History It lies on the foundations of the ancient Oiasso, cited as a Roman-Vasconic town. During the Span ...

and eastward through the

Pyrénées-Atlantiques Pyrénées-Atlantiques (; Gascon Occitan: ''Pirenèus Atlantics''; eu, Pirinio Atlantiarrak or ) is a department in the southwest corner of France and of the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Named after the Pyrenees mountain range and the Atlant ...

. The path therefore traverses six coastal administrative departments in two

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

: Loire-Atlantique and Vendée in the Pays de Loire, and Charente-Maritime, Gironde, Landes and Pyrénées-Atlantiques in

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine (; oc, Nòva Aquitània or ; eu, Akitania Berria; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Novéle-Aguiéne'') is the largest administrative region in France, spanning the west and southwest of the mainland. The region was created by ...

Description

The GR 8 is the youngest of the ten main routes (GR 1 to GR 10) of the French hiking network and has not yet been completely demarcated. However, several small gaps in the route can be easily filled by using other walking routes, such as the

GR 364 GR may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Film and television * '' Golmaal Returns'', a 2008 Bollywood film * '' Generator Rex'', an animated TV series * Guilty Remnant, a cult-like organization portrayed in '' The Leftovers'', an HBO telev ...

Talmont-Saint-Hilaire Talmont-Saint-Hilaire () is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. The commune was formed by the merger of the former communes of Talmont and Saint-Hilaire-de-Talmont in 1974. Richard I of England ...

, the

GR 360 GR may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Film and television * '' Golmaal Returns'', a 2008 Bollywood film * ''Generator Rex'', an animated TV series * Guilty Remnant, a cult-like organization portrayed in '' The Leftovers'', an HBO televi ...

and the

GR 4 The GR 4 is a long-distance walking route of the Grande Randonnée network in France. The route connects Royan with Grasse. Along the way, the route passes through: * Royan * Saintes * Montbron * Aixe-sur-Vienne * Aubusson * Mont-Dore * Les V ...

between

Rochefort Rochefort () may refer to: Places France * Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, in the Charente-Maritime department ** Arsenal de Rochefort, a former naval base and dockyard * Rochefort, Savoie in the Savoie department * Rochefort-du-Gard, in the Ga ...

and

, and the Way of Saint James (the ') south of the

estuary. In this latter area of Aquitaine, the GR 8 was almost completely defined and marked, but a number of private owners since prohibited the passage of GR walkers, so that a new route has to be found. In the vicinity of La Rochelle, hikers will have to find a suitable route for the time being. The GR 8 is part of the

E9 European long distance path The E9 European long distance path, E9 path or European Coastal Path (French: ''Sentier Européen du Littoral'') is one of the European long-distance paths, running for from Tarifa, Spain to Narva-Jõesuu in Estonia. In 2019, the southern termin ...

linking

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and t ...

with

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gr 8 Hiking trails in France Geography of Loire-Atlantique Geography of Vendée Geography of Charente-Maritime Geography of Gironde Geography of Landes (department) Geography of Pyrénées-Atlantiques Tourist attractions in Loire-Atlantique Tourist attractions in Vendée Tourist attractions in Charente-Maritime Tourist attractions in Gironde Tourist attractions in Landes (department) Tourist attractions in Pyrénées-Atlantiques