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 ...
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 area ...
) 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 Rhône ...
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 and currently terminates at
Sare Sare may refer to:
People
* Bakary Saré (born 1990), Burkinabé football player
* Clyde W. Sare (1936–2015), American politician and businessman
* Haig Sare (born 1982), Australian rugby union player
* Hamit Şare (born 1982), Turkish alpine sk ...
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 of ...
, 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 kil ...
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''. Capi ...
, takes the ferry over the Gironde estuary and continues in the Gironde then the Landes, while following the Atlantic coast, before crossing the Adour further east, in
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, Can ...
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 ...
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
Pays de la Loire (; ; br, Broioù al Liger) is one of the 18 regions of France, in the west of the mainland. It was created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital, Nantes, one of a handful of "balancing metropolises" ().
...
, 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 at
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 ...
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 ...
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
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''. Capi ...
, and the Way of Saint James (the ') south of the Gironde 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 termi ...
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, a ...
with
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...