Douarnenez and its four harbors were the center of the sardine canning industry during the 19th and early 20th centuries. While trade has dropped off, signs of the town’s fishing heritage are everywhere – from its cozy fishermen’s cottages to the aptly named Chemin de la Sardine, the main route through Douarnenez’s buzzy center. Follow the waterfront promenade along the Quai du Port-Rhu to the Port-Musée, where you can step aboard a traditional lobster boat, barge and British tug at anchor. The island of Tristan, which sits opposite, is home to an exotic botanical gardens; you can access it by foot at low tide. A coastal path leads past Le Ris Beach to the Plomarc’h Natural Site, a cliffside hamlet of stone cottages from the 1700s that has been transformed into a 50-acre farm park.