6-Day Charente-Maritime Itinerary: Spring Holiday in France

Our Charente-Maritime itinerary was an improvised holiday in France. Bordered by 5 French departments, Charente-Maritime enjoys a moderate local climate and is a person of France’s most well-known locations. Its Atlantic coastline has 463 km of shoreline, of which 230 km on the islands, this sort of as Ile d’Oléron opposite of Bourcefranc-Le-Chapus and Ile de Ré connected to La Rochelle. And a few rivers, the Charente, the Seudre, and the Sèvre Niortaise, cross the region’s lush inexperienced countryside. Perched on the hills, the vineyards in Charente-Maritime create some of the most well known spirits in the planet, these types of as Remy Martin and Hennessy.

In Germany, educational facilities have Easter vacations, but not in France. For that reason, we experienced a excellent time discovering this fewer crowded and considerably less high-priced area with out hassle. We could not approach our Charente-Maritime itinerary ahead of our holiday. Soon after the holiday, we realized how lots of pursuits we experienced accomplished inside a 7 days. Under is the detail of our a person-7 days Charente-Maritime Itinerary:

• 1^st Working day: IIe d’Oleron
• 2^ed Working day: Fort Louvois and Salt marshes on the island of Oleron
• 3^rd Day: ile de re (Plage des bidons V)  La Rochelle
• 4^th Day: In the holiday dwelling in Bourcefranc
• 5^th Working day: Cognac Tasting in Cognac, France
• 6^th Working day: Dune beach, Le Phare de La Coubre, la Palmyre, Royan, Grottes du Régulus

1^st Day: IIe d’Oleron

Beach strolling

From Bourcefranc-Le-Chapus, we passed the very long bridge connected to the island and turned to the left in the direction of the Forest of Saint-Trojan. The beach front, Plage de Saint-Trojan-les-Bains, is powering the forest. I walked on the vast seaside aimlessly, viewing the waves rippling gently. There was no clump of seaweed washed on the seaside. Hunting far out, I noticed a line of nickel-silver, the horizon! 

Many beautiful seashores stretch kilometres together the blue Atlantic, a paradise for beachgoers in the summertime. 

Stroll about the imposing ramparts in the vicinity of the citadel of Le Château-d’Oléron 

The citadel and ramparts encompassing the medieval district of Le Château-d’Oléronare are obtainable year-round. The ramparts of the web site offer you a panoramic view of the Pure Reserve of Moëze-Oléron. It is intriguing to look at how the tides alter the landscape of the port. 

Check out colourful oyster huts

All-around lunchtime, we strolled in the port of Château-d’Oléron and astonishingly found lots of colourful huts, Cabanes de créateurs (the designer huts). They utilized to be oyster huts. The artists, from sculptors, and jewelers, to cutlers, have been building and repainting these huts for decades. My eyes had been drawn to a blue hut, a red one particular, and a yellow just one at the waterfront. What a perfect location for photographers!

Climbing at the northern tip of the island

In the late afternoon, we drove to the northern and had a cliff wander close to the lighthouse, the Phare de Chassiron. The spherical walk all around the lighthouse rewarded us with rocky coastal views. Nevertheless, the sunset was however struggling through the rainy clouds, supplying us a lightning prospect to capture the views. Some places have warning indications since the cliff has erosions. We experienced to consider precautions walking on the cliffside.

2^ed IIe d’Oleron (Fort Louvois and boat journey in Salt marshes on the island of Oleron)

Fort Louvois

From the backyard garden, we could see Fort Louvois when it was crystal clear climate. Right before we took the boat excursion in salt marshes on the IIe d’Oleron, we produced a stopover there. This 17th-century maritime fortification is easy to reach at low tide on foot and by boat at significant tide. The road to the fortification was however soaked due to the fact the lower tide started off and lined by seaweed. Therefore, the walking path was very slippery. 

Bost vacation in Salt marshes in Le Grand Village Plage

A significant place of the island is salt marshes. Several salt producers welcome people to share their enthusiasm, giving tours introducing salt farming is effective and history. We hired a boat at Le Port des Salines and used about 45 minutes in the canals amid the salt marshes. It was a boat rowing action for our son. So, immediately after the boat journey, we however expended some time there looking at the salt marshes on foot. 

3^rd ile de re (Plage des bidons V)  La Rochelle

Ile de Ré 

In the summer time seasons, Ile de Ré is in which you’ll uncover 50 % of Paris having its holiday there. Strips of uninterrupted golden fluffy sand shorelines cover much of the island’s coastline. This little island is linked to La Rochelle by means of a toll bridge.

Close to lunchtime, we drove to Plage des bidons V on the western side and located ourselves just about by yourself on the beach front, other than two horse riders. There were some wild vegetation on the beachfront, which I could not convey to the name. 

La Rochelle

The previous harbour of La Rochelle is the centre of the town and is incredibly chaotic. But the first thing that caught my eyes was the graffiti on the partitions. They were all substantial but properly painted. From the centre of the harbour, we could see three medieval historic towers of LA Rochelle. 1 of them, the Lantern Tower, served as a Lighthouse and jail all over its record.

Effectively, the strongest impression of this spot is the quantity of its eating places. Within the complete outdated city, we saw places to eat and bars featuring fast foods, selfmade French food, intercontinental foodstuff, and gourmet dishes. Considering that most eateries open all-around 19:30, we had a good deal of time to examine menus. 

4^th  In the vacation home in Bourcefranc

In the early early morning, we woke up and observed significant tar-black clouds going in the direction of our spot. We had a fast examine where by to expend the day but unfortunately uncovered that the whole region would be a wet working day. We received up early more than enough and experienced breakfast, hoping the weather modified mercifully.

Quickly, I heard the 1st splatter of rain tapping on the window, and then the drops have been drumming on the terrace. The rainfall grew to become intensive in the up coming hour. We had prepared to take a look at a number of destinations, but none of them experienced excellent weather conditions. So, it was match playing and e-book looking through working day. 

5^th Cognac Tasting in Cognac, France

Mainly because the climate turned far better, we have been capable to comply with our Charente-Maritime Itinerary, checking out the town of Cognac and joined a Cognac Tasting tour. Cognac is not only the famous spirit but also the put the place the spirit is made. We planned to see the touristic town and the historic home of Rémy Martin. But regretably, the home was beneath renovation and preparing for the approaching 300 year’s celebration. Discontented with the scenario, we went to its shop subsequent door to invest in cognac as prepared.

There, we acquired a prospect to sign up for a cognac tasting tour. The one-tour was not totally free, but it was the only English tour of the week during the off-season. Given that we were not sure which brand or merchandise to invest in, it was a likelihood to know the mystery of this high quality spirit.

6^th Lighthouse of La Coubre and Grottes du Régulus

Climb up the Lighthouse of La Coubre

The Lighthouse of La Coubre is the tallest in the Charente-Maritime, with a height of 64 metres. It was effortless to climb up the tower, in spite of of narrow stairs. Once on the leading of the lighthouse, we experienced views of the attractive coastline and modifying dunes.  

Grottes du Régulus

Continue driving toward the south, and following possessing a fast stop at la Palmyre, we determined to have lunch at Royan. Royan is a seaside vacation resort with countless shores of the ocean and its five sandy beaches proudly flying the Blue Flag. 

Situated 12 km from Royan, the Grottes du Régulus (Caves of Régulus), a municipal troglodyte web site, is open up to the public for a number of months of a yr. There are a couple of caves together this stretch of coastline. But this a single is a municipal. 

Travel tips for organizing Charente-Maritime itinerary

The place to keep

We stayed in Bourcefranc-Le-Chapus. The vacation home is just on leading of the cliff and next to the sea. Just about every morning, I watched the sun shining around the coastal space and the solar disappearing behind the horizon in the evening. It was these types of a fantastic house with a whirlpool in the back garden. Every single home has a thoroughly equipped toilet. There are many distinct types of accommodations in the location, but you should reserve in advance if you prepare to have a holiday getaway there.  

The best holiday getaway bases would be La Rochelle, Ile de Ré, and IIe d’Oleron. If we went there in the summertime, we would increase various seaside actions to our Charente-Maritime itinerary.

How to get there

• You can get to Charente-Maritime from five close by airports: Bordeaux, Nates, La Rochelle, Biarritz, and Limoges. 
• Spending budget travellers can consider long-haul buses, for instance, Paris – La Rochelle or Bordeaux – La Rochelle. Obtain all the locations on the Flixbus web page.  
• TGV sells tickets from Paris Montparnasse to La Rochell. The journey is about 2H50. 
• If you desire to push, motorways A10 and A83 will take you to La Rochelle.