After a couple of weeks inland in eastern France, and with a lot more rain forecasted, we headed all the way over to the southwest coast to see what La Rochelle and its surrounding area had to offer, hopefully some sun to start with! We’ve been on the west coast and islands many times before, but never stopped at La Rochelle as we’re not big city people, but this stop came via many recommendations, so we decided to give it a go, especially as its also on the coast.
To be honest, I was more interested in getting my beach/sea air fix than a city trip, so we found a campsite in Chatelaillon-Plage, 10 miles from La Rochelle but with easy access into the city for a day trip. We hadn’t realised the beauty that the local area and capital of the Charente-Maritime department has to offer!
Chatelaillon-Plage
The campsite we chose for our 5-night stay is in the Les Boucholeurs district of the town, with a handful of good restaurants outside the camp gates and a small beach just around the corner, not the best sand and the brown sea from the estuary reminded me of the Bristol channel, so I’d recommend going into the main town, but the locals used it regularly. You are on the flat coastal cycle/walking path that takes you 1.6 miles from camp into town along the seafront promenade to the main golden sandy beach of Chatelaillon-Plage that stretches for at least a mile and is dotted with bars, restaurants, and water-sports hire.
The town sits one street behind the seafront where there is a daily indoor food market that has a fabulous array of quality food on sale, and a weekly outdoor large market that lines the main street selling all manner of goods, as is the norm in France. The train station is only 2.2 miles from the campsite, set back from the seafront in town. There is secure bicycle parking within the train station, you just get the code from inside the ticket office if you want to leave them for the day to go into La Rochelle, or the coastal cycle path takes you all the way into the centre of the city, 9.8 miles.
Day Trip to La Rochelle
It was planned to be an overcast day, so we rode to the train station, left our bikes and did the 7-minute train ride into the centre of La Rochelle to see what all the fuss was about in this city that has been a centre for fishing and trade since the 12th century. There is a bus which stops outside the campsite and takes 50 minutes if you don’t want the trip to the train station. First impression – WOW – and that was just the train station! This is the last large, monumental station that was built in France, finished in 1922 it really is a beautiful piece of architecture.
We headed for the Vieux Port (old harbour) to see the 14th century towers called Chain and Saint-Nicholas that flank the entrance to the port and were once the defence mechanism for the city. A third tower, Lantern, is situated slightly further along the defence walls, this was originally a lighthouse and prison. It really is an impressive sight entering the harbour between those towers.
We ambled around the harbour and old town, admiring the half-timbered medieval houses and Renaissance architecture with its passages covered by 17th century arches. The town clock sits to one corner which was the former gate that separated the port from the city, such a beautiful structure. Another building here not to be missed is the 15th century Church of Angoulins-sur-mer, and the lighthouse set between the houses looking out over the bay, highly unusual.
They have now built one of the largest modern marinas in the world in La Rochelle that has 4800 moorings. The beach – yes, the city has a beach too – is set to the side of Les Minimes Marina, we didn’t walk all the way around there but from the edge the marina looked pretty impressive. By now the cloud had turned to drizzle so we decided to visit the Aquarium La Rochelle to let it pass over.
The cost was around £15 each so we were only expecting it to be small, but it took us almost 3 hours to see everything and it was amazing for the money. We wouldn’t normally visit these places unless we are with our grandkids, but I highly recommend a visit here whether as adults alone or with children of all ages. It was really informative and interactive with many unusual species of ocean life, and they have a conservation programme, so your entrance fee contributes to this.
It was a long day with lots of miles put on the Fitbit, and we only scratched the surface of La Rochelle which I’ve nicknamed the city that has everything, so give yourself plenty of time/days to visit if you want to explore everything. We’ve happily left ourselves a reason to return.
A Day out on the Bikes
With no real destination in mind other than to explore the locality, we donned our helmets and set off from the campsite on the cycle path up the coast, passing through Chatelaillon-Plage onwards to La Plage d’Aytre in the next bay. There are only a couple of hills, not enough to make me get off and walk so very minor, with the coast on one side and houses/train track on the other. This is the route that takes you into La Rochelle eventually, very little of it is on roads and these are minor with the cycle path clearly marked out.
Although it was a nice scenic ride, I took only one photograph as it became so hot and sticky that I didn’t want to stop, plus there was a swarm of huge flies around this area, such a shame because it was a lovely beach! We had a quick drink in a bar, a nosy at Camping Les Sables which had been recommended to us but was a big all singing and dancing site so although it looked fine, we were glad we’d opted for a smaller site, then we got on our bikes and returned to Chatelaillon-Plage, a total of 13 hot miles ridden and a pool dip needed!
Where We Stayed
We stayed at Camping au Port Punay, a 4-star campsite that I can’t recommend highly enough. Its location is excellent, a very quiet district on the outskirts of Chatelaillon-Plage set in a small housing estate. The owners are Dutch, but spoke better English than we did, and were super-friendly and helpful in providing information about the local area, train/bus times, cycle routes etc.
The pitches are of a very good size, flat grass mostly with hedge demarcation to 3 sides. The site was quite full when we arrived, we were allowed to choose from 3 pitches that were left as we’d not booked in advance. The toilet/shower block is in the centre of the site with outdoor loos and indoor showers, always kept very clean. To use the launderette, you had to book and obtain the key from reception then it was yours for that hour. I thought this was odd at first, but it worked well and saved running back and forth to wait for a washing machine.
The swimming pool is nice, with sun loungers around the edge which couldn’t be reserved with towels, everyone kept to this rule. There is a restaurant on site, but it was closed when we were there, however, the ones outside the camp gate were excellent. The on-site shop sold basic supplies and had daily fresh bread and pastries delivered which you ordered in advance. We rode to the large supermarket on our bikes, 10 minutes away, to stock up.
There is an Aire de Camping Car near to the hippodrome that you pass on the way to the supermarket, it is a 15-minute walk to the seafront and centre of town/train station which would be fine for a night or 2 if you don’t want a campsite.
My Recommendations from Where We Ate
Just outside the campsite:
2PAS - excellent seafood dishes, I recommend the whole crab and oysters for lunch, washed down with their house white wine.
Le Palm – fabulous mid-afternoon dessert menu, the best Dame Blanche ice-cream dessert I’ve ever eaten (and I’ve had a few), it had melted hot Nutella sauce running through it.
La Rochelle:
Creperie des Dames - overlooking the Vieux Port, we were a bit squashed in as it was very busy, but the food was amazing. I had a smoked salmon, apple and walnut galette, hubby had a huge burger.
L’Entre 2 – mid-afternoon coffee and ice-cream in this lovely ice-cream parlour. We went simple but they had an array of waffles, crepes and other desserts as well as at least 30 flavours of ice-cream.
Summary
We are so glad we finally stopped off to see La Rochelle rather than bypassing it for the nearby islands of Re and Oleron. We particularly enjoyed staying a short way out of the city and having the peace and tranquillity that Camping au Port Punay offered. The area has so much to give, and we will return to cover what we missed, but there’s only so many hours in a day, or 5!
Enough waffle for this week, if you have been to the area, please drop me a comment on the blog letting me know what you thought of it. If you enjoy reading my blogs, please like and subscribe to my website so you get notified when the next blog is published. It’s completely free, I don’t fill your inbox with unwanted spam, and it really means the world to me to know my experience has helped someone else.
Happy Travels
Really enjoying reading your blogs and the beautiful photos!
We too enjoyed La Rochelle but stayed at the municipal on the outskirts. It was very basic but only a short walk into La Rochelle. We hope to return and will do as you did and stay on a nice site and travel in. Enjoyed your blog. It’s the first one I’ve ever read!