I’ve visited the island of Ile de Re on a few occasions. It lies on the west coast of France, approached by the 3km long toll bridge (Pont de Ile de Re) from La Rochelle. The cost to enter the island is 8 euros, rising to 16 euros in high season, it is free when you leave. It is a beautiful island, visited by the French in their thousands during the peak summer month of August, and now an all-year-round island for tourists. Well known for its salt marshes and fabulous oysters, it is just 30km in length and 5km at its widest point.
Getting Around
It is certainly a place you can roam around easily, especially if you like cycling. There is one main road through the island and minor roads that peel off to all the towns and villages. The cycle paths are mainly off-road, shared with walkers, and many go through forest paths and fields. There are cycle maps of the island and excellent signage along the routes, but you can literally just set off in a direction and at every junction take the sign you fancy to get you to another lovely location. There are also buses that go all around the island if you’re not a cyclist or walker, and of course you can drive the length and breadth of the island in your car, camper or motorhome.
Places I’ve Visited
There are so many places to see, and things to do that I’m just going to talk about where I’ve been, and let you discover others when you visit for yourself.
La Flotte – I’ve stayed locally to here as it is one of the nicest harbour villages to visit and is central to some other beautiful places to see. It boasts cobbled streets with boutique shops selling high-end clothing (some cheaper than others, some requiring a bank loan to enter), tasty treats and lots of sea salt made on the island. Most streets lead down to the central square that surrounds the harbour. Restaurants, bars and ice-cream parlours adorn the harbour on all three sides looking out towards the sea, all with outdoor terraces so you can enjoy the sunshine and soak up the atmosphere. There is a long promenade that leads off in both directions from the harbour front and a nice stretch of golden sandy beach off to the right which disappears with the tide. One of the main cycle routes comes right through La Flotte and the harbour, leading out towards Saint-Martin-de-Re in one direction and heads along the coast toward the bridge in the other direction.
Abbaye des Chateliers and Plage Nord – We set off on a cycle day from La Flotte towards the Plage Nord beach near to the bridge, and detoured off to see the abbey where we enjoyed our picnic. The abbey was opened in 1156 by the Cistercian monks and is the oldest religious building on the island, now just ruins after being attacked in various religious wars and by the English sadly. Most of its stones were used to construct the Fort de la Pree nearby but you can still enjoy an hour wandering around the site. There is a free car park suitable for motorhomes and the cycle path goes directly past the entrance if you hug the coast from La Flotte.
We continued our journey on to Plage Nord which is a vast beach with the entrance to the island in the distance. Here we came across a huge starfish and the biggest jellyfish I’ve ever seen, comparison in the photo of my hubby’s cycle helmet and his size 11 footprint! We stopped for a well-earned refreshing beer before heading back, total cycling 10 miles with detour to abbey.
Saint-Martin-de-Re – Another beautiful historic village built around a central harbour with cobbled streets that don’t go well with a cycle seat and my derriere! The harbour is similar to La Flotte where restaurants sit alongside the harbour edge and create a fabulous atmosphere to enjoy a refreshing drink or scrumptious meal.
This town is home to the famous Ile de Re mascot ‘Anes en Culotte’, or donkeys in pyjamas to you and me! Based in the Barbette Park during the summer, follow the fortifications from the harbour and you’ll find them just off to the right as you look out to sea. The owner, Regis Leau, breeds the donkeys and produces their milk for use in soap-making, as well as allowing children to enjoy donkey rides. We’ve seen them in the past but sadly not when we visited in May.
Ars-en-Re – Almost at the top of the island is this quaint town, again the cobbled or paved streets are built around the main square that is home to a beautiful Romanesque church with painted black spire which is used as a landmark for sailors in the bay. A few pedals later and you come to the harbour which leads out via an inlet to the sea, Fier d’Ars. The harbour and town are surrounded by many of the island’s salt marshes, most of which you can cycle through on designated paths. There are a few eateries at the edge of the harbour looking down the Fier, but we chose to eat in the square as the wind was blowing a hoolie down from the sea that day. Plus, we’d ridden off the campsite not realising we’d left our bike locks on the table so wanted to be able to see them from where we ate. Although I think that is the fearful Brit in us because it was one of the safest places I’ve visited, and everyone just walked away from their bikes without a second glance!
Le Bois-Plage-en-Re – We stayed here a few years ago as it is fairly central but sits right
on what is probably the best beach on the island, with amazing golden soft sand and a gently shelved sea edge safe for children. It hosts the biggest outdoor daily market selling all manner of goods much cheaper than the shops on the island, and it has an indoor food market with delicious offerings to stock up your fridge with. Despite being one of the oldest seaside towns on the island, I don’t think it has the same quaintness as the other towns, perhaps because it is more spread out, but the beach more than makes up for this; Plage de Gros Joncs, set in front of beautiful sand dunes is almost 6km long.
Where We Ate
The island is my idea of seafood heaven, all fresh from the sea and cooked without added flavours as it doesn’t need it. You can also find good meat and pizza offerings if seafood isn’t your thing. I’ve only listed the places we’ve eaten in last year as there are so many options available, I would need to write a book to list them all.
In La Flotte we had a tip from the campsite receptionist to eat at Les Copains Babord seafood bar which is a 15-minute walk on the promenade out of town, apparently a locals’ favourite and I could understand why. It was part of their oyster business, with a basic kitchen, tables and chairs outside, and only 5 menu options, no airs and graces; it was absolutely amazing! They also have a shop at the end of the harbour where you can buy fresh fish and seafood every day when the catch arrives, we did that too!
In Saint-Martin I can recommend Le Belem, I had king prawns cooked on the grill and hubby had a humongous burger, both were delicious and very reasonably priced to say we were overlooking the harbour.
In the square at Ars, we ate at Hotel Le Clocher, which I highly recommend. We both chose the 3-course seafood plat du jour, and for dessert I had Ile Flottante, which is a crème pâtissier runny custard with a floating, melt-in-your-mouth meringue. One of my all-time favourite French desserts and if you’ve not had one then you are seriously missing out, bonus is it is low in fat but doesn’t taste it! It cost 20 euros each with a glass of wine, not worth us turning the gas on in the van to cook.
Where We Stayed
There are masses of campsites around the island, and a few aires with the biggest one being just over the bridge as you enter the island, although they don’t encourage wild camping which is not surprising, or the island would be overcrowded very easily. These are the campsites I’ve stayed on:
La Flotte – Flower Camping Le Bel Air; Very peaceful in May, we booked 5 nights and stayed 9. Some of the pitches were very shady which would be great in height of summer, and I don’t recommend the ones with private facilities as they are in the dankest part of the site, but the cheapest pitches are great and hedged three sides. Facilities were clean if a bit dated, but showers were always hot and facility heated, some were outdoor, but these were closed out of season. It is a 10-minute walk to the harbour and a 5-minute walk to the nearest supermarket out of the back gate. You can get straight on a cycle path from the gates. We didn’t use the restaurant or pool on site, but both looked very nice.
Le Bois-Plage – Camping Les Varennes; a few years since we stayed on here in the height of summer, it was packed with families (including us at that time), great pool and takeaway pizza. Good sized pitches with lots of shade which was needed in August. Toilets/showers were outdoor but have now been replaced with a modern indoor block. This site was excellent for the golden, sandy beach only a 5-minute stroll away.
Ars-en-Re – Camping Essi (municipal); not overly impressive, I had to shoehorn our van into a pitch next to the bins and exit gate, even though there seemed to be plenty empty I was told this was the only one available. They have a lot of seasonal tourers and cabins on site, so it was quite noisy, but it was a French bank holiday. The toilets/showers were excellent and very clean for the price of the pitch, we booked just 2 nights but had to leave after 1 to head home earlier than expected, but I wasn’t given a refund which is unusual in France. I’d say its ok for a short stay but there are others that look nicer in that area and a good aire down the road.
Summary
It is safe to say that if you choose the Ile de Re for a holiday you won’t be disappointed. If you ever watched ‘Allo ‘Allo, the backstreets of the towns we visited are reminiscent of this and you can image the French Resistance running between the alleyways on a dark night during the war. Quintessentially French, it has some beautiful architecture, amazing beaches, fabulous seafood and traditional craftsmanship still going on. Add in the super-safe cycling network across the whole island and it’s a great place for all ages to visit.
Just be aware that it is a ‘go to’ destination of the Parisiennes come August so there are things that come with a high price tag, but these can be avoided! I’ve visited in and out of season, and I highly recommend avoiding the peak period if you can as you get to see the island in its glory at a gentler pace. However, if you can only go in August, then still do as its somewhere just a little different from any other.
Enough waffle this week, I hope this helps some fellow campers. If you have been, drop me a comment on the blog letting me know what you thought of the island and if you’d return. If you enjoyed reading this blog, 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
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