Each year there seem to be some locations where everyone is going on holiday. Recent popular destinations have included Oman, Croatia, Greece and this year, the Ile de Ré. If you haven’t heard of the Ile de Ré (and quite honestly, if you haven’t, where have you been?) it’s a small island, just 19 miles (30 kms) long and 3 miles (5 kms) wide, off the west coast of France. It’s accessed by a dramatic 1.8 mile (2.9kms) long toll bridge from La Rochelle which makes arriving an event.
We don’t tend to deliberately follow travel trends, but after years of hearing both of my brothers telling me how wonderful and relaxing and perfect the Ile de Ré was I decided to try and build it into our holiday plans. If you’ve read some of my other blogs you’ll know that we often spend time in a family home on the border of the Dordogne and Lot region in France. We usually build in some time discovering another region on our holidays (heading west to Bordeaux and the coast near there, or south to the Pyrenean foothills for example). This year we chose to split our fortnight in two, with 8 nights at the family home, and then 7 nights on the Ile de Ré.
Did it meet expectations? Absolutely! So, with no further ado, here are our favourite things about our week on the Ile de Ré.
Bikes! We loved using our bikes to get everywhere. Everyone uses bikes to get around on the Ile de Ré. It’s mostly flat and has a great network of car-free cycle paths that criss-cross the island. Imagine this – first evening of the holiday, jump on the bikes for an exploratory cycle from your accommodation. You find yourself in a gorgeous little town with a restaurant that serves huge bowls of mussels and massive pizzas. Winning already. After a delicious meal you cycle home through vineyards (yes, they were a surprise to us too!) at dusk. Kids over the moon to be cycling late and we loved finishing our evening with a burst of fresh air.
We brought our own bikes on holiday but there are plenty of cycle hire companies dotted across the island and each one that we saw had a variety of kid-friendly options available including trailers and tag-along bikes. Most mornings we cycled to a nearby town for a market stroll and a coffee or lunch. In the afternoon Mr P would strap the bodyboards to his back and we’d jump back on the bikes to head to the beach. As on the first night, we headed out for dinner on a couple more nights and cycled back at dusk.
Location! At first it felt like the middle of nowhere but as we got our bearings we realised that our campsite was slap bang in the middle of everything we wanted. Just 10 to 15 minutes cycle to our nearest towns St-Marie-de-Ré to the south and La Flotte to the north, another 10 minutes further on and we could reach the island’s main town, St-Martin-de-Ré. And as the island is only 3 miles wide at its widest point, we were never far from a beach.
Camping! After a week in a comfortable house we chose to camp for our second week. We love camping in our own tent, but for a whole week’s stay we decided to upgrade to a safari tent.
We chose to stay at Huttopia Chardons Bleu which not only offers safari tents (with optional upgrade to include a shower and loo – best €100 we ever spent) but also smarter chalets and ‘gypsy caravans’. Though the campsite was full we never felt that it was too crowded. We often went to the pool at the end of the day when there was plenty of room for the boys to splash around. Croissants for breakfast and a bar and restaurant serving pizza fulfilled our needs. There was a kids club but our boys preferred spending their mornings with us.
Beach! As the boys are really keen on bodyboarding we focused on beaches which would be good for that. Many of the beaches near us were rocky but Gros Jonc, one of the more popular beaches on the island, is sandy and has great waves – not too big, not too small. It is also patrolled by lifeguards which was just as well as there were many beginner surfers in the water when we were there. It was only a 25 minute cycle away for us, but there is limited parking available for those arriving in cars. There’s also an ice cream place serving delicious ice creams in supersized waffle cones.
Rocky beaches have got their uses though. Pop down at low tide and join the local fisherman hunting for marine life. We spent a very happy morning rockpooling at Plage de Montamer, our closest beach, topped off with delicious pastries on the way home. You can read more about our rock-pooling adventure here.
Our campsite recommended that we try a beach at the far west of the island as it was meant to have good waves and be a lot quieter than Gros Jonc. We knew it might be a bit far to cycle so we slightly reluctantly got in the car and went exploring.
We found the beautiful Plage du Petit Bec backed by sand dunes and pine forests. We’d packed a picnic (topped up by food bought in the market in Les Portes-en-Ré) so got there early and found it was almost empty. It did get busier as the afternoon went on, but was never crowded. There were no facilities there but that gave it a really chilled atmosphere.
Markets! You haven’t ticked off your French holiday bucket list unless you’ve visited a market. Luckily for us our local town, La Flotte, held one every morning in the market square. This is the place to stock up on fresh fruit and veg and see what else takes your fancy. For us that meant visiting the fishmonger and selecting a variety of shellfish to cook up back at camp.
La Flotte is full of lovely shops bursting with tempting goods – great souvenirs, clothes, beachwear as well as cheese, fish and meat. We also enjoyed the small street market at Les-Portes-en-Ré where we stocked up with yummy treats for our beach picnic – warm chicken wings and the most delicious prawn beignets (donuts).
…and shops! Beware the temptations of the shops on the Ile-de-Ré. All three of the towns we spent time in (La Flotte, St-Martin-de-Ré, Les Portes-en-Ré) were stuffed to the brim with gorgeous shops full of stylish homeware, quick-dry beach hammams, trinkets and clothes. Luckily for me my two boys don’t have much patience with those types of shops, so my wallet got off lightly!
Food! If you’re not into shellfish there’s plenty on offer, but if, like us, you are then a week on the Ile-de-Ré is a gastronomic delight! Huge steaming bowls of mussels, crayfish, prawns, lots of different types and sizes of clams – we were in heaven. Not to mention the oysters! As you travel around the island you’ll see oyster beds and salt marshes (the island produces top quality salt), and oyster shacks are dotted around too. Unfortunately we didn’t manage to make it to one of the famous oyster shacks, but we made up for it when we went out for lunch or dinner. The kids even tried them!
Have you been to the Ile-de-Ré? What are your top tips? Where’s your favourite place to visit on the French cost?
This looks like my kind of holiday! I love the freedom that cycling (safely) with kids can bring. And somewhere flat is very helpful! Plage du Petit Bec looking stunning. #Mondayescapes
In terms of cycling with kids it really does live up to all the hype!
This looks perfect! The Plage du Bev looks gorgeous and I love the idea of all the cycling – we love cycling as a family so this would be right up our street!! #MondayEscapes
It really does live up to the hype – a perfect, chilled family holiday
Or even “Plage du Bec”!! Silly autocorrect! 😂
Ahh this was a trip down memory lane! We used to go to Ile de Re all the time as kids – before it came a trendy destination, my parents always kick themselves for not buying somewhere on the island! Definitely want to go back with the kids one day #MondayEscapes
Oh that would have been great to have a family place there!
It looks like such a beautiful place to explore! And perfect for kiddos too. We’ve not ‘done’ France yet with our girls but it’s high on our list for sure and Ile do Re looks like an ideal place to start with
I never ‘did’ France as a kid, but I’m enjoying discovering it with mine.
Just love the thought of a holiday here. Cycling everywhere would be wonderful and the beaches look beautiful #MondayEscapes
We had such a chilled week, I think made more so by being able to cycle everywhere. Took the stress out of going places as the kids couldn’t wait to jump on their bikes.
Ahhh, we love il de re! We haven’t been for around 8 years though, and your post has made me want to head back there right away! We also stayed on a campsite, in a mobile home, and hired biked to cycle everywhere too. I loved the beaches but we didn’t discover Plage du Petit Bec which looks wonderful.
Thanks for linking up to #MondayEscapes
We really did have a lovely week, and so nice not getting in the car everyday.
I would love to camp there. It would be fun to bike there too. #farawayfiles
It was a great way to experience the island.
What a perfect holiday. You had me with the wide sandy beaches but I was really smitten when I saw the seafood platters. Take me to the Ile de Re! #FarawayFiles
Still dreaming of that food 🦐🦀🦑🐙🍤
Looks heavenly! The surf, the food, the car-free roads …. #farawayfiles
I like you have heard so much about how wonderful Ile-de-Ré is. Your photos have just added it to my growing list. We visited France in the camper van this year and loved it, and I am definitely planning a return trip so I would love to add Ile-de-Ré to my list! Thanks for sharing and linking up to #MondayEscapes
I’ve wanted to go to the île de Ré for years but we still haven’t been! It’s just our kind of place! I had heard that it was becoming increasingly trendy as a destination so I was wondering how expensive it was compared to other parts of France? #FarawayFiles
Well it’s expensive to get there as you have to pay to drive across the toll bridge – another reason to not use your car while you’re there! I suppose it is quite pricey – the food in the markets was equivalent to other French touristy areas, as were the restaurants. The nice shops varied – we found La Flotte pricier than St Martin surprisingly. Our final supermarket shop stocking up on our favourite French bits was definitely pricier than the mainland – if we’d planned it better we would have done that in La Rochelle. Having said all that, it’s not pricey compared to Paris, and we didn’t pay for any of our daytime activities – free parking for bikes on the beach.
This is so helpful. Thank you 😊
We first went more than 15 years ago after seeing it described somewhere as like Cornwall in the 1950’s but with French food. We’ve been back every year since. After 10 years we took the plunge and bought a house there that we now rent out as a holiday home ( details via my blog here – it can work for up to two families – https://islandholidayhome.wordpress.com/ )
I noticed questions about cost. Yes the fresh food in the markets can be expensive. But if you are self-catering the thing to do is to balance treats from the markets with food from the supermarkets. In St Martin there’s a full sized Leclerc and an Intermarche, even a Lidl. Leclerc buys its fish from the nearby LaRochelle fish market. It’s far fresher than anything in a UK supermarket.
If you can’t cycle, the buses have a 1 euro flat fare on the island and in July and August the usual network of within village free shuttle buses in boosted by other shuttles between villages that are also free.
Thanks for your lovely comment. Your home looks gorgeous. My brother has done the same as you funnily enough! Thanks for your notes on the cost…and you’re quite right, balancing market treats with supermarket food would be the thing to do. Great knowledge on the buses too as a few people have asked me about that.
Thanks so much for sharing this blog with me – I holidayed on Ile de Re as a kid and it sounds as dreamy as I remember it! The campsite you have suggested is def a big contender for me for later this year – thank you!
We used to love our trips to the Île de Ré and neighbouring Oléron when the boys were little and before boys too… The cycling is superb and we used to cycle out to the beaches near Ars, sitting for hours just watching the Oyster boats go about their work, scuttling through the shallows. We have so many fond memories, so it was lovely to see it again… The photos of our boys have the same smiles… So it must be good #AllAboutFrance
We LOVE the Ile de Ré and are lucky enough to live about an hour and a half away. We also love cycling, so no prizes for guessing where our favourite day to take the bikes to is! #AllAboutFrance
You lucky things!
We loved our one stay on the île de Ré and have vowed to go back (though we’re not very good at going back, always choosing somewhere new when push comes to shove). We too loved the cycling (especially living in a very hilly part of France it was a treat to be on the flat). Thanks for linking up to #AllAboutFrance
We’re really bad at going back to places too!
I’ve never been but I might have to wait until it becomes less trendy again lol It does look lovely. #AllAboutFrance
We’re also big fans of the Ile-de-Ré! We used to live within day-trip distance so it was an easy choice (except on public holidays and in summer!). I agree that it’s an excellent place for riding bikes together as a family. In fact, that’s one of the main things I miss about that region as opposed to hilly Provence! Great read, thanks 🙂 #allaboutfrance
I love Ile de RE! It´s where my fiance is from and we often visit his fmaily & friends. Such a wonderful place, especially before or after the main holiday season, loved reading your post 🙂
I haven’t heard of Ile de Re! But now that I have, I’d love to visit one day! I’m hoping to go to Europe after all the lockdowns are over, so I’ll try to fit this in 🙂
It’s a great place to add to your European bucket list!
Would love to make it back to France! Will put this on my to do list!