A Guide to the Ile de Re, France

Ahh the Ile de Re. My husband and I first discovered this little piece of paradise on the west coast of France back in 2015 and have been back 4 times since! Dubbed the French Hamptons, an island attached by a bridge near La Rochelle, it’s where lots of Parisians have holiday homes. You’ll find miles and miles of car free cycle routes through vineyards, the prettiest shuttered towns in hues of green & blue {there are a set number of paint colours that habitants are required to use}, pine backed sandy beaches, oyster farms, daily markets and salt farms. It’s bigger than you expect! This was our second trip there with children, fourth or fifth in total - we couldn’t remember our life pre kids haha - and here’s a mini guide if you’re looking to go;

Getting there /

- we took the overnight ferry to Dieppe {but you could also go to St Malo or Le Havre} then had around a 6 hour easy drive to make it to the Ile de Re by lunchtime. The roads are brilliant and quiet but do have your card ready for the tolls £ and it’s £16 to cross the bridge to the island in peak season

- We’ve flown in the past to La Rochelle & got the bus to the island relatively easily.

- You don’t really need a car on the island, there are cycle routes everywhere {and bike hire shops with all kinds of trailers or take your own} and free electric buses. But if you do drive then parking is almost always free and easy for each town/beach.

Stay /

- we’ve stayed at Flower Camping Bel Air twice now and it’s a fab campsite under pine trees, we love the Comfort pitches with a private bathroom & kitchen wooden hut on your pitch - see the photo below. It makes camping feel so easy! The kids adore the pool, playground, free tennis & bouncy castle. There is a kids club on at high season with activities but it’s pretty much all in French. It’s a pretty 10 min walk to La Flotte from here so a perfect location.

- There are so many campsites though and most have canvas tents or cabins if you don’t want to camp camp.

- In the past we’ve also stayed in a couple of different Airbnb apartments in St Martin & before that, La Jettee hotel. Book accommodation in advance especially for peak season, it gets really booked up!

- I’ve heard great things about Slow Living and Le Phare. A French, chic kind of holiday village.

- For a fancier hotel @hoteldetorias and @villaclarisse are renowned.

- We love visiting the top of the island but I think the best location to base yourselves is either La Flotte or St Martin as beautiful spots with an evening harbour yet super easy to cycle to lots of other places. The towns further up the island are wonderful to visit but feel a bit more remote. The ideal thing if you have time would be to split your stay between somewhere like St Martin, La Flotte or le Bois then stay somewhere up the top to give you the best of both.

Eat /

- Patisserie Feuillette in La Flotte is another level. Expect to queue but it’s worth it. Don’t miss their cookies, any of the pastries or the individual feuilette I think it’s called, it looks like a crème brullee topped pastry swirl, I asked what it was and got told ‘it’s like a croissant but with more butter and sugar’. SOLD! There’s another branch in Rivedoux Plage.

- Do Re Mi in St Martin is excellent for baguettes/pastries there.

- Au Pain Marin in le Bois for baguettes to take to the beach.

- La Martiniere for the best artisan ice cream, multiple locations

- La Cible , @beachbariledere , @reostrea are all highly rated restaurants we’ve eaten at over the trips

- There are supermarkets across the island, our fav is E Leclerc near St Martin and in high season they’re all open on a Sunday - this is rare in France!

Do /

- hire bikes! We’ve taken our bikes with us and a bike trailer for our last two trips that we’ve driven but pre kids we hired our bikes there. There are bike hire spots in every town and most hotels/campsites will have them too.

- see the salt harvesting in Loix

- Cycle between the pretty towns to different beaches, it’s signed and there are beautiful cycle paths. Just don’t follow google maps unless you want to have to walk your bikes through the sandy middle part of the island and have your children hate you for having to trek through it haha, speaking from experience! After this Freya told everyone who would listen not to trust google maps for cycling instructions.

- There are daily markets in every town in peak season. Our favourites are Ars en Re, Le Bois Plage, La Flotte & St Martin. They have both covered food sections and the most dreamy French clothes.

- There’s also a lovely night market in La Flotte & evening concerts in summer by the harbour.

- Don’t miss the fab shopping around St Martin in particular. The French style is renowned but I noticed it more than ever on the Ile de Re, chefs kiss.

- See the donkeys just outside of the old city walls of St Martin

Beach /

- our favourite beaches are: Le Trousse Chemise right at the top. It’s stunning, has such sparkly water and is often deserted! Free easy parking then walk for a few minutes through the pine to reach it. You won’t find any facilities here though.

- La Gollianders at le Bois en Plage with a huge boardwalk & sand duned back big beach

- Plage du Grouin is a sheltered bay perfect for kids near Loix with sailing schools and a lobster restaurant

- La Flotte has a beach but it’s very dependant on the tide if you walk around to the right as you look at the sea & harbour.

- Rivedoux Plage is a lovely spot near to the bridge that we like cycling to, the kids love playing in the park there and hunting for shells.

Play /

- I booked the kids onto a patisserie workshop at the honey farm in Loix. It was €10 for an hour, really educational and they loved the baking with the fresh honey. Mostly in French though but they translated it well for us.

- Donin sings on a theatrical carousel in Ars En Re by the market everyday 10-1 in summer. It’s a real spectacle. Don’t miss it!

- You’ll find playgrounds by the beach at Rivedoux-Plage, a huge pirate ship park near La Gollianders - here - a lighthouse park and some rides just before you get to St Martin on the east side - here , a park overlooking the sea just outside La Flotte to the left of the harbour as you look out to sea - here

- Sweet vintage carousels in every town

- The Lighthouse looks like a cool attraction, we’ve always intended to go!

- If you’re there for a while or have a rainy day, the aquarium at La Rochelle is worth a visit. And La Rochelle itself is stunning.

- We’ve been really lucky that we’ve always had great weather on our trips there, definitely not loads to do if it rains.

We pinch ourselves at the dreamy days spent cycling to a patisserie followed by a different beach or town then an evening La Martiniere ice cream wander to the harbour. It really is a heavenly place and somewhere we’d be so happy holidaying year after year like the French do!

This summer the Ile de Re was our first stop on a French road trip. I’ll share our other stops in a blog series soon. But in the past we drove there for May half term back in 2024 {before Freya started school so we added a few days onto make it a 9 day trip so it was worth the drive}. And when it was just Ben and I we would go for long weekends. If you’re flying then check which days they fly to La Rochelle from your nearest airport.