Nantes / la rochelle does anyone know this area where should we base?

[DancingDaughter50]

I'm hoping to go to puy du foy as well... Possibly ills de re? Is there anything to do in. Nantes is nantes pretty?

It's a lovely part of France - La Rochelle is very pretty and there's lots to do. Have a look at St-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie - it's a lovely town with spectacular beaches and a really nice resort-y feel.

Puy du Fou is utterly bonkers and one of the best theme parks we've ever been too. You need two days to see it all, and the Cinescense is increadible (sells out very quickly though but if you can get tickets it's well worth it).

Make sure you make time to go and see and ride on the Elephant de Nantes. It's made by a company called La Machine and you can visit the workshop and other exhibits.

@SaffyWall thank you.

Re puy du foy do you know how tickets work? Eg if we stay one night can we get in both days?

@Undercoverdetective thanks I keep seeing an elephant on pics of nice and also a machine musuem?

www.lesmachines-nantes.fr/

This is the link to the website. The same people made the dragon in Calais so if you cross there plan a stopover of at least a few hours too.

@Undercoverdetective that looks brilliant thank you.

Everything i know about La Rochelle is from my Tricolor French text books. I think they have a town hall.

You're welcome.

Nice zoo an hour away
Old town is lovely La Rochelle
Cobbled streets
Eat moules frites overlooking the water
Great gelato
I've only ever flown in or out of Nantes but I hear it's a great city

Angers is an hour from Nantes. Huge castle and a little train ride around the town. It's worth contacting the tourist office of each town for events. There is often a lot of free stuff in the summer.

That is exactly what I came to say. They have a supermarche iirc.

I think Claude Leclocharde works there?

Also, their plage is tres bien and a nice place to alle to.

They still accepted Francs when I was learning about the place. Happy days 😊

La Rochelle is a gorgeous little city. The beach is right in the town. Tiny airport very close to the city.

Fifi La Folle a deux chiens et un lapin.

I have family who live near Nantes, it’s a nice town and we love puy de fou. Amazing park. But if I were going on holiday, I would probably stay in La Rochelle, at least for some of the time.

The Il de re is beautiful but can get very crowded in summer. There is also a toll a
To pay on the bridge €14 from memory. We based ourselves on the island and visited La Rochelle and wished we had done it the other way around as it got a bit pricey.

Puy du Fou offers lots of different tickets so you can definitely book a two day park ticket with a one night stay in one of their hotels (we stayed in the Roman Villa which is nearest the entrance to the park). It can get really busy so it might be worth making restaurant bookings too if that's your plan, although there are lots of fast food/takeaway places dotted around the park.

There is a huge night show - The Cinescene - which is one of the best things I've ever seen, but that is booked seperately for the park/hotels and sells out months in advance as everyone in France seems to go. The Cinescene doesn't start til 10pm and finishes around midnight so can be a bit of a stretch for small kids though, particularly if you're doing full days at the theme park too.

Same! 🤣

@Flumpaphone

@Amore2 a
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This would be for Octo ber. Why la rochelle and is it easy to visit il sw re? Would we need a car and would 2 days be OK in la rochelle?

At the moment I'm thinking fly into la rochelle, two nights, two nights puy du foy and fly oot of nantes ( if that's possible)

@SaffyWall
Thank you.

Unfortunately in October when we hope to go the big show won't be on. Can i ask how you book restaurants if you don't know if you will miss any shows? Is there tons of walking?
. I'm thinking of citadel to stay but some people say its long way

@SaffyWall

What did you think of the roman villa, its tempting but the room looks so plain compared too the others! The food looks good though.

The Roman Villa was great. The room was very (very!) compact but the building and surroundings were fab. To be fair, we barely spent any time in the room at all though.

I'm not sure about restaurant bookings - you're right that you might risk missing a show because of a restaurant reservation. We've only every been in August when each show is on several times a day so I guess that's less of a concern then. There are lots of fast food places where you can turn up without a booking. However if you want to try one of the restaurants/dining experiences I guess you run the risk of missing a show. If you're definitely going for two days then I'm sure you can plan to make sure you see everything that you really want to. The app is great for helping with this - it can plan routes and timetables for you. All of the shows are in French but you can get English translations of them on the app so take some headphones with you if you want to listen in English.

We did do a lot of walking when we were there - it's all relatively flat though and easy to access. The paths are quite shale-y so I'd definitely recommend closed-toed shoes.

@SaffyWall that's incredibly helpful thank you.