La Rochelle area recommendations please

[OhGood]

Hello all - we have a week to spend in the area, 2 kids (6 and 3 then). Initially looked at Il de Re but apparently it's expensive for day-to-day living - food shopping etc.

Are we better off on the mainland?

And does anyone have recommendations as to where in the area we should be? We'd like to be close to / on the beach.

Thanks.

We did Ile de Re then La Palmyre (just up from Royan). Ile de Re was good for bike riding but did find it a bit quiet. We preferred the mainland.

love was there a big difference in how much you were spending day to day on the island v mainland?

Ile doleron was very nice and there was no bridge tax when I was there. Quite a while ago. There was a nice zoo near Royan if I remember correctly.

La rochelle was lovely. We stayed in the Pierre and vacances studio/ hotel.

Loved the street entertainment in the port on a night.

I bought 5 or 6 pictures from a street artist there. The ones they do with spray paint. I've never seen any to match his talent.

He even did one to my recommendation. It's fantastic. I was going to get rid of them a few years ago but I can't bear to. They have a really dark quality about them that I love.

I don't think the food shopping would be that much more on the island, though the restaurants are. If you want to be near the beach what about La Tranche sur Mer. On the mainland, nice beaches, nice little town.

Thank you so much for recommendations, will look into.

The Ile De Re is gorgeous, there are supermarkets and a covered market in St Martin & I don't remember them being particularly expensive. There are some pricey restaurants but you can avoid those. The beaches are fabulous, really unspoilt.