Île de Ré

[Marmiteloving]

Best place to stay on the island? Recommendations greatly appreciated! Obviously looked myself but interested to hear from those that have visited, I really like the sound of La Flotte.

I prefer quieter campsites but our children were wowed by a swimming pool with slides on a recent holiday, I have been trying to find one but all seem to have a pool only. Have a missed any…

Thank you

La Flotte is lovely. We had a few days at a lovely small hotel, Hotel Galion, in St Martin, and visited a few towns. La Flotte and St Martin was our favourite area, there didn't seem as much to do at the other end of the island. We went as a couple, so can't help with your campsite or things fir you DCs, but a couple of tips. Youtube has several videos of people on the island, most in camper vans which will give you a good idea of some campsites. St Martin is a lovely town with an interesting history. But, the car parking in the town is very expensive. As you come from La Flottte, at the first roundabout on the outskirts of town, turn right and at the end of the road is a free car park, by a nice beach, with a 10 minute walk into St Martin. The walk takes you by the town walls, there is a small harbour by the huge gates of the old prison. If you look on the walls here you will see names and dates carved on the walls by prisoners being transported to the French penal colonies. On the other side of the town is an old dry dock in which you can imagine the opening scenes of Les Miserables taking place. Just beyond this are a couple of really nice oyster shacks, which are worth a bike ride to for a memorable lunch. We only had a few days there but would go back in a heartbeat.

St Martin is really pretty, I’ve only visited out of season and it was still quite busy so I can imagine that it’s heaving in high summer. We stayed just outside St Marie in a hotel so can’t help with the campsites.

Have you also looked at Ile d’Oleron?

The beaches are best in the south coast. La Courade, Bois Plage, St Martine de Re.
we always stay in a house with a pool.

i think there is an indoor pool with a flume in st martine de re.

there’s not a huge amount of English spoken outside of restaurants, do you speak french? If you usually go for two weeks, do one week in a resort in the mainland and then go over the bridge for the other. Make sure to book bikes and restaurants in advance too.

Thank you very much for all your tips, I will take a look.

Anyone stayed at La Phare campsite?

I did have a look but was put off that reviews suggest it’s more commercial, is this correct?

Thank you for your suggestions, it sounds great.

Did you find it expensive?

Not particularly, in fact the petrol price at St Martin was the cheapest we saw all week between the coast and Limoge. There are some large supermarkets for day to day stuff, eating out could be expensive, but there are plenty of patisseries for cheap and good carbs.