Must see places near the Vendee region....within 30ish mins of sables d'olone please

[DontNeedAnything]

What is futuroscope like? I have heard that it is good but a bit dated

Le Puy de Fou? Rated good I think I have seen on threads, but worth the trip and expense?

What is Oceanile like? And how far is it?

We will be at Le littoral. Where is the best beach? Any local beachy things to do?

we went to futuroscope last year and loved it and have booked agin for this year. really good but you must plan in advance. use their website to plan it.

how old are your dcs?

le puy de fou is such a long way to go, we've never bothered.

we go to this area each year (love it) and do the Marais quite a bit - go to Marans and hire a boat. makes a lovely change from the beach.

the acquarium at La Rochelle is good but expensive, we save it for a rainly day (if).
ditto boat trips from la rochelle

go up and down teh coast and visit smaller seaside places. lots of beachy things ar egreat, crabbing, outdoor swimming pools. we always take an inflatable boat with us too.

Thanks for that

Kids are 7, 7 & 2. we are alos travelling with 10, 12 & 16 yo - although won't necessarily be with them all the time.

I will have another look at Futuroscope. I think we can use Tesco vouchers there.

What exactly IS Futuroscope. I am lokoing at there website. I thought it was like a hands on technology type museumy exhibitiony thing...bu the website just keeps going on about the water & pyrotechnique displays.

Oh I think I have go thte hang of the website. I appear to have found it all.

I am torn. Most of thethings look like cinematic events and I am not sure if DDs will tolerate all day in and out of cinemas.

The childrens play area looks fun though ....

futuroscope does have lots of cinema type things (inc fab 3d ones that are really good, you wear glasses and swim with the fishes!) these are good.

but there are also lots of good rides/games and shows. ride on boats you shoot other baots with water psitols etc

the midnight lazer show is great - there is a story and good effects

we went to a cheap hotel next to it and stayed that night. had all you could eat buffet but actually the food inside looked good value - we picnicked last year but might not this year.

booked via expedia to get the best hotel deals.

could only afford to go to futuroscope using the tesco deals. order these online and when you get to futuroscope you go off to he side to exchange the voucher for the tickets - it's not obvious but i think its called prebooked voucher queue or something.

our kids are 15, 12 and 9 (minus a year last year!) and they all loved it. good for all age groups i would say

was recommended to us and would thoroughly recommend it to others.

cat me if you want more info

Puy de Feu is fantastic: we went when our children were 6-9 and loved it. It's a French version of history with assorted spectacles eg Roman gladiators fighting noble French Christian... this is in an amphitheatre that holds thousands and involves real animals.

The whole theme park is an extraordinary example of how good the French are at les grands projets and their take on history which can be quite funny. If your kids are so inclined, it's also very educational: mine still remember the details of the life if Isabelle of Angouleme

Go early and expect to stay until closing time and pace yourself.