Local Information for the Vendee

Vendee Local Information

Cross the River Loire, head south and you will quickly sense a change of scenery. Brittany, with its hills and tortuous coastline, is left quickly behind. In its place you’ll discover a much flatter countryside with long sweeps of beautiful sandy beach edged with dunes and pine woods, and a very mild climate. This, then is the Vendee, boasting sunshine averages only marginally less than the Riviera, and with the vine assuming increasing importance agriculturally as you travel on. Although the Vendee is a little further south than Brittany, the mileage from Caen to our Vendee sites are similar to the mileage from Caen to our South Brittany sites.
One of the most fascinating areas of this region is La Venise Verte. Hidden behind high walls of trees there is a maze of dykes and canals used instead of roads to transport produce, materials and local inhabitants from one area to another by punt. Today, tourists come to see for themselves this hidden waterway and can either hire a boat themselves to explore the region, or hire a guide for an hour or so, to hear some of the history of this unique area. Several centuries ago this land was gradually reclaimed from the sea which once stretched out as far as Niort.

Day Trips
Venise Verte, Apremont, Fontenay-Le-Comte, Ile de Re, La Rochelle, Noirmoutier and some of the Loire Chateaux.

Food
There is a wide range of excellent traditional French cooking at very reasonable prices throughout the Vendee region. Muscadet and Gros Plant wines are produced near the Loire, and the range of Bordeaux reds and whites are produced further south.

Highlights
Some of the Loire Chateaux can easily be visited from our campsites throughout the Vendee, and throughout this region wine can be tasted and bought from the local producers.
A day’s outing to Futuroscope at Poitiers is popular with families.