Vendée
The Vendée: Where sunlit beaches and historic charm unite, discover the timeless allure of this coastal gem in western France.
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The Vendée department in the Pays-de-la-Loire region, is one of the sunniest areas in France and offers 240 kilometers of coastline including 140 kilometers of fine sandy beach. Wonderful for sunbathing, swimming, sailing, kite surfing and windsurfing during your holidays. For example in Les Sables d’Olonne, La-Tranche-sur-Mer, Longeville-sur-Mer, Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez, Notre-Dame-de-Monts and Aiguillon-sur-Mer. In these seaside towns with harbors and market halls you can enjoy fresh samphire, shrimp, oysters, clams and various sorts of fish including bream. Along the coast you can find big red starfish, various crabs, Mediterranean plants and birds in the mild climate.
Cycling in the Vendée
And did you know that you can find over 1,000 kilometers of bicycle paths in the Vendée ? For example explore the Marais Breton Vendéen, a beautiful swamp area with otters, carps and crayfish on the coast between Port du Bec and Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie close to your holiday home. In this fishing village, you can take the boat to Ile d’Yeu. You can reach reach the island of Noirmoutier through the Passage du Gois and also via a bridge, a rough island with rocks, cliffs, dunes, salt marshes and harbors.
The inland of the Vendée
Also the inland of the Vendée has lots of wetland with canals, rivers and lakes in Jaunay, Mervent, Rochereau and Palluau. A wonderful area for walking, cycling, mountain biking, horseback riding, swimming, sailing and fishing. For example, the Bogage Vendéen. Here you will find attractions such as the historical children’s theme park Puy du Fou, the castle of Tiffauges, mills and “bourrines”, simple thatched cottages. At Fontenay-le-Comte is the Forest of Mervent-Vouvant, where in Vouvant you can visit well preserved ramparts and a Romanesque church. Half an hour from the coast is the capital of the department, La Roche-sur-Yon. Buy local specialties to prepare in your holiday home such as Vendée ham, brioche, white beans (mogettes), duck, not to mention the Fief Vendéen, an AOC wine. Mareuil sur Lay, the heart of the wine region, is also worth a visit during your holiday.