Endless beaches of soft sand and lapping waves, fringed by pine trees and undulating dunes – perfect!
Camping in the Vendee
107 campsites in France, Vendée for Kids
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Set amongst grapevines and fir trees, Camping l’Océan is only 600 metres from a beautiful sandy beach, while the village centre is also within walking distance. A warm welcome awaits you at the modern reception area which is well stocked with local information. Of the 532 pitches, 140 are for touring, all with 10A electric connections (Europlug) reasonably close, of a good size, separated by bushes (and in some cases vines) and with some mature trees providing shade. They are located in two main sections and you are largely unaware of the many mobile homes and tents, mostly for hire, on either side.
Domaine de l’Oiseliere is ideal for camping and campervan holidays and jsut 35 minutes from the Grand Parc du Puy du Fou. This is a small site with just 45 large pitches to choose from, 30 of which are for touring and are 200m2 and separated by hedges. There is a choice of full sun or shaded pitches with cover provided by oak trees. For families travelling in a caravan, large plots enable you to extend your awning easily. The site is a pedestrian zone; vehicles can drive to and from the pitches upon arrival and before departure. Otherwise, campers must use the adjacent parking area.
Plage de Riez is a family campsite in the heart of a 600-hectare National Forest, with direct access to a glorious sandy beach. It is a modern site and is very busy during July and August. The heated pool area is ideal for everyone, whether you want a refreshing dip, a drink on the adjacent terrace or just a chance to relax in the endless sunshine. The site has 465 pitches of which 270 are for tourers, including seven for motorhomes. Mobile homes and bungalow tents occupy some 180 pitches, some for hire. Each pitch has electricity (6A), is of average size and marked by low hedges.
Camping Sandaya de la Bosse is located on the idyllic Île de Noirmoutier, off the coast of Vendée, France. On-site, you will find 249 touring pitches with electric hook-up points. Most pitches are on open and flat, sandy areas with little shade.
Le Bel Air is a well established site close to the Vendée’s largest resort, Les Sables-d’Olonne. It is now very much dedicated to mobile homes and chalets, and for 2019 they have introduced mobile homes with private Jacuzzi's. Of its 286 pitches, just 46 are for touring – 40 on grass mostly with electricity (16A), water and drainage and a further six on concrete for motorhomes. This is a very well equipped site with the focal point being a new and impressive pool complex including a large covered pool and separate outdoor pool.
A site that lives up to its name, Camping Sandaya La Grande Côte, is extensive with 800 pitches, of which 293 are numbered touring pitches in rows spread over undulating dunes with sparse grass under pine, all with 10A electricity and over 287 chalets and mobile homes to rent.
Camping Les P’tites Maisons dans la Prairie is a charming, family-friendly campsite with a unique Wild West theme. Located in the Vendée region, it offers a peaceful countryside setting while remaining within easy reach of the Atlantic coast and local attractions. The site provides a mix of traditional camping pitches, chalets, mobile homes, and themed accommodation, making it ideal for families and groups.
Camping Le Grand Jardin is a peaceful retreat, just a short bike ride from the Atlantic coast. The campsite offers direct access to scenic cycle paths winding through the Breton wetlands. On-site, there are 19 touring pitches with electric hook-up points available. Most pitches are delimited by mature hedging, giving privacy to each pitch. Tall trees provide ample shade during the summer months.
Camping la Dive can be found south of the popular resort of La Tranche-sur-Mer, close to the broad, sweeping bay of l’Aiguillon-sur-Mer. The nine-hectare site is located on the edge of the pleasant village of Saint Michel-en-l’Herm. The beach can be accessed in around five minutes by car. The 125 touring pitches here are of average to large in size, grassy, part shaded and have 6A electricity. A wide range of mobile homes, chalets, roulottes and tents are available to rent in a new area of the site. On-site amenities include an outdoor swimming pool complex with slides, flume, sauna and jacuzzi, minigolf and pony rides. There is a good range of shops in the village (500 m).
Flower Camping Le Pré des Sables is located between the Atlantic Ocean and a verdant forest just north of the charming coastal town of La Rochelle. A mere 2 kilometers away, the sandy Plage des Bélugas is easily accessible. L'Aiguillon-sur-Mer, with its shops and restaurants, is a leisurely 10-minute stroll away. Explore the stunning natural surroundings by bike or foot, with family-friendly routes winding through the region’s iconic dunes.
Camping l’Evasion is located close to the Lac de Jaunay, well known for its water-based activities. This modern, well-equipped site boasts a natural swimming pool bordered by white sand. There is also a traditional outdoor swimming pool with slides, plus a large, covered pool with a Jacuzzi.
A family run site, le Rouge Gorge has 93 grassy touring pitches, plus some units for rent (2-8 people) and privately owned caravans and chalets. Slightly sloping and undulating pitches are on grass in a garden-like setting and a small wildlife pond (fenced) is in the centre of the site.
Camping le Paradis can be found close to the popular seaside resort of Talmont-Saint-Hilaire, between Jard-sur-Mer and the larger resort of Les Sables-d’Olonne. Talmont makes up part of the Côte de Lumière, and its 3.5 km. sandy beach (Le Veillon) has longstanding Blue Flag accreditation. There is a free shuttle bus from the campsite to the beach. Pitches here are of average size with limited shade. A number of mobile homes are available to rent. On-site amenities include a covered, heated pool and an all-weather sports pitch (basketball, volleyball, football). The site becomes more active in peak season with a daily children’s club and frequent activities for all the family (including evening entertainment).
This site is located in a quiet village a short drive from the Vendée’s famous sandy beaches. This is a mature site with 39 grassy and well shaded pitches all with 10A electricity. A number of mobile homes and ecolodges are available to rent, with meal packages for hikers. Leisure amenities include an attractive pool with a separate children’s pool and water slide. There is a bar and snack bar, with many other restaurants in nearby St. Gilles. For anglers, the site’s well stocked fishing pond is sure to prove popular. Various activities are organised in peak season, including a children’s club (5 to 12 years), occasional dance evenings and live concerts.
Camping Les Violettes is located in La Faute-sur-Mer, Vendée, France. It is situated just 800 meters from the beach and offers a variety of facilities and activities for campers of all ages. On-site, there are 114 touring pitches with electric hook-up points available. Most pitches are separated by mature hedging, giving privacy to each pitch, and mature pine trees provide ample shade during summer.
Village Camping Club le Domaine des Guifettes is on the banks of the Lac des Guifettes (42 hectares), in the southern Vendée. On-site amenities here include a very impressive heated, covered swimming pool with a sauna, spa, massage shower, and paddling pool, as well as external water slides, multi-sport area, tennis, mini-golf and internet point. For anglers, the lake is well stocked and very popular. There are just 15 pitches on the two-hectare touring section, all are of a good size and 12 hardstandings are available in the adjacent motorhome service area. All have electrical connections (3/6/10A). A wide selection of mobile homes, chalets and gîtes are available to rent.
Le Domaine de Bellevue is a family friendly site located in the northern Vendée, close to the town of Challans (famous for its market), and around 20 minutes from the broad, sandy beaches at Saint Gilles-Croix-de-Vie. There are 126 large (minimum 150 sq.m) pitches here, of which 40 are for tourers, 10 fully serviced with 16A electricity and dispersed around a large park, which has two generous fishing ponds (catch and release, and surrounded by a secured fence for the children) stocked with carp and other species. An entertainment programme runs during April, July and August and includes special activities for children. There is a range of mobile homes, chalets and bungalow-style tents for rent.
Tucked away in the Vendée countryside, just 15 minutes’ drive from the beach, this campsite enjoys a rural setting above the Lac du Jaunay, well away from the bustle of the coast. There are 229 good sized touring pitches, all with 10A electricity (Europlug) and 25 with water tap, drainage and 16A power. Some have shade, and others are in the open with mature hedges and trees. The enthusiastic family owners are very hands-on, and the facilities are of a high standard, most notably the entrance and reception building, and the pool area with its excellent indoor and outdoor pools, slides, flumes, jacuzzi, steam room and fitness suite. Fishing is well-catered for with direct access to the lake. You can buy your fishing licence, store equipment in a secure room, keep your bait in a fridge at the site.
A warm welcome is given by the English-speaking owners, Martine and Eric Malard, who make every effort to ensure that your stay is enjoyable. On site is a small, attractive lake with fishing and a large sports field. There are 178 pitches of which 94 are for touring units, all with 6A electricity (Europlug). The site has 24 mobile homes to rent, including one equipped for disabled visitors, and there are 60 which are privately owned. Indoor and outdoor swimming pools. This is a hidden gem in a small village away from the hustle and bustle of the seaside resorts. Ideal for those looking for a quiet holiday, it is still within a short drive of the Vendée coast and the Ile de Noirmoutier.
This family run campsite is within a short drive of some wonderful beaches. In high season it is bustling and lively, with a children’s club and a full programme of activities for youngsters and the whole family. A smart bar, refreshment and entertainment area is next to the imaginative open-air pool complex. There are 88 privately owned mobile homes, 99 for hire and 49 touring pitches scattered round the site (80-100 sq.m), with 10A electricity and water reasonably close by, some shaded. Late night discos may be noisy in July and August.
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Vendée
It’s not only the fine beaches that make this holiday region so appealing – quaint fishing harbours, historic ports and charming towns all create a great holiday atmosphere.
This small but perfectly located region is all about the beach. All 200 km of it. That may sound a little over-simplified, but it is undoubtedly a magnet for lovers of sun, sea and sand. Visitors flock to the region to enjoy the exceptionally mild climate with an enviable sunshine record and famously balmy micro-climate (apparently, there are more sunshine hours here than on the French Rivera); it’s easy to see why this is one of the most popular tourist areas of France. The Vendée has a wealth of sleepy fishing harbours, historic ports and charming towns that all create a great holiday experience. Popular resorts in the Vendée include Les Sablesd’Olonne, La Tranche-sur-Mer, and St Jean-de-Monts.
The Vendée was the centre of the counterrevolutionary movement between 1793 and 1799, and a ‘son et lumière’ held at Le Puy-du-Fou tells the whole story. Les Sables-d’Olonne is its main resort, renowned for its excellent sandy beach. The area between the Vendée and Charente, the Marais Poitevin, is one of the most unusual in France – a vast tract of marshland with a thousand or more tree-lined canals and slow-moving streams.
Vendée Blogs
Spotlight on the Vendee
Rob Fearn | 2 Apr 2021 | Read time: 7m 57s
There are four distinct regions to the Vendée département: the Bocage, a rolling, wooded area of low hills; the Plaine with its open countryside and rich arable land, golden with wheat and sunflowers in summer; and two marshy areas - the silent Marais Breton to the north, the lush, verdant slow-moving waters of the Marais Poitevin to the south
Read MoreCAMPING IN THE VENDEE
Camping in the Vendée
The Vendée is a hugely popular region for camping, partly because it’s an easy place to get to from the UK. Campsites in the Vendée are usually of high quality (competition encourages standards to be high) and many have been in business for decades, gradually improving services and facilities. Of course, as is often the rule of thumb, the closer the campsite to the beach, the smaller the pitches are likely to be. That is sometimes the price to pay for convenience. Moreover, campsites near the beach can be more expensive.
And campsites on the beach can be that much more lively in terms of evening entertainment and general hubbub. For this reason, some prefer to enjoy the day on the beach and then retreat to the more secluded campsites slightly inland. But each to their own!
PLACES OF INTEREST
Places of interest
L’Aiguillon-sur-Mer: Famous for its mussels and other shellfish; site of migrating birds between August and November.
Apremont: Pretty village with a Renaissance castle; Vendée’s largest lake with a sandy beach, watersports and boat hire.
Île-d’Yeu: One hour by boat from the coast, a major tourist destination with colourful shops, cafés and restaurants; art galleries and exhibitions; bicycles and cars for hire.
Jard-sur-Mer: Abbey of Lieu-Dieu (financed by Richard the Lionheart); seaside with attractive, colourful houses.
Le Puy-du-Fou: 15/16th-century castle; son-et-lumière production and historical theme park.
BEACHES OF THE VENDEE
Beaches of the Vendée
The Vendée is a great choice for children of all ages. The traditional accessory for every child visiting the Vendée is, without doubt, the bucket and spade - and with good reason. From St. Jean-de-Monts to La Tranche-sur-Mer the coast is virtually unbroken with fragrant pine forests leading down to gently shelving sandy beaches.
These are some of France’s finest beaches, with gently shelving golden sands that are reassuringly safe for toddlers as they paddle and splash in the water. Many beaches offer high season kids’ clubs with organised beach activities as well as watersports on offer like sailing, windsurfing, paddleboards and kayaks. It’s generally easy for teenagers and older children to enjoy a degree of independence in safety.
Île de Noirmoutier: The Le Gois causeway (and a modern bridge) connect this once detached island to the mainland. A handful of scattered villages and miles of often empty beach create a magical environment, very different from the mainstream resorts further south. The Plage des Dames, complete with a boardwalk, wooden pier, soft sand and backed by oak trees, mimosa, eucalyptus and fragrant pine trees is hard to beat.
Les Sables d’Olonne: This is a resort where the beaches are so good they named the town after them. It’s one of the major resorts of the Vendée and has a fine, curved seafront and sandy bay. The marina is always a popular haunt with plenty of flashy boats to gawp at, as well as the usual bustle of a working marina and, naturally, some really good restaurants where you can enjoy fantastically fresh seafood. The 15th century Château St Clair is also a popular excursion as is the zoo with its sanctuary for over forty endangered species.
St-Jean-de-Monts: Though quiet for much of the year, St Jean-de-Monts wakes up with a vengeance during the summer months. This is one of the best-known hotspots, with many excellent family campsites jostling for position along the Cote de Lumière. The vast 8 km long beach is a delight with fine sands and no currents to worry parents of young children. It’s frequented by kite surfers and sand yachts, as well as cyclists and horse riders enjoying the shady pines that fringe the shore.
St-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie: As a change from some of the larger resorts, St Gilles-Croix-de-Vie is an attractive fishing harbour spanning the river Vie. It is home to Beneteau, the world-leading sailing boat manufacturer and it is truly a town of boats, from the brightly painted fishing boats, the little ferries that ply back and forth to the Ile d’Yeu, to the host of small dinghies and sailing boats that bob up and down in the blue waters and whose white sails are sprinkled across the seascape. It’s no surprise the region is known for the Vendée Globe yacht race, one of the most gruelling nautical challenges in the world.
Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez: Not far from its larger neighbour, St Gilles, this pleasant town of small whitewashed houses adorned with jauntily painted shutters is also home to the Atlantic Toboggan waterpark on Merlin-Plage. Here a mind-boggling range of pools awaits, with waterslides, flumes, whirlpools and more. The 250-metre thrills of the twisting Boa and the Kamikaz are inevitable highlights.
The Route du Sel: An excursion with a difference is to follow the Route de Sel (or the Salt Route) through the Marais, inland flat expanses of land reclaimed from the sea. Take to the completely calm waters of the waterways that criss-cross the Sallertaine’s ancient salt marshes and find yourself at eye-level to the surrounding marshland with its windmills and wildlife. A wonderful time to do this is early morning when you might start paddling as the atmospheric morning mists begin to burn off, revealing the magically tranquil landscape around you.
CUISINE OF THE REGION
Cuisine of the region
Not known as a viticultural world-beater, the Vendée does have vineyards around Brem-sur-Mer and Mareuil-sur-Lay, producing light, refreshing wines perfect at the end of a long day in the sun. Excellent duck comes from Challans where the duck market was a key part of the local economy. Locally produced meat and poultry include Charolais beef, salt-marsh lamb and foie gras.
The Brioche de Vendée, the soft, slightly sweet bread served at breakfast is a family favourite. Best of all though is the huge variety of seafood available from the simple but highly prized oyster to the elaborate fish dishes that tempt every passer-by. Seafood includes sole sablaise, cooked with lemon, barbecued sardines from Saint Gilles Croix-de-Vie, baked white tuna and mussels from the Baie de l’Aiguillon cooked in white wine.
Samphire: A herb that grows on the edges of the salt marshes.
Mogette: A signature dish of the region, Slow-cooked baby haricot beans, traditionally served with gammon.
Jambon de Vendee: Local raw-cured ham.