Ile de Re or Ile d Oleron
Hi
My wife and I are traveling to France end of June for 10 days with our caravan and bikes.
We are looking at the 2 islands Ile d oleron and Ile de re. Could anyone give us advice on sites
Which is the prefered island has anyone stayed at the new to venture abroad 2018 Huttopia Ile de re site, Any advice on both Islands will be much appreciated.
We are traveling from Yorkshire we`ve always used the Dover to Calais crossing but looking at the Portsmouth to Caen evening crossing advice comments again please.
Thanks
Best Regards
Comments
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I prefer the mainland around Les Mathes/La Palmyre to either of those two islands !
The overnight ferry from Portsmouth to Caen goes too quickly and you don't get enough time in bed to justify the cabin cost. It arrives at 0645 French time which is 0545 UK time with wake up music at 0500. The daytime crossings on that route are more comfortable (and cheaper) but if you want an overnight crossing I would suggest the ones from Portsmouth to Le Havre or from Portsmouth to St Malo which are both more leisurely.
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We've stayed on both islands and enjoyed both, particularly for short stays as we didn't find enough on either to keep us longer than 6 days but the weather was great and the cycling on well marked cycle paths. Nice picturesque fishing ports, liked St.Martin on Ile de Re best.
Agree with EuroT about overnight to Caen. Just feel like I've got to sleep when I'm waking up. If you can why not catch the afternoon from P'mouth to Caen. There's a good site in Ouistreham where a lot of ferry catchers stay, then the islands are within reach by early afternoon.
Can't advise sites as I am away in the caravan at present and don't have my records with me. Mind like a sieve.
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There is a site at Saints-Marie-de-Ré very close to the beach which has very fine sand dunes. We enjoyed a one week stay there some years ago. There is a toll bridge over to the Island and I believe that access is simpler than Oleron. The capital Saint-Martin is very popular with the French and quite up-market.
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IMHO, Ré is a bit more up market, Olleron a little more rugged...we like them both....St Martin is a lovely World Heritage site, La Flotte a pretty harbour town, cycling great, but popular...
re: the ferry, why not Poole-Cherbourg? no need to overnight just a nice 4 hour daytime crossing, and probably a bit cheaper..the ferry gets in just after lunch, you could be at St Marie by early evening, save ypurself a day travelling, too...
BTW, i found two Huttopia sites on the Ile de Re, both at St Marie, but one right on the dunes and the other inland a little...
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Both are worth a visit although my preference is for Oleron as its a bit more authentic but accept others have different views.
David
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I share Eurortraveller's view of Oleron. The mainland is more interesting.
Wherenext has muddied the waters a bit. The Plymouth ferry doesn't go to Ouistreham but to Roscoff.
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I'm with David (K) - we much prefer Oleron which is a working island. Île de Ré was just a bit posh for us although there is a very nice market in St Martin.
We used the municipal at St Martin which was fine.
WRT ferry crossing - we've been using the one suggested by Deleted User User for several years, staying at Riva Bella (Les Pommiers), but thought this year we would ring the changes and take the overnight both ways. We've often done this when travelling without the van and although it is a short crossing had enough sleep.
The advantage is that you're on the road early so effectively get an extra day's holiday each way. I accept it's not cheap!
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Hi Tommy & missus,
Support Deleted User Users comments on being central to the whole island and great place to cycle safely. During the heatwave last June we were on our way South and decided to "do" Il de Re for a couple of days to see what the weather was doing, but we liked it so much we stayed 10 nights and would have stayed longer if there had been room, but the site was full and had a large rally on their way from Spain booked in. In June it was very busy. So might be an idea to book if you are going to Il de Re. We will definitely return for cycling and bird watching.
BillC
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We like Re and also stayed at La tour de Prisse same as AD. Haven't done Oleron but we have been to Ill de Normoutier which we found very nice, great cycling on any of the islands, why not try doing 2 of them 5 days is enough, having said that we did stay 11 days as the weather was just perfect and didn't see the point in moving
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We stayed on Re at Camping Le Grainetiere near St Martin, a nice site but nearly full - we had one of two remaining pitches, despite being mid May. We liked the island but only for a few days especially as I'm not a cyclist and we prefer the nearby mainland (not been to Oleron). Agree with others re P'mouth/Caen overnight crossing - Poole/Cherbourg worth considering for western France.
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Both are nice but we prefer Re. There is more to do and a lot of very safe cycling routes.
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La Grainetiere is 'full' pretty well every week its open (we know it very well) and is in walking didtance of the beautiful La Flotte....and for the ambitious, you can cycle back over the bridge and into La Rochelle for lunch at the harbour...
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We stayed at Camping Domain de Oleron (see CC Overseas Sites) early July last year and spent two weeks cycling the island and enjoyed it a lot. The site is south of St Georges around 15mins by cycle. There are a number of supermarkets at St Pierre a short car ride. The site is frequented by a variety of nationalities is clean and tidy with good sanitary facilities. The Brits of a certain age do seem to be placed away from young families, a restaurant (a bit on the pricey side e.g. 14e for a pizza) and pool with slide are on site. We did not find the usual variety of restaurants you might expect on the island the greatest choice was at Boyardville and overall it was pricier than average but not to put us off going back. One point to note the buses which cover most of the island are free in July and August. The island is covered with mostly marked cycle tracks, some are hard surface, others are gritted, with a small number stoney. We used the St Malo route mainly for a change but its a long run, but easy to reach the island in one day. As per other posts the afternoon ferry to Ouistreham with an overnight stop at Riva Bella is the best bet.
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Thankyou everyone for your remarks and advice, we have been looking at Les tour de Prisses on de re and think we will book this site for 5 nights. Looking at ferry crossings were now thinking of traveling down from Calais could anyone suggest a stopover around Le Mans or somewhere about halfway.We looked at the Portsmouth to Caen ferries but with traveling on Wednesday sailings are limited to early morning or overnight.
Thanks again
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