Things to do in Île de Ré
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Île de Ré
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
The connoisseur's window: warm long evenings, markets in full swing, salt harvest beginning and crowds below peak.
Peak season: everything open and sea warmest, with bridge queues, full bike fleets, booked out restaurants and top prices.
The locals' favourite: harvest time, warm sea, crowds gone after the rentrée and salt celebrations around Ars-en-Ré.
The quiet island: many hotels and restaurants close, storms make the Conche wild, and oyster season and bird migration reward self catering trips.
What's on
- Musique en Ré late July to early August
The island's long running classical festival, with concerts in village churches across Ré.
- Jazz au Phare August
Jazz at the foot of the Phare des Baleines, the island's most atmospheric concert setting.
- Salt harvest celebrations in Ars-en-Ré early September
The sauniers' harvest marked in the marsh village, small and local in character.
Best things to do in Île de Ré
Phare des Baleines
Climb 257 steps at the island's wild tip for the panorama that explains Ré at once, marshes one way, Atlantic the other.
Port de Saint-Martin-de-Ré
The island's living room, a harbour ringed with cafes inside Vauban ramparts, best walked as a slow loop at evening light.
Clocher Observatoire de Saint-Martin-de-Ré
A steep little bell tower climb for the best rooftop and harbour view in Saint-Martin, better than grander views elsewhere.
Marché de La Flotte
A medieval market square trading every summer morning, the island's best food shopping and best free morning entertainment.
Écomusée du Marais Salant
Stand in a working salt marsh with a saunier and learn how fleur de sel is raked by hand, the craft that built this island.
Abbaye des Châteliers
A roofless Cistercian abbey alone in a field facing the sea, a short and atmospheric stop best at sunrise or sunset.
Ars-en-Ré
The west island's great village, with a fine market, a lively port and a black and white church spire built as a seamark.
Réserve Naturelle de Lilleau des Niges
A silent bird reserve across former salt pans at the island's tip, best cycled with binoculars in nesting season.
Where to stay in Île de Ré
Saint-Martin-de-Ré
first trips, couples, walking to dinner
The liveliest base with the port, ramparts and most restaurants, at the highest prices and with August harbour noise.
La Flotte
food trips and market mornings
The prettiest harbour with a daily medieval market and the island's starred table, but a very tidal harbour beach.
Ars-en-Ré and the west
birders, cyclists, quiet stays
Marshes, the reserve, the lighthouse and the Conche beach, far from Saint-Martin evenings and thin on winter restaurants.
Le Bois-Plage-en-Ré and Sainte-Marie-de-Ré
beach first families and longer stays
Long south coast beaches, surf and thalasso with a local feel, but fewer destination restaurants and evenings elsewhere.
Think twice about
- Rivedoux-Plage bridge area
The island's traffic throat beside the bridge toll, with the least village character of the ten communes. Sleep there only for a one night bridgehead.
Best restaurants in Île de Ré
L'Écailler
The island's only starred table, tasting menus of blue lobster, meagre and mussels in La Flotte's oldest port house.
Les Embruns
The south coast's serious table in Le Bois-Plage, polished produce led cooking that beach based visitors dress up for.
Le Tout du Cru
The island's beloved raw bar off the port, oysters cold and hot, razor clams, platters and a legendary café gourmand.
Le Serghi
A composed acclaimed kitchen a step back from the port, with evening harbour views and desserts reviewers name.
Le Bistrot du Marin
The port bistro that actually cooks, reliable French plates and seafood at fair prices when the terraces are full.
Juste
A producer's seafood restaurant in a garden under the lighthouse, the best lunch after a Conche beach and lighthouse morning.
La Cabane du Feneau
A working oyster cabin in the marshes, langoustines and oysters by the water as the light changes, spray provided at dusk.
La Cabane Océane
A producer's own tasting cabin outside La Flotte, direct sale oysters eaten simply at the source without port mark up.
Outdoor things to do in Île de Ré
Route du Sel
Cycle through the salt marshes from Loix toward Ars and the lighthouse, the classic flat loop at the heart of a Ré trip.
Plage de la Conche des Baleines
The island's grandest beach under the lighthouse, a huge curve of sand with Atlantic swell and the best sunset on Ré.
Plage des Gollandières
A vast dune backed family beach with supervised summer swimming and space even on the busiest August days.
Plage des Grenettes
The island's best known surf break, a gentle learner friendly wave where schools teach surf, paddle and wingfoil.
Île de Ré Voile
The island's sailing school network, teaching catamaran, windsurf, kayak and paddle in sheltered sound waters.
Golf de Trousse-Chemise
A scenic 9 hole round between marsh and pine woods at the wild west end, relaxed holiday golf rather than a championship test.
Haras des Évières
Ride out from a family stud farm through pine forest and dunes, with beach sections at the right tide and ponies for children.
Dream'On Catamaran
Sail from Saint-Martin around the coast and toward Fort Boyard, with private charter the splurge way to see Ré from the water.
Best hotels in Île de Ré
Hôtel de Toiras
The island's flagship, a Relais and Châteaux shipowner's mansion on Saint-Martin harbour with near flawless service scores.
La Villa Clarisse & Spa By Olivier Claire
Nine quiet rooms in a walled garden mansion near the port, with a heated pool and spa, the discreet sister of Toiras.
HR Hôtel & Spa Marin
La Flotte's grand seafront hotel and spa, with terrace rooms steps from the harbour and the daily medieval market.
Hôtel Atalante - Relais Thalasso & Spa
The island's thalasso base on the Sainte-Marie seafront, strong on seawater therapy, with reviews split on value and upkeep.
Hôtel Le Galion
The smart Saint-Martin compromise, a well run hotel with a new pool a short walk from the port at mid range prices.
Hôtel Le Français
A simple hotel right by La Flotte harbour, all about location, with the market and port terraces a two minute stroll away.
Les Vignes de la Chapelle
A calm vineyard hotel near the south beaches and the Grenettes surf, good value for a quiet beach base in Sainte-Marie.
Hôtel Le Sénéchal
A shabby chic boutique hotel from old village houses in Ars, each room different, with a garden terrace and small heated pool.
Is Île de Ré expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | €90 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | €180 a person |
| Splurge | €420 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Route du Sel: a few days ahead
- Île de Ré Voile: a few days ahead
- Golf de Trousse-Chemise: a few days ahead
- Haras des Évières: a few days ahead
- Dream'On Catamaran: weeks ahead
- Fier d'Ars: a few days ahead
- Hôtel de Toiras: months ahead
- La Villa Clarisse & Spa By Olivier Claire: months ahead
- Book summer accommodation months ahead, L'Écailler weeks ahead, and top restaurants and cabane terraces days ahead.
- Reserve bike rentals at least the day before in July and August, when village fleets sell out by mid morning.
- Book sailing series and catamaran trips early in your stay so bad weather leaves a rebooking margin.
Is Île de Ré safe?
- Swim in supervised zones in season. Atlantic swell and tidal currents at the Conche and south coast catch visitors out.
- Respect tide times on marsh and rock pool walks, as channels in the Fier fill and empty fast.
- Use bike lights at night and helmets for children on the busy shared paths. Emergency number 112.
- Pack mosquito spray for marsh evenings and a hat for the shadeless salt marshes.
Île de Ré travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Saint-Martin port terraces at peak hour charge for the view in price and effort. One street back is the local fix.
- La Flotte market's central stalls are priced for visitors in August. Buy staples at the edges.
- Fort Boyard cannot be entered. Boat trips circle it only, whatever the brochure photo suggests.
- Harbour beaches turn to mudflat at low tide. Plan swims by the tide table, not the clock.
Getting around Île de Ré: public transport and more
- Skip the car if you can. About 110km of flat cycle paths link all ten villages, and everything is within a 45 minute ride of Saint-Martin.
- Reach the island via La Rochelle by TGV or plane, then regional bus lines 3 and 3E, taxi or bike across the bridge.
- Drivers pay a bridge toll of roughly 16 EUR in high summer and about 8 EUR off season, and should park once and cycle thereafter.
Who Île de Ré suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Île de Ré your trip
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