Travel
We have taken some time to break down all of the (equally inconvenient) travel options for you. Bon Voyage!
Ile de Ré
Ile de re is a BEAUTIFUL island nestled in the Bay of Biscay, half way down the French Atlantic coast. It's full of heritage listed towns and has a quintessentially french feel, like stepping back in time 500 years. Ile de Ré is known for its salt farms, oysters, sandy beaches and delicious food.
Julia's family have had a home on the island for the past 20 years, and she spent 4 years of high-school (collège) on the island. For the past 6 years, we have both been to Ile de Ré every summer together, so it's a very special place to us and we are excited to share it with you.
Key Points
Closest Airports to Ile de Re:
La Rochelle (20 mins) - taxis line up at the airport for flights.
Bordeaux (2 hours)
Nantes (2 hours)
If you fly into Nantes or Bordeaux, you can then hire a car or take the train to La Rochelle Ville.
Closest Station:
La Rochelle Ville (20 mins)
Travel
From the UK
Flying: The nearest airport is La Rochelle, 20 minutes from the island. Flights to La Rochelle leave from London Stansted and London Gatwick in the morning most days in the summer and cost around £40. You can also fly to Bordeaux or Nantes (both 2 hours from Ile de Ré) and rent a car to drive to the island.
Train: You can take the Eurostar to Paris and then the train out to La Rochelle. This involves changing stations in Paris from Gare du Nord (where the Eurostar comes in) to Paris Montparnasse (where the train to La Rochelle leaves).
Driving: Driving takes about 9.5 hours from London and can be done via several different routes (various ferries or channel tunnel).
From Australia
If flying to London: The most efficient route if you are on a tight schedule is to fly into London Gatwick (Emirates do this route) and then connect directly from Gatwick to La Rochelle on the EasyJet flight.
If you can't line this up, or if you have time to include a day or two in London in your itinerary, then flying into Heathrow and then later getting the Stansted or Gatwick flight out to La Rochelle is a great option. There are Ryanair and EasyJet flights to La Rochelle every day in the summer which cost around £40.
Another option is to fly from Heathrow to Bordeaux which is 2 hours from Ile de Ré. The extra 2 hours is probably similar timing to getting across London. You can rent a car in Bordeaux and drive over to the island, or get the train to La Rochelle Ville and get a taxi to the island from there.
If flying to Paris: It's pretty easy to get to Ile de Ré from Paris. You can get a train out to La Rochelle Station (25 mins from Ile de Ré) directly from Charles de Gaulle airport. This takes about 3 hours and has 1 change (at Poitiers) but it's pretty straightforward.