Tourist attractions Île de Ré

Situated at the entrance to the Jardin des Plantes, the museum is set up in two buildings which face each another. The Lafaille Museum is home to the Lafaille exhibition which includes an amazing coquillier , as well as Clément de Lafaille’s furni..

Situated at the end of a narrow bay, the old port is made up of the port entry, the beaching basin or Old Port, the small basin where yachts are moored, and the trawler basin. It is certainly the most well-known view of La Rochelle with its two tower..

This very busy street is one of the most typical of La Rochelle, with its many galleries and 16C and 17C houses. Half-timbered medieval houses covered with slate alternate with Renaissance buildings sporting fantastic sculpted gargoyles.

The dwellings around the Town Hall, Rue des Merciers and Rue du Palais were built with two ways out; on the ground floor they have a large room often converted into a shop, then an interior courtyard with staircase and gallery; on the first floor a d..

The La Rochelle Aquarium, a large vessel made of wood and glass, presents over 10,000 marine creatures from the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, the Caribbean and the Pacific in an original way, and its 65 pools recreate the environments of the species a..

This charming town with its narrow cobbled streets has probably not changed much since the golden era of Louis XIV. Its fortifications are early 17C but were extensively modified by Vauban. The harbour is unusual because the dock extends into the for..

This 2 km-long and 200m-wide park surrounds the town along its old fortifications. It is a most pleasant place, with winding alleys running through it and a river where swans and herons frolic. It extends to the West on the Mail .

The 15C lantern tower, newer than the others, combines aesthetic and military considerations. The massive tower is topped by a large steeple and a thin stone lantern (once a lighthouse), and has 6m-thick walls at the base. It has four floors of rooms..

Amongst these collections, put together by an 18C shipowner, you'll find mementoes of the sieges of La Rochelle, documents evoking the town's prosperity and the intellectual life of the 18C. There is a wonderful series of ceramics tracing the history..

The round paving stones of this street were formerly used as ballast by vessels coming from Canada; they are lined with arcades and porches behind which stand fine 18C residences.

300 moving figures rival each other in ingenuity to attract the visitors’ attention in this magnificent décor complete with music. It is an astounding place, with amazingly realistic robots and some very successful reconstructions, including one of ..

Seat of the chamber of commerce since its foundation, this building was constructed in the 18C in the early Louis XVI style. There is a courtyard with a gallery, a portico decorated with maritime trophies, and a fine ramped staircase in wrought iron...

This is one of the main streets of La Rochelle, linking the business and residential areas. On the right there is a string of shops underneath galleries built in different eras and styles. On the left are more galleries and public buildings.

At n° 6, on a tiled plaque in front of the old half-timbered house, there is an inscription by Ronsard to the glory of Chaudrier, one of the defenders of La Rochelle.

At the end of the garden stands this luxurious house built in 1555 by Hugues de Pontard, lord of Champdeniers. The façade is in the Henry II style, with two pavilions, a gallery and loggia, and a frieze with vertical stripes, medallions and bucrania.

This Gothic tower used to be the entrance to the town from the harbour side. The belfry in the centre is topped by a polygonal dome and a lantern light, and houses the clock face and the clock mechanism. The two towers on either side contain maritime..

In the ancient Episcopal palace, there are portraits by La Rochelle artists, compositions by William Bouguereau Orientalist paintings by Eugene Fromentin . there is also a section devoted to the 20C showing glassworks by Maurice Martinot and a Mi..

This slightly leaning tower (total height 42 m) is a veritable fortress. It was built in the 14C and named after the patron saint of navigators. An external staircase leads to the main room, from which other staircases lead to additional rooms. These..

The Fleuriau Hotel with its wood-panelled Louis XV and Louis XVI rooms, houses collections that illustrate close relationship between La Rochelle and the Americas since the Renaissance. Many La Rochelle ship owners became very rich trading with Canad..

This composite building is worthy of note for its rich decorations. A Gothic surrounding wall topped by a machicolated wall-walk, and reinforced by a belfry-tower, defends the courtyard. The main façade of the building was built in the Italian styl..