Velofrancette 2026 - Tourism in La Rochelle

 

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Walking Route

Route So Far

Travelogue 

Our cycling trip ended yesterday. But not our holiday. We now have two days in La Rochelle, of which today is the first.

As is common with us, we kicked things off with a self-guided walking tour of the city. We're staying in an apartment a stone's throw from the old harbour, so we're well placed for a tour of the key parts of this historic place.

We cycled the Velodyssee route, all the way down the Atlantic coast of France two years ago and we stayed for one night in La Rochelle. But we didn't really see anything of the place. We were staying in a neighborhood away from the most historic and interesting areas and it wasn't until we cycled out of the city the next day that we got a hint of what a lovely place this is.

Our walking tour, led by Ace Tour Guide, M2 (who doesn't let her inability to tell left from right hamper her guiding activities), was very nice indeed. La Rochelle exceeds expectations. The harbour is lovely, with its old fortified towers guarding its entrance, and every street is worth walking down. And of course there's Pain aux Amandes and coffee.

But there's horror awaiting the hapless tourist, too. I'm referring to the paintings in the cathedral, very few of which do not depict torture or death. One painting in particular, portraying the flaying of St Bartholomew, is just horrible. The stuff of nightmares!

And there are oysters. There's a big market and one of the star attractions are oysters which you can buy and eat at a table. That said, both M1 and M2 think oysters are revolting so somehow we managed to resist :-)

We have no plan now other than to relax. It's as it should be. 

That said... A plan of sorts did form. We leave in two days time and will be putting ourselves and the bikes on a train to Nantes. The train leaves at 6:17. Railway stations can be tricky places for those of us with heavily laden bikes to get to the right platform. So we decided to walk to and review La Rochelle station. 

The station is only 600 metres away and should be super easy to cycle to on the day. It's also a very beautiful building that has been recently renovated. Inside there are of course numerous platforms. They're reached by a subway, with lots and lots of steps. Or by a bridge that is accessed via lots and lots of steps. Or.... By elevators that are big enough for one bike at a time! Praise be :-) As long as whichever two elevators that we need (the platform isn't decided until the day) are working, all will be well. If not, we can handle the steps. It's just better if we don't have to. 

Photos

The railway station 

Velofrancette 2026 - Magne to La Rochelle

 

Stats

Today's Route 

Route So Far 

Travelogue 

Today we cycled the final section of La Velofrancette and made it to La Rochelle.

And what a great day. Most of the cycling was alongside a truly beautiful section of river. There were reflections galore and lovely mature willow trees. It was very tranquil and the cycling much easier than previous days (though we did our best to make it harder than it should have been!).

The first chance we got, we stopped for coffee. This was in a small town called Coulon.

Cycling along the river again, we were both amused and mystified by a series of what we can only describe as scarecrows. We have no idea why they were there!

There were lots of steep, single file bridges to cross. It's possible you were supposed to dismount and cross on foot, but my knowledge of French can be a little selective and self-serving at times and so I rode across them. Tut tut. How naughty.

Perhaps as a consequence of said naughtiness, karma did it's thing and on checking the map at a particularly ambiguous set of signs, we discovered we'd cycled 5 km off route!

Oops! There wasn't anything for it. We had to cycle 5 km back to the route. So that was an extra 10 km. I promise not to be so naughty in the future!

All that extra cycling gave us an appetite so we stopped for food and drinks right by the river in Marans. We both had excellent camembert, butter and salad sandwiches.

After that, the cycling became even easier as we approached the coast and soon we'd reached La Rochelle.

We were greeted by our Airbnb host in person. We was a lovely, friendly guy who seemed genuinely pleased to meet us. He helped me to stow the bikes downstairs and then gave us a tour of the apartment, and shared useful information about the neighborhood.

We shopped at a local Carrefour, ate lots and lots of food and settled in for a relaxing evening.

We have two full days here in La Rochelle.

Photos