Vendée is located in the Loire region in the western part of France bathed in the wonderful sun of the Atlantic Ocean. The unspoiled coast has a charming natural landscape with rocks, rivers and unique, sandy beaches. Inland, you will find Marais Poitevin – the French “Green Venice”. A vigorous area that has France’s biggest complex of artificial waterways which is best experienced from a canoe or a boat. Vendée invites to a relaxing holiday by the sea, a cultural holiday or an active holiday for families, yachting enthusiasts or the romantic couple.

The landscape of Vendée

The coastal stretch of Vendée is one of the purest and least expanded coastal stretches in France. You will find rivers and wonderful unspoiled beaches here. To the north, you will find the swampy area Île de Noirmountier which is connected to the mainland at low tides. Inland, you will find the remote forest area Marais Poitevin with bird sanctuaries in the swampy meadows, villages surrounded by canals and large abbeys from the Middle Ages.

Large cities in Vendée: Tranche sur Mer and Les Sables d’Olonne

Tranche sur Mer is located in the southern part of Vendée with a 13 km fine sandy beach. The small white houses and narrow streets of the city add to the summer holiday atmosphere and attract families in particular that love sun, the sea and activities. If you have an addiction to windsurfing, Tranche-sur Mer is also the right place to go.

In Les Sables d’Olonne, you will find relaxation as well as culture and a beautiful nature, and this is the right place to go for a holiday if you love the sea and the fresh air from the Atlantic Ocean. Fishing, the markets, the museums and the abbey church and the yachting activities for people of all ages make it a popular place to go for a holiday. 

Tourist attractions in Vendée

The biggest tourist attraction in the area is Marais Poitevin with its many canals and the shores of the Atlantic Ocean with the wonderful sandy beaches and the numerous yachting activities.

A holiday in Vendée is ideal for a trip to the sunny and quiet islands off the coast of Vendée which offer small, colourful ports buzzing with life when the cutters return with the catch of the day. Untouched coastal land with bays and white sand – an ideal place to go for romantic souls. You will find small idyllic villages with low, whitewashed houses with rose tile roofs and hollyhocks in full bloom as well as lavender plants, rosemary bushes and flowering mimosa in the middle of winter.
 
Historically, Vendée is best known for the Vendée revolt in 1793 where the movement against revolution started a rebellion against the republican big-city values that started with a number of risings in Vendée. Among the memorials, you can visit the museums in Cholet and Challans as well as the war cemetery.

In the thicket landscape in Vendée, you will find the amusement park Puy du Fou. In this park, you can watch Europe’s biggest light and sound show with 1,100 performers, 50 riders and 2,000 spotlights. 

Sports activities in Vendée

Nature offers a lot of experiences in Vendée. You may take the bike and enjoy the beautiful nature via the cycle tracks along the shores of the Atlantic Ocean or you may go for a hike or a trip to the forest-clad hinterland Bocage Vendée or near La Tranche-sur-Mer.
If you want a most unusual trip, you should try a trip in canoe or by a flat-bottomed boat in Marais Poitevin, the area with the many canals. You could also take the trip by horse, on foot or by bike.

The shores of the Atlantic Ocean is the perfect place for nature lovers, windsurfers and yachting enthusiasts because you find uncountable possibilities here. Furthermore, you will find five golf courses in the area.

Gastronomic characteristics of Vendée

Because of the location between the land and the sea, Vendée offers a rich and varied cuisine. Popular specialities are a seafood buffet caught the very same day, fresh oysters, sea bass in salt and pickerel in "beurre blanc" served with a little salad and fresh clams with a glass of cold muscatel.

The climate of Vendée

Vendée has an oceanic climate with generally mild, humid and windy winters and autumns and dry summers with a brisk wind from the Atlantic Ocean. In July and August, the bathing water has an average temperature of approximately 22 degrees.

Some of the photos are kindly lent out from Maison de la France. Photographers: Fabian Charaffi and Hervé Le Gac.