The Ultimate Family Trip in Vendée

The Vendée, on France’s Atlantic coast, is a region of seaside resorts, sandy beaches, enthralling theme parks and outdoor adventures galore – ideal for family trips across the Channel.

Could Puy du Fou be France’s best theme park? It’s certainly its most ambitious. Combining excitement and adrenaline with historical intrigue and thrilling storylines, this 500-acre park, a short drive south of Cholet, is a breathtaking gallop through the most exciting – and often violent episodes of Europe’s past. There are 20 different shows here, many staged outside in grand stadia. And the level of thrills and spills on show really are astounding. No wonder more than 2.5m people attend every year.

Rather than the rides and rollercoasters you find at most theme parks, at Puy du Fou, you instead watch spectacular shows filled with amazing effects and stunts. Le Signe de Triomphe, for example, takes place in a Roman coliseum, with gladiator battles, chariot races, real lions and tigers, and plenty of stage blood. Les Vikings sees longboats and more than a few Vikings going berserk. Le Secret de la Lance transports you back to the 100 Years’ War, with sword fights and horseback stunts good enough to light up a Hollywood movie. Les Amoureux de Verdun places you right in the trenches of World War I. And Le Bal des Oiseaux Fantômes is the greatest raptor show you’ll ever see, with eagles, falcons, vultures, kites, owls and dozens of other birds of prey swooping down over the audience’s heads.

WIN! A stay at Puy du Fou for a family of 4

The Vendée is perfect for family holidays, with so much to offer kids and adults alike. A short hop over the English Channel, the department is easily accessible by car ferry to the ports at Saint-Malo, Caen, Cherbourg and Roscoff, or by air to Nantes or La Rochelle. Its largest town is La Roche-sur-Yon but, in summer, most visitors head for the coast where there are 140km of beaches and 18 seaside resorts, including the department’s second city, Les Sables-d’Olonne. An average of 2,500 hours of sunshine every year make it the perfect region for an outdoor holiday.

There are two much-loved islands off the coast of the Vendée, both a delight, especially in summer. In the north of the department is Île de Noirmoutier, with two access routes: most choose the D38 road bridge across the strait, while the more adventurous tackle the Passage du Gois, a 4.5km-long causeway across the bay that only reveals itself at low tide. Just remember to keep an eye on the incoming sea if you don’t want to get washed into the Atlantic.

In the south of the department is the Vendée’s other major island, Île d’Yeu, reached by boat from Fromentine on the mainland. After a 17km crossing, you can then explore on foot or on a hired bicycle.

Back on the mainland, another place the kids will adore is O’Gliss Park, France’s biggest water park, in Le Bernard. With swimming pools, water slides, artificial rivers and hot tubs, you’ll want to stay wet all day. In June this year, the latest ride, Stingray, will open. Ticket prices start at €27.90 for kids and €35.90 for adults.

Close by is its sister attraction, O’Fun Park – an amusement park with water jumps and slides, paintballing, tree climbing and go-karting.

Just west of here, in Talmont-Saint-Hilaire, is the superb Aquarium de Vendée. Here you’ll spot 500 different species of marine animals in two million litres of sea water aquaria. Among the more impressive are leopard sharks, octopuses, rays, clown fish, scorpion fish and sea horses.

More adventurous kids (and grown-ups) may prefer the Château des Aventuriers, near Avrillé. This historical theme park, centred on the Château de la Guignardière, offers games that all the family can enjoy. There’s a treasure trail, a dinosaur adventure, a murder mystery and a haunted house, as well as areas themed on fairy tales and the Wild West. Tickets start at €20 for under-12s and €25 for over-12s.

Green-fingered types, on the other hand, will love Le Potager Extraordinaire, a sort of horticultural theme park where you’ll find carnivorous plants, a tomato tunnel, plant-based games and, of course, plenty of veggie tastings. And twitchers will adore La Cité des Oiseaux, a 23-hectare bird reserve where well over 200 species are regularly spotted. Other great sites include Le Grand Défi, a leisure centre in Saint-Julien-des-Landes, with paintballing, laser games, tree climbing, pony rides, a water park and disc golf; Explora Parc, an adventure park near Saint-Jean-de-Monts, with tree climbing, trampolines, virtual reality games, laser games, archery and escape games; and the Musée du Chocolat at La Roche-sur-Yon, where artisan chocolatier Maison Gelencser will guide you through the history and manufacture of chocolate, culminating, of course, with a tasting.

Back on the coast is a tourist site they promote as a ‘salt adventure park’. It’s called Les Salines – a vast working salt farm where visitors can ride in boats, paddle in canoes, meet salt farmers and discover the traditions of salt-making right on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean.

While many of the Vendée’s tourist spots and busiest towns are along the Atlantic coast, the interior of the department offers great opportunities for discovering the region’s wilder side. One place well worth visiting is the Mervent-Vouvant forest, in between the towns of Vouvant and Puy-de-Serre. Stretched across 5,000 hectares of thick woodland, rivers, lakes and rolling hills, it’s perfect for hiking, mountain biking, paddling and horse riding. Close by is a zoo called Natur’Zoo de Mervent with more than 300 species of animals, including lions, wolves, bears, pythons, lemurs, monkeys and wallabies. And near Mervent is the Parc de Pierre Brune amusement park, with trampolining, ziplining and other activities.

VENDÉE ESSENTIALS

GETTING THERE

BY CAR/FERRY

The A87 and A83 autoroutes cross the region. The nearest ferry port with links to the Vendée is Saint-Malo.

BY AIR

Nantes-Atlantique airport www.nantes.aeroport.fr serves London Gatwick, Birmingham and Bristol (with easyjet) and Edinburgh, London Stansted and Manchester (with Ryanair). La Rochelle-lle de Ré airport serves Bristol, London Gatwick and Manchester (with easyjet) and London Stansted (with Ryanair).

BY TRAIN

TGVs run directly from Paris to La Roche-sur-Yon and Les Sables- d’Olonne.

TOURIST INFO

Main tourist office for the Vendée: www.in-vendee.com

For more information on a family trip in Vendée, visit vendee-tourisme.com/inspirez-moi/vacances-en-famille

From France Today Magazine