Noirmoutier family holiday in the Vendee, France
For summer 2023, I was tempted to book another stay on Île de Ré – it’s such an alluring holiday destination for families. However, one of my friends reported back on a trip to another Atlantic isle – Noirmoutier – so I decided we should give it a try.
Quieter than Île de Ré and less visited by tourists, Noirmoutier is a tranquil island where two things take centre stage – seafood and the beach. We spent a week enjoying the beaches, cycling along the coast and generally taking life very slowly. If you’re after a peaceful French island escape, Noirmoutier is a step away from the August tourist crowds.
A complimentary bus plies the island in the summer months, taking visitors past salt flats and small stretches of farmland. There’s one main town – Noirmoutier-en-l’Île – along with a series of hamlets along the west coast and a port in the north west – L’Herbaudière. The east coast by contrast has little development and with its salt marshes it’s a haven for wildlife.
What I loved about Noirmoutier was the distinct lack of things to see and do. There are no major tourist attractions on this little isle so I didn’t feel compelled – as is so often the case when I visit somewhere new – to go anywhere. Our days mostly revolved around going to the beach and eating.
Dotted across the island are little shacks selling salt – simple affairs offering bags of granules to lift your dinner from mediocre to tasty. Seafood – particularly oysters – are sold everywhere, at unassuming little places by the side of the road. Or you can dig them out of the sand yourself at low tide.
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Where is Noirmoutier?
You’ll find Noirmoutier in the Vendee, around half way down the west coast of France, about an hour and a half by car south west of Nantes. Originally reached via a tidal causeway – Le Gois – Noirmoutier is now joined to the mainland by a 500 metre-long bridge (toll-free).
How to get to Noirmoutier
The closest ferry terminal is St Malo – about a 3.5 hour drive (260 kilometres). However, given its size, Noirmoutier can certainly be a car-free break – lots of visitors are on bikes and there’s a reliable bus service too.
If you’d like to travel by public transport to Noirmoutier, it’s a journey of around two hours from Paris to Nantes by train. There’s a bus from Nantes to the island which takes another couple of hours.
Nantes airport to Noirmoutier is a drive of around 1.5 hours (85 kilometres).
The beaches of Noirmoutier
The west coast of Noirmoutier features several miles of sandy beaches which shelve ever so gently into calm water – ideal territory for bucket and spade antics, paddleboarding and swimming. We stayed at Camping Domaine le Midi, connected to the beach by a sandy path through the dunes, so we spent several days enjoying the fairly empty expanse of sand near the campsite each morning before heading back for lunch and a few hours of playing in the swimming pools.
If you’re considering buying a stand up paddle board, read my review of our Hydro-Force Oceana SUP.
We discovered a great little bar for ice creams, coffees and desserts – Les Pieds dans l’Ô – next to the beach at La Guérinière. Not far from there, we found a section of coast with a bit of swell – just enough movement in the water to fill the beach with happy little children leaping over the waves.
Plage des Dames
Plages des Dames is a popular crescent of sand framed by rocks and pine trees. It’s the beach you’ll see on Noirmoutier postcards. Plage des Dames is backed by pastel coloured beach huts and there’s a pier at one end of the beach, packed with people fishing. Their buckets were full of tiny fish – silvery little mouthfuls. At the end of the pier, teens queued to hurl themselves off the pier, doing somersaults into the water.
At Plage des Dames, the sea was dense with water crafts – little motorboats, paddle boards, kayaks – and the sand was full of beach goers. There was a subtle increase in beautiful people here. Other beaches on the island attract families with little children but here were groups of young folk enjoying Noirmoutier’s most picturesque location.
We visited Plage des Dames twice – once on a sunny afternoon and once during light rain. Despite the change in weather, the majority of beach huts remained shuttered. I’ve heard they’re owned by families who hand them down through the generations. I wonder where they all go for their holidays.
Plage des Dames and the smaller neighbouring Plage de l’Anse Rouge are backed by the Bois de la Chaise woodland. In contrast to the rest of the island, the streets crisscrossing through Bois de la Chaise are lined with characterful and opulent homes. Each villa sits in ample grounds with mature trees shrouding much of the property. The rest of the island is more typical of seaside France – whitewashed houses with terracotta roofs and blue shutters.
Noirmoutier-en-l’Île
On day two of our stay, we drove to Noirmoutier-en-l’Île for a spot of shopping at the market. It’s big and busy and not particularly geared to tourists. Despite the immense supermarkets which the French go in for, their markets are always heaving with customers – do they just eat more than we do?
As it was market day – a Sunday – the town was packed and we struggled to find anywhere to eat – it’s worth booking a table in advance or eating early. Otherwise, there’s a good selection of ice cream shops if you just fancy a stroll.
Le Gois
I had expected this four kilometre causeway to be a fun place for a bike ride and a wander but it turned out to be rather a popular attraction for people in cars so we abandoned our plans to cycle to the mainland and got off our bikes and watched people harvesting shellfish.
At various points along the causeway, there are posts to climb as well as several platforms accessed by ladders, we pondered how often these might be used – drivers abandoning their cars to a watery fate while they climb to safety.
The surrounding area is completely flat and you can see for miles across the sandy mud flats.
Cycling on Noirmoutier
We hired bikes from our campsite and from there headed through the nearby village of Barbatre to Le Gois.
From Le Gois, there’s a cycle and footpath along the east coast salt marshes. Popular with cyclists, there are no roads here so it’s just you and the great expanses of wetland. We cycled as far as Port du Bonhomme, where tractors head out at low tide to collect oysters from the trestles in the sea. Eating seafood is a serious business here – there are little foodie shacks dotted across the island, all doing a very good trade.
From there, we cut across to the west coast to La Guérinière and then cycled along the coast and through woodland with various dips in the ocean along the way.
The cycle back to our campsite took us through woodland, past pretty holiday houses and old windmills. The streets were mostly empty – everyone was at the beach I presume.
Things to do on Noirmoutier in the rain
Noirmoutier is an outdoor destination – it’s the beaches which make it such an appealing place to visit. However, there are a few indoor attractions should the weather turn against you.
The island has a butterfly farm for a spot of humidity and tropical colours. There’s also a chateau with accompanying museum offering a history of the island. We enjoyed a few hours browsing the markets on our one rainy day.
The indoor food market at Noirmoutier-en-l’Île is a culinary joy to wander through while the outdoor one has a pleasing selection of clothing, bric-a-brac and food. There was also a carousel and waffle shop on the edge of the stalls which proved popular with children who’d tired of shopping.
We enjoyed dinner one evening in the port town of L’Herbaudière in the north west of the island. It has a completely different feel to the rest of the Noirmoutier – it’s industry first, tourists second. And, unlike pretty Noirmoutier-en-l’Île, there’s no problem finding a table for dinner here – the density of restaurants in L’Herbaudière was rather unexpected.
Things to do near Noirmoutier
If you tire of the beach (we didn’t), there are plenty of things to do on the mainland near Noirmoutier.
There’s water sports galore – windsurfing and sailing are popular at La Tranche-sur-Mer. And there’s no shortage of waterparks if your kids need some slides to entertain them – Atlantic Toboggan is less than an hour from the island.
Ile d’Yeu
This neighbouring isle is a haven for birdlife and is perfect for cycling and walking. It can be reached by ferry from Barbatre. There’s an appealing fishing port, varied coastline and a 14th century chateau to admire.
Puy du Fou
I think this amazing theatre-theme park is too far for a day trip but there are plenty of adverts for it on Noirmoutier so I guess some people make the journey. It’s certainly worth making a bit of effort to visit Puy du Fou as it’s an incredible place but I’d recommend doing as we did and visiting before (or after) a stay on Noirmoutier. We spent a night in one of the nearby villages and enjoyed two days exploring Puy du Fou.
Nantes
Another one which is worth the journey – Nantes is a great city for families. Its most well-known attraction for kids is Île de Nantes, an island in the Loire River which features a giant ride-on mechanical elephant and a great play area. Nantes is a safe cycling destination for families – exploring a city on two wheels makes lots of sense if you’re travelling with kids.
Where to stay on Noirmoutier
Noirmoutier is a long and narrow island with excellent beaches on the north and western coasts. The main town of Noirmoutier-en-l’Île is in the north so it does make sense to stay in the upper part of the island if you can. However, if you’re predominantly after a beach break – as we were – staying on the west coast works out fine.
There are a few hotels worth considering but self catering is the most popular option on Noirmoutier – and there’s plenty of properties walking distance to a perfect patch of sand. The island really is ideal for families with little children.
Airbnb has a great choice of places close to the ocean.
If you prefer to have the facilities of a campsite, there are two which I’d recommend – we loved the pools at Camping Domaine le Midi as well as its location near the beach (just a shame it was too far to cycle easily to Noirmoutier-en-l’Île).
Domaine le Midi
This is the campsite we stayed at. Located on the south west coast, it has access to a lovely beach which we found perfect for paddle boarding. Read my full review of Domaine le Midi here.
Domaine le Midi has an indoor and an outdoor pool – handy if you have any bad weather while you’re staying on Noirmoutier.
Huttopia Noirmoutier
This campsite is in a great location right on the beach in the north of the island. It’s close to Plage des Dames and not far from the island’s main town.
It’s mostly tent pitches at this Huttopia site but if you can’t face packing up all your own gear there are some pre-erected tents to hire. Note, there is no swimming pool.
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Have you been to Noirmoutier for a family summer holiday? Let me know what you thought of the island.
