Puy du Fou France – August visit to an amazing French theme park

After being thwarted by Covid in previous years, we finally made it to Puy du Fou in August 2023 and it was well worth the wait. I had read lots of great reviews about this French theatre theme park in the Vendee but I was still wowed by the scale of the place and the incredible special effects put into all the shows.

I visited Puy du Fou with my husband and our two sons aged 11 and 9 as part of a holiday to France taking in the Vendée and Brittany regions. We paid full price for our tickets to Puy du Fou – approximately £100 per day for the four of us. We stayed in an apartment overnight in the nearby town of Les Herbiers and spent two days at Puy du Fou.

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Table of Contents

What is Puy du Fou?

Puy du Fou is a unique attraction which cannot be summed up accurately in a few words. It’s often described as a theme park but this is misleading as there are no rides. Set in immaculately maintained grounds, Puy du Fou is packed with theatrical shows which take place on elaborate stages or through a series of sets which visitors walk through. Many of the performances take place outside (come rain or shine).

When I described where we were going, my family didn’t really understand what I was talking about and my husband was a bit dubious. It is so hard to describe exactly what Puy du Fou is and appreciate just how incredible the experience is. Thankfully, we all loved our trip there.

geece in Le Signe du Triomphe — The gladiator circus at Le Signe du Triomphe

The shows at Puy du Fou depict events in history – a Roman gladiator circus, a Viking raid, a gypsy flamenco show, and many more – all with dramatic scenery and incredible special effects.

There are 12 timed “shows” – and by this I mean visitors are seated – at one of several huge indoor theatres or open air seating in front of an elaborate set – and watch a production of 20-30 minutes. 10 of these are daytime shows and two are exclusively evening performances. There are six shows which are billed as the stand-out big hitters but some of the smaller shows deserve equal praise in my opinion.

New shows are always in the pipeline – what I am describing is the current situation in 2023.

The longest show is the gladiator spectacle Le Signe du Triomphe at 35 minutes, while the Les Chevaliers de la Table Ronde is the shortest at 17 minutes. The walk throughs tend to take around 10 to 20 minutes, depending on how busy they are (and you can go through them as often as you like).

For the seated shows, the audience are on benches, and before the shows start the staff often ask the audience to shuffle along to make space at the ends of rows for extra people to sit down – it’s all very well organised.

Of the immersive, walk through productions, there are four major ones including the World War One trenches recreated in Les Amoureux de Verdun – this was incredible.

There are also several smaller shows which visitors can sit and watch which do not attract the same level of crowds as the larger productions. We caught part of Le Ballet des Sapeurs, a fun slapstick show which all the family will enjoy.

Where is Puy du Fou?

Puy du Fou is located in the Vendée region of France. The nearest airport is Nantes, around one hour away. It’s a great attraction to tie in with a family holiday to the Loire or coastal Vendée regions.

The nearest town to Puy du Fou is Les Epesses (3 kilometres) while Les Herbiers (10 kilometres, where we stayed) is also close by. Les Herbiers is a decent size with plenty of shops and restaurants. It has a characterful town centre, and we would have loved to have spent a bit of time there.

How to get to Puy du Fou

In the centre of France, Puy du Fou is well connected by all modes of transport. Travelling by road might seem like the most obvious way of getting to Puy du Fou, but I think it would be a fun adventure to travel by train.

By car

It makes a lot of sense to combine Puy du Fou with a family summer holiday to France as it’s close to two popular destinations – the long sandy beaches of the Vendée (including Île de Ré) and the lovely Loire valley.

Distances to Puy du Fou from the ferry terminals

St Malo 255km
Caen 335km
Le Harve 385km
Roscoff 395km
Calais 600km

By train

Once you arrive in Paris (2.5 hours from London), there’s a TGV from Gare Montparnasse to Angers (around 1.5 hours) and from there you can take a dedicated shuttle to the park (approximately one hour 15 minutes) – these run three times each day and can be booked through the Puy du Fou website.

By plane

Nantes Atlantique airport is 70 kilometres (approximately one hour) from Puy du Fou. You can fly direct from several regional airports across the UK.

Is Puy du Fou family friendly?

Yes. Puy du Fou is a brilliant experience for families. The shows are short and packed with special effects. We saw kids of all ages there but also plenty of adults without children too – it’s not just a family affair.

Some of the shows are unsuitable for very little children – some people are stabbed in Le Signe de Triomphe, and Les Amoureux de Verdun has some very poorly soldiers being tended in the field hospital.

All the shows are in French. However, as the shows are short and the action is intense, the language barrier is not a problem. There is an English translation available through the Puy du Fou app (it’s very useful to have this on your phone before you arrive) but the dialogue is at times quite involved, so our kids preferred to interpret the story from the visual experience. I don’t think little children would understand the translation but they will still enjoy the shows.

Castle and jousting knights in Le Secret de la Lance — Dramatic scenes in Le Secret de la Lance

What is an Emotion pass at Puy du Fou?

The Emotion pass is an additional cost at Puy du Fou which permits visitors to skip the queue. It costs around £20 per person and must be purchased in advance as only a limited number are available each day.

Do you need an Emotion pass? If you want to maximise your time at Puy du Fou and you don’t mind spending an extra £100 per day for a family of four, it is worth getting.

We saw people with the passes wandering into shows just 10 minutes before they were due to start whereas we generally queued for 45 minutes to an hour. We decided to save some money and didn’t buy the passes – it was fine without them.

When is the best time to visit Puy du Fou?

Having experienced Puy du Fou at its busiest (August) and still had an amazing time, I would love to go back during May half term. The weather would be mild and there would be far fewer people. However, I expect it’s more likely that we will visit the park again on another France summer holiday.

What is Puy du Fou like in August?

I think I’m still scarred from visiting Legoland Windsor in August (tip: don’t do it). I’m pleased to confirm that visiting Puy du Fou in August is worth doing. We didn’t buy the Emotion pass and we managed to see all the shows we had planned to see.

The Puy du Fou app is really helpful as it details all the show times so we planned our day before we arrived, estimating what we would have time to see and how long we would need to queue. There’s also a paper map at the entrance which has this information.

Some background about our trip: we were a bit pushed for time during our visit to Puy du Fou due to ferry times and the accommodation change over days at our campsites. On day one, we arrived at the park at midday, stayed until around 7pm and then returned to the park the next day for 9am and stayed until 4pm before heading off to our campsite (we had a two hour drive).

The Puy du Fou app does offer to plan your day for you but the itinerary it suggested for us looked too full and I didn’t think it gave us enough time to queue. So we built our own itinerary based on what I thought was achievable.

Example Puy du Fou itinerary

To give you an idea of what you can see in a day without an Emotion pass, our itinerary went like this:

Day 1:
Midday: arrive
13:00 Mousquetaire de Richelieu
14:45 Les Vikings
Around 15:30 Walk through production: Les Amoureux de Verdun
Around 16:00: Walk through production: La Mystere de la Perouse
17:15 Le Signe du Triomphe
We grabbed burgers at Le Rendez-Vous des Ventres Faims (one of the many eateries at Puy du Fou) before heading to our apartment in the town of Les Herbiers

Day 2:
09:15 arrive
10:30 Le Secret de la Lance
11:30 Le Dernier Panache
13:30 Les Chevaliers de la Table Ronde
14:30 Le Bal des Oiseaux Fantomes
15:30 Rather a long time looking at swords in the gift shop
16:00 We left for Ile de Noirmoutier

The park is big so it takes time to walk between the shows. There are plenty of places to stop and buy snacks and lots of other attractions to stop and look at – gardens, recreated villages, animal enclosures and so forth.

On the first day, we watched Mousquetaire de Richelieu as soon as we arrived as it’s close to the entrance. The indoor theatre is huge so there is plenty of space for everyone queuing outside. We then headed over to the other side of the park to see Les Vikings – a real highlight for all of us. After that we did two immersive walk through shows – Les Amoureux de Verdun and La Mystere de la Perouse before watching Le Signe du Triomphe.

The following day, we arrived at the park (driving there and parking was quick and easy) at about 9.15am and went straight to Le Secret de la Lance for a 10:30 start. We then managed to get seats straight afterwards at 11:30 for Le Dernier Panache. We ate our lunch whilst queuing for Les Chevaliers de la Table Ronde and finally watched Le Bal des Oiseaux Fantomes at 14:30. We didn’t queue early enough for this last show so the view wasn’t great but it was still an impressive show.

As we had a two hour drive to our campsite, we made a beeline for the exit after that, slowed somewhat by Le Ballet des Sapeurs show in Le Bourg Berard and the gift shop!

Tips about queues and shows in August

We did have to queue quite a bit – we would watch one show and then wander over to the next one we wanted to see and started queuing for that one straight away. However, we were all buoyed by the previous show and the queuing felt fine. We usually ate something while we were queuing which helped pass the time. There are places to buy ice creams and crepes – handy sugary snacks for an extra boost of energy.

I recommend downloading the app and checking the day’s schedule – decide in advance exactly what you want to see and at what time. This might sound very regimented, but it makes a lot of sense if you want to maximise your time at the park.

If you can, try to visit Puy du Fou on a weekday. We visited on a Friday and a Saturday. The Saturday was noticeably busier.

With hindsight, I would have booked a different ferry crossing – we took the 23:00 from Portsmouth to Caen. It was a lovely time to arrive at Portsmouth – quiet and no queues anywhere. But we did have rather an early start in Caen (5am wake up call) – we were rather dictated by the Saturday to Saturday accommodation in France so we visited Puy du Fou on a Friday and Saturday before starting the main part of our holiday.

Visiting Puy du Fou on a weekend in the middle of August meant we probably saw the park at its busiest time.

We weren’t sure if we would get into all the big shows so we made sure we allowed plenty of time to queue so we weren’t disappointed. We were not at the park for a full day on either of our days but still managed to watch plenty of shows – we didn’t feel like we had missed out even though we didn’t see everything. What we did see was so impressive.

Chariots in Le Signe du Triomphe at Puy du Fou France theme park — Chariots in Le Signe du Triomphe

Some shows have a huge seating capacity and others are quite a bit smaller. The stadium of Le Signe du Triumphe – based on the Colosseum in Rome – is vast. We saw the show at 5pm on the Friday and the seating was not full so we could have arrived ten minutes before and still got good seats. As the action takes place in the centre and there is elevated seating all the way around the arena, there aren’t any bad seats, although the higher up you are the better your view.

The seating capacity at Le Bal des Oseaux Fantomes is much smaller. We saw the show at 3pm on the Saturday – a really popular time. We didn’t allow enough time to queue for this one and only just got in. We ended up with seats on the flat area, rather than tiered seating and as a result the view was not as good – I’d recommend queuing for at least 45 minutes or an hour before this show. I think we arrived about 30 minutes before.

We made a picnic lunch for both days we visited Puy du Fou. This saved us lots of time and meant we had something to do while we were queuing – there were lots of other people eating their lunch in the queues.

Although it would have been fun to take in a show dinner such at Le Cafe de La Madelon or Le Relais de Poste, we were trying to keep costs down. It turned out that we were all ready for bed by 8pm after our rather antisocial ferry schedule the previous night.

There are quite a few fast food eateries dotted across the park so we grabbed burgers for a quick evening meal before heading off to the apartment we had booked in Les Herbiers.

Do you need an emotion pass for Puy du Fou in August?

We decided not to buy the emotion passes as it added on around £100 to the cost of the visit. Although this meant more time queuing, we still felt like we watched a lot of shows and didn’t regret the decision. If we travel through this part of France again, I would be happy to visit Puy du Fou again and not buy the emotion passes.

Arriving at Puy du Fou in August

Puy du Fou is in a very rural area. There are a couple of towns nearby but otherwise it is pretty quiet so the approaching roads were not too busy.

On our first day, we arrived at midday. We parked about 10 minutes walk from the entrance and went straight in with no queue. The following day – a Saturday – we drove from the town of Les Herbiers (10 minutes away), queued in our car for only about 5 minutes on the approach road, and parked again about a 10 minute walk from the entrance.

Despite arriving at what we imagined to be peak time, we didn’t really queue for very long to get in – it was quick and efficient and took around 10 minutes. Perhaps a lot of people arrive really early but we felt we arrived early enough.

There are huge car parks at Puy du Fou. The surrounding roads immediately before you enter the car park have quite a lot of traffic but it is all well managed with staff directing vehicles to the relevant car park areas.

There is airport style security and bag checks but this is pretty quick. We had our tickets on our phones and they were scanned efficiently.

Given the thousands who visit Puy du Fou each day, I was impressed by how well the crowds are managed.

What did the kids enjoy at Puy du Fou?

Our children loved the dramatic action – sword fights, scenery (and people!) catching on fire, blood squirting out of limbs and people whizzing across the set on zip wires. They were amazed and confounded by the special effects – how do Vikings rise from a submerged boat without having breathing equipment? And how does a gigantic stone wall disappear into the ground?

What did the adults enjoy at Puy du Fou?

We also loved the special effects. I was also so impressed by how well organised and well run the park was. The grounds are immaculate, there is no rubbish and everyone wanders into the shows in big crowds with minimal intervention from the staff. There were thousands of people at Puy du Fou during our visit but the park managed to swallow them up and not feel too full.

In between all the shows, there are beautifully landscaped grounds to walk through, woodland areas and a decent looking adventure playground. There are animal enclosures and fun story-telling woodland scenes retelling French childhood tales. There is a lovely medieval village to explore – complete with people undertaking glass-blowing and other traditional crafts.

Best shows at Puy du Fou

Spoiler alert – please do not read this bit if you want to enjoy the surprises! These are not necessarily the best shows but more of an overview of what we saw and what we enjoyed. We didn’t get a chance to see the new 2023 show Le Mime et L’Etoile – we’ll have to return another time!

Les Vikings

We all loved Les Vikings for its special effects and laugh out loud moments. The action centres around a village where the inhabitants are celebrating a wedding. Monks arrive by boat (there is a recreated river) having been chased from their home at nearby Noirmoutier island by Viking invaders. The Vikings then arrive at the village in dramatic style – a long ship comes down a slope, another emerges from the water and a battle ensues.

Viking ship rises from lake in Puy du Fou — How did they do that… Vikings rise from the water

Le Signe du Triomphe

This show had the greatest number of actors (and animals) of all the shows we saw. It also has a huge capacity so you do not need to queue for long to guarantee a seat. There are some amazing scenes – wheels coming off chariots, props catching fire and blood squirting out of unlucky victims. Lots of violence! Despite reading about exotic animals being used in this production, there were only domesticated creatures when we watched it – perhaps Puy du Fou has heeded the feedback from unhappy animal rights campaigners.

Mousquetaire de Richelieu

This was a great introductory show (it’s near the entrance). I think if we’d seen this after some of the other shows our kids would have been slightly underwhelmed. It has wonderful Flamenco dancing and predictably good sword fights. It’s USP is the stage which fills with water during the course of the show so all the dancers end up splashing around in several inches of water.

Le Secret de la Lance

The special effects of this show are particularly impressive – and it’s a real girl power production. Castle walls disappear into the ground and the huge castle keep turns 180 degrees. I’m not sure any of this added to the story telling, it was more of a “look what we can do” by the production crew. There are also some great stunts by horseback riders – I wouldn’t want to watch the rehearsals!

Les Amoureux de Verdun

This immersive experience is incredible. Visitors enter through an unassuming tunnel in the woods and are taken back in time to the First World War trenches. There are both waxworks and real actors, bombs, gruesome injuries, lots of action and a poignant ending. There is so much detail to take in – we would have liked to walk through this again. Some parts of this might frighten little children.

La Mystere de La Perouse

This is another amazing walk through production which tells the story of explorer La Perouse and his fateful voyage from Brest to Cape Horn all the way to Alaska. The sets of this production are incredible – the walls move to give the impression of a ship at sea, there are storms, icebergs and lots of water. This is a brilliant experience which we all loved. Some parts of this might frighten little children.

Le Dernier Panache

I loved this indoor production. Le Dernier Panache combines cinematic screens with live action and some incredible sets – the scenography is incredible. The viewers sit on a giant revolving seating area enabling a far wider wrap-around stage than a traditional theatre allows.

Le Bal des Oiseaux Fantomes

If you like birds of prey shows, this spectacle is for you. If, on the other hand, you don’t enjoy birds swooping millimetres above your head I advise you to avoid this production. It’s important to queue up early for this show as the seating capacity isn’t huge. The set takes in some of the original fortifications of Puy du Fou with hundreds of birds flying overhead. It’s a great production – some of the birds are huge and there’s a wide variety of species from cranes to owls.

Les Chevaliers de la Table Ronde

This was the only story which our kids were familiar with – although it didn’t quite follow the version that they were used to. We were wowed by a horse and rider coming out of the lake and the mermaid was popular with the crowd (I didn’t realise you could get freshwater mermaids).

How long to stay at Puy du Fou

We spent one and a half days at Puy du Fou which wasn’t long enough to see all the shows and walk throughs. I would have been happy to stay longer and check out a few other parts of the park and the kids would have liked to re-watch Les Vikings. I think two full days and three nights would be optimal but I think plenty of people simply do a day trip to Puy du Fou. Given its central location in France, it’s a fairly easy place to return to.

Eating and drinking at Puy du Fou

There are lots of restaurants at Puy du Fou – some formal, some with entertainment, others offer fast food. There are plenty of places to buy ice cream and other snacks.

If you want to eat at one of the restaurants which has entertainment, or indeed at one of the more formal restaurants, ensure you book in advance.

If you want to keep costs down, bring a picnic – it’s a great way to fill your time while you’re waiting for the next show to begin. We saw hundreds of people like us, munching on baguettes.

There isn’t anywhere obvious to refill water bottles at Puy du Fou but there are signs in the toilet blocks saying the water is drinkable, so I filled our bottles there and it was fine.

What to bring with you to Puy du Fou

Refilled drink bottles
Sun cream (some shows have no shade)
Rain gear
Lots of snacks for when you’re queuing (and a picnic if you want to save money)
Comfy shoes – you’ll walk miles
Mobile phones with the app downloaded so you plan your day and listen to translations
Mobile charger and headphones

Visiting Puy du Fou: where to stay

There are accommodation options to suit all budgets in and around Puy du Fou. There’s luxury and convenience on-site but plenty of budget and family friendly options close by.

Themed hotels at Puy du Fou

If you want the complete Puy du Fou experience, staying in one of the themed hotels is definitely going to enhance your visit. You can spend longer in the park, safe in the knowledge that you’re just a short walk from your bed.

There are five hotels at Puy du Fou – you can stay in a castle, a medieval village, a characterful 18th century dwelling, an elegant Roman villa or a Louis XIV chateau.

Hotels and apartments near Puy do Fou

There’s a huge range of accommodation available very close to Puy du Fou and in the nearby village of Les Epesses. If you’re visiting in August, you might find you’ll be dictated by what is available. We booked several months in advance and (possibly because we were only staying one night) ended up finding somewhere to stay in Les Herbiers, a really charming town about 10 minutes drive from Puy du Fou.

Look for accommodation near Puy du Fou on Booking.com

Campsites near Puy du Fou

Camping au Bois du Ce is located just three kilometres from Puy du Fou. It has indoor and outdoor pools, a play area and a restaurant. There are tent pitches as well as mobile homes.

Camping Capfun Bretèche is also very close by, a more back to basics option with access to the local swimming pool. It’s located next to a lake and has the choice again of tent pitches or mobile homes.

Puy du Fou quick facts

Can you take a picnic to Puy du Fou?

Yes, we picnicked on both the days we visited.

How many days do you need at Puy du Fou? And how long do you need at Puy du Fou?

If you have plenty of time and you don’t want to rush, I would say two full days and three nights. However, one or two days also allow you to experience plenty of great shows. It is such a good value day out.

What is the closest airport to Puy du Fou?

Nantes Atlantique airport is 70 kilometres from Puy du Fou.

What is the nearest town to Puy du Fou?

The nearest town is Les Espesses (3km). We stayed at Les Herbiers (10km).

What are the best shows at Puy du Fou?

This is of course, very subjective. Our family loved Les Viking the best. We also loved the special effects of Le Secret de la Lance and we really enjoyed walking through La Mystere de La Perouse and Les Amoureux de Verdun.