Camping Olonne sur Mer

Strangely enough, Olonne sur Mer is 2 or 3 km inland and not "sur Mer" at all, though it's near namesake Les Sables d'Olonne, which lies roughly 4.5 km to the south, is right on the coast.

Olonne is pretty much at the southern end of the Vendee and is bisected by the D38 road which, if you follow it goes through St Gilles Croix de Vie, St Hilaire de Riez, St Jean de Monts and right up to the tip of the Ile de Noirmoutier.

Olonne is a nice little place and you can easily walk from the village and through the Foret d'Olonne to the beach if you are so minded, where you end up reaching an even smaller place called Sauveterre right on the coast. There isn't much there though it's a nice place to stop for an ice-cream!

Next to Olonne there is a rather nice lake which makes up a part of the protected bird sanctuary there, and there is woodland (forest) following the coastline from les Granges which is near to Brem sur Mer in the north and virtually down to the town limits of les Sables.

This sort of landscape is absolutely perfect for anyone who loves bird watching or any other sort of wildlife, and especially red squirrels, because this place is Red Squirrel Paradise. If you take a picnic they will almost certainly make themselves known to you!

From St Malo ferryport you follow signs for Rennes and Nantes and at this point you are on the dual carriageway N137 which takes you to the Rennes ring road. Follow signs for Nantes and Bordeaux (if in doubt always follow signs for Bordeaux). You will exit the ring road at junction 6 and 40 mins later you will meet the Nantes périphérique.

Leave the Nantes périphérique at junction 48 and follow signs for Bordeaux and la Roche sur Yon. About 1.5 miles on you have the choice of taking the N937 which is free or the A83 E3 which is not, but make for la Roche whichever you opt for.

From la Roche take the D160 to les Sables d'Olonne and about 4 km from the city centre you will find a sign for Olonne sur Mer.