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Camping on Ile de Noirmoutier in the Vendee, Western France
The Ile de Noirmoutier is perfect in every respect for those who prefer slighly quieter resorts than in the more bustling towns of St Jean de Monts or La Tranche sur Mer.
The Ile de Noirmoutier is exactly what it says, an island which is connected to the mainland by a bridge, the whole thing completing what is the Baie de Bourgneuf. There are beaches on the west, beaches at the point and beaches on the north side too, so you are not going to go short of sunbathing areas on your holiday there.
Noirmoutier was an early monastic settlement of the seventh century but is now a moderately affluent tourist resort, though it has been spared the high-rise development of the adjoining coast. Although tourism is the island's main economy, and camping holidays are a good part of that, it doesn't dominate everything. Salt marshes here are still worked, spring potatoes sown and fish caught by genuine fisherfolk.
Getting there is relatively simple. From Calais you need to follow signs for the major towns and cities along your route like Rouen, Alencon, Le Mans, Angers, Cholet and Challans before picking up signs for Noirmoutier. From Dieppe follow Rouen and then the same as from Calais.
If your ferry port is Le Havre, Deauville or Caen then you need to head for Alencon, Le Mans etc as you would from those ports above.
Travellers from Caen can equally easily take the same route as they would from Cherbourg or St Malo and head directly for Rennes where you pick up and follow signs for Nantes and Bordeaux. Get onto the Nantes peripherique (ring road) and go Ouest (west, following signs for Bordeaux until your exit junction) to exit the ring road at junction 52 which will be signed for Bouaye and Bourgneuf. From there you pass Beauvoir sur Mer, on to Fromentine and then Noirmoutier.
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