Holiday rentals and lettings in Île de Ré

A holiday rental in the French west coast

Find the perfect holiday letting in Île de Ré, a peaceful and beautiful island. Lots of whitewashed villages with terracotta roof tiles, old ramparts and a beachside atmosphere with stunning ocean views offering great accommodations ranging from old to modern and from basic to luxury ones. Enjoy your rental nearby the little boutiques, craft shops and galleries. Most properties are close to the sandy and sloping beaches in the south part of the island. If you want to enjoy more beaches, you can take a bus, taxi or hire a car to La Rochelle. It will take about 15 minutes to get to the city and you can have a great time on the beaches. In case you want to extend your stay there, we recommend our holiday lettings in La Rochelle.

Charming holiday rentals in Île de Ré with a sea view

Book a holiday letting in Île de Ré by the sea, with great views of the blue waters from your window. Quality furniture, open-plan kitchens and comfortable spaces are arranged for you to have a cosy time while enjoying your holiday rental. Have a great time with the family, and your partner or enjoy it as a solo traveller. The properties are varied in size and can accommodate up to 6-7 people. Other spacious options are the villas in Île de Ré with many special features and areas suitable for enjoying your holiday.

These affordable holiday rentals in Île de Ré, besides being fully equipped for your comfort, have some extra features for you to enjoy it even more, such as:

• Terrace
• Pool
• Sauna
• TV
• Pet-friendly

Get to know a jewel of the Atlantic coast

The island enjoys a mild and sunny climate perfect for a beach getaway and it is also known as Ré la Blanche. Rent a holiday rental in Île de Ré and marvel at the wonderful 10 villages scattered around the island, magnificent marshes and dunes, visit the little harbours and admire the white houses with green shutters. Wander the flower alleys and the typical Marche Medieval, a village market with lots of stalls selling local produce, clothes and crafts. If you would like to see more destinations like this, you might want to check out our holiday rentals and lettings in Charente Maritime and discover the rest of the surrounding islands.

French chic seaside getaway

Besides the picturesque points, Île de Ré is a perfect place to go for a bike ride, go horse riding through poppy fields and visit the historic ruins of L’Abbaye des Chateliers, as well as lovely and stunning beaches. The sea offers you also the possibility of practising your favourite water sports. Get on your surfboard and ride the waves or try your best swing at Golf de Trousse Chemise. All these activities make Île de Ré the perfect destination for a trip with family, so if you're visiting the island with your loved ones, you'll probably want to check out our family-friendly holiday lettings in Île de Ré. Get your camera ready, your swimming gear or your clubs and head to Île de Ré! For more family-friendly places (and closer to Île de Ré) we recommend Poitou-Charente, which is about an hour away. You'll find theme parks, escape games, rides, water sports and villas in Potou-Charentes for all your family.

Île de Ré for village lovers

Besides being a holiday destination known for its fine sandy beaches and outstanding beauty, as mentioned above, and the holiday rentals in Île de Ré with a sea view the island has 10 unique villages with traditional architecture and a unique charm. A breathtaking mosaic of landscapes between a village and the next one. Allow yourself some time to explore each one of them. Every village holds a rich history, a preserved lifestyle and great culinary traditions and while they all share undeniable similarities, at the same time, they have their own individual character. This is a true pearl of the Atlantic for you to smell, admire, taste and discover.

Île de Ré for bike lovers

If you enjoy exploring places on two wheels Île de Ré offers you a great choice. All the villages of the island are well connected by 60 miles of great cycle paths and bike lanes and so are the majority of beaches. Get on a tandem, try an electric bike or just hire the classic city bike with a basket to put all your groceries in. You can take any of the Île de Ré’s cycling routes or just go for short rides. Cycle along pine forests, fields of wheat, red poppies, vineyards and the nature reserve at Lilleau des Niges where you will see the salt pans, marshes and lots of birds. Although the island is not very big it can take up to two hours from one side to the other, especially if you are going with the children. In Royan, an hour from Île de Ré, there are also good cycling routes. If you want to explore more, you can rent a holiday rental and letting in Royan and ride the trails here, after you've explored the whole of Île de Ré.

1. Have a day at the beach
2. Have a feast for your senses
3. Get on a walking tour
4. A stroll around the salt marshes
5. A day at the Fortifications of Saint-Martin-de-Ré

1. Have a day at the beach

Long stretches of sand offer you a nice way to spend a day at the sandy beaches that cover most of the coast. Have a sunny rest at Plage de la Conche des Baleines or Plage du Lizay. For sheltered beaches, you can go to Plage de Trousse Chemise and Plage de la Patache. The more popular spacious and sandy beaches are located in the south of the island, close to the main villages with the main services and canoe and kayaking rentals for a nice jaunt through the salt marshland. After visiting all the beaches of Île de Ré, you can rent a villa in La Rochelle and enjoy a lot more sand, sea and summer sun.

2. Have a feast for your senses

Being an isle offers its visitors the best and freshest seafood you can ever imagine. Is there a more satisfying way of spending an afternoon than crawling from an oyster shack to the next one on the western coast of the island? Mussels are the other thing you cannot miss while you are there. You can have tastes on the spot for reasonably low prices or you can take them home and give a go to your shucking skills. Try out L’Escale du Marais, near Le Bois-Plage-en-Ré and enjoy fresh oysters with a sip of local crisp whine. It is time to indulge your senses. Find your holiday letting in Île de Ré and indulge all your senses!

3. Get on a walking tour

Hike the highest point at the westernmost tip of the island. Wander the many trails available and the marked routes through forests and along the coast. Walks are suitable for different fit levels so go and check it before you start one. Enjoy the fresh air and get to Phare des Baleines, climbing up the 257 spiral steps. After the effort, your reward will be the magnificent views you will get from the top of the lighthouse, stretching to mainland France.

4. A stroll around the salt marshes

The remaining hundred workers of the salt marshes still produce salt using the old techniques since the Middle Ages. These salt marshes are composed of 3 main basins: the mudflat, an evaporation reservoir and the marshland. The basins were designed and carved in a clever way so that water could flow through them by gravity. Whenever there is a climate change, the workers reduce or increase the water flow to the basins. The formation of the salt depends on the weather conditions and they harvest it from June to September. Book an accommodation in Île de Ré to rent and visit the salt museum and know more about the crystallization of sea salt, techniques and tools used in the process, a knowledge that has passed on from generation to generation.

5. A day at the Fortifications of Saint-Martin-de-Ré

Visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Saint-Martin-de-Ré, a fortification built in the 17th century to defend and shelter the local population. You can admire the 14 km of ramparts built in a semicircle, the two imposing main gates, large ditches and high walls. It all witnesses the military past of this beautiful island. Enjoy a guided or self-guided visit in a group. This impressive fortification was built in just 5 years around the spacious citadel and a small fortified harbour.