The Charente-maritime
a rich department to discover

Aquatic activities
For the sport lovers, surfing, nautic ski lift or jet ski can be practised in the different towns or harbours. With the family try the paddle or the kayak in the sea, in the Estuary or the river Seudre. You can also go fishing or simply and enjoy the sea air.
 
Land activities
Apart from the aquatic activities you can enjoy other activities in the forests, the wide natural spaces and practise quad, « vélorail » (cycling on the rails) or drive an electric scooter. Paintball, orientation courses, « accrobranche » (to be hung on the branches of trees) are also possible activities.
 
Air activities
The sky can be a way to do something new during your free time…Do you want to fly by ULM, in hot air balloon. It is also possible to discover the coast by helicopter. Why don’t you try a first flight, or parachute down to increase your adrenaline ?
 
Going for a ride or a ramble
The Charente-Maritime offers many wonderful landscapes you can discover by bicycle thanks to lots of cycle tracks all along the roads or through the natural spaces. You can also go for a ramble in the forest or by the sea.
 
Amazing and unusual activities
You could be surprised by these kind of up-to-date activities : escape game, bowls on water, catapulte, flyboard...
 
The lighthouses
The Charente Martime is situated on the coast it is the reason why there are several lighthouses in this region. The most known are « Cordouan » and « La Coubre » but you can take part in « the lighthouse trail » (la route des phares) and you will discover the other ones in Saint -Georges de Didonne, or « les Baleines »...
 
The safari parks
To go out with the whole family the safari parks are very interesting. The most important is the zoo in La Palmyre, Planet exotica is very strange too and the Aquarium in La Rochelle will offer you all sorts of fish of the ocean… Some small structures such as the Ostrich farm and the farm of Magné are worth a visit.
 
The museums
The museums in the Charente Maritime are places of souvenirs. They relate the story of the region with ill-assorted collections. In Saintes you can visit the automaton museum, in Rochefort you will discover the jobs from the past, the post cards or the Railsways museum.
 
Inheritance
In the Charente Maritime you can discover the picturesque and historical villages but there are also symbolic towns : La Rochelle with its three towers, Saintes with the amphitheatre and Rochefort with the naval dockyard.
The worldwide known image of the department is conveyed by « Fort Boyard » : this television programme is broadcasted in a lot of countries. In the back country you can visit the « Paléosite », along the coast don’t miss the Regulus and Matata cave-dweller’s settlements in Meschers, the « carrelets », the park of the Estuary and other ones...
 
Architecture
From the ancient monuments or building such as the amphitheatre in Saintes to the listed houses built in the fifties or more modern ones you can find as many as possible beautiful things to visit in the Charente-Maritime.