Vendée - Vendée

Vendée is a department in the French region Pays de la Loire and has the serial number 85. In the north, the department borders on the departments Loire-Atlantique and Maine-et-Loire, in the east to the département Deux-Sèvres, in the south to the département Charente-Maritime and in the west to the Atlantic.

Regions

The department is divided into the following three arrondissements:

• Fontenay-le-Comte arrondissement
• Arrondissement of La Roche-sur-Yon
• Arrondissement of Les Sables-d'Olonne

places

• Fontenay-le-Comte
• La Roche-sur-Yon is the prefecture (administrative seat) of the department.
• Les Sables-d'Olonne

Other goals

• Ile de Noirmoutier
• L'Île-d'Yeu

background

language

getting there

By plane

The closest major airport is the 47.156944444444-1.6077777777778Nantes airport(IATA: NDE), it is about 70 km from La Roche-sur-Yon. There are regular flight connections within France and abroad. In Germany there are flights to Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Munich, among others. Information is available on the website of the Nantes Atlantique Airport.

By train

• From Germany, rail connections take the TGV, ICE or Thalys to Paris, where you change trains in the direction of the Atlantic coast. In Paris, you have to switch between different train stations with the Métro.
• TGV trains to Nantes leave almost every hour from Paris Montparnasse train station. The journey time is just over two hours. Some of these TGV connections continue without changing to La Roche-sur-Yon and Les Sables-d'Olonne, the journey time from Paris is three to three and a half hours.
• From Nantes, TER regional trains run over two routes into the Vendée: on the one hand via La Roche-sur-Yon to Les Sables-d'Olonne, the journey time is one to one and a half hours. The trains run about every hour in the morning and in the evening, with greater intervals during the day. On the other hand, regional trains run from Nantes via Challans to Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, the journey time for the route is just over an hour. The trains run around 4-10 times throughout the day. Timetables of the lines are available on the website for that TER trains.
• Intercity trains run three times a day from Bordeaux via La Rochelle to Luçon and La Roche-sur-Yon. The travel time between Bordeaux and La Roche-sur-Yon is around four hours.

By bus

• Long-distance buses run in the Vendée department to and from La Roche-sur-Yon and, with just a few trips, also from Les Sables-d'Olonne. In both cities, the long-distance buses stop at the respective bus station near the train station. There are daily connections to Paris, both to the center and to the airports. The journey time is approx. 6-7 hours. The trips are offered by the provider Flixbus.
• The French provider Ouibus has no connections to the Vendée, the closest stops are in Nantes or La Rochelle (as of 2019).

By car

• The most suitable connections from Germany are via the motorways via Paris. From southern Germany (Karlsruhe) it is around 950 km to La Roche-sur-Yon, from western Germany (Cologne) it is around 900 km. From the southern ring road from Paris, depending on the destination in the Vendée, it is approx. 350 to 450 km away.
• The northern and western places of the Vendée are most suitable to reach from Paris via the A11 to Angers and from there via the A87. The southern and eastern locations of the Vendée, on the other hand, can be reached from Paris via the A10 to Niort and from there via the A83.

By bicycle

• On the way from Brittany to Spain leads through the department on the Atlantic coast along the Vélodyssée, Part of the European long-distance cycle route EuroVelo 1.

mobility

By train

• TER regional trains run regularly on two routes. The TER line 08 connects the neighboring city of Nantes with La Roche-sur-Yon and Les Sables-d'Olonne. The trains run here almost every hour in the morning and in the evening, but at greater intervals during the day. The trains on the TER line 11 also start in Nantes and run via Challans to Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie. Up to ten trains run in each direction during the week, on the weekend there are only four journeys, sometimes supplemented by individual bus connections. From La Roche-sur-Yon, there are also individual regional trains on the TER line 14 to Chantonnay, and once a day a train continues to Saumur (as of 2019).
• Timetables of the railway lines can be found on the regional Website for the TER trains.

By bus

• There are two providers of regional bus services in the Vendée. For one thing, connect TER bus routes the national SNCF including Nantes with Challans and Saint-Jean-de-Monts (line 12) or the Île de Noirmoutier (line 13). They run about 3 times per day and direction. During the French summer holidays, the line to Île de Noirmoutier runs much more frequently, with a bus commuting to and from Nantes to the new regional bus station south of the train station almost every hour. These buses are designed for connections to TGV trains. This means that the total travel time between Paris Montparnasse and the Île de Noirmoutier is barely more than four hours. Three other lines connect Fontenay-le-Comte with neighboring cities. Modern, air-conditioned buses with WiFi on board are used on the TER bus routes. Continuous train tickets can usually be purchased for the TER bus lines, and the travel times can even be called up in the Deutsche Bahn Navigator app.
• The second regional provider of bus services in the Vendée is the company Sovetours, which serves the Cap Vendée network in the département. The routes range from the Île de Noirmoutier in the north to La Rochelle in the south. Many of the lines run to La Roche-sur-Yon, but some of the lines also run to and from Les Sables-d'Olonne. Apart from the school trips, the routes are mostly only served 2-3 times a day in each direction. The timetables are only adapted to rail traffic in a few cases. A half-day or day trip to the next city can still be planned with this offer. There are usually connections on the lines once in the morning, at noon and in the early evening, which you then have to be prepared for. At the weekend, individual trips are often only offered on Saturdays. The route between La-Roche-sur-Yon and Challans is operated as the "Vendexpress" with up to 8 trips a day more often. Because some of the lines are 60–80 km long, there are relatively few stops on the way. The tariffs are cheap, a single trip costs around € 2, and a little more than € 5 is charged for journeys longer than 50 km (as of 2019).
• During the French summer holidays, the routes on the Atlantic coast operate more frequently and they are specifically guided along campsites. Between Saint Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez, Saint-Jean-de-Monts and Notre-Dame-de-Monts there are hourly departures every weekday until late in the evening. This line is called "La Littorale". There are also somewhat more frequent connections between Les Sables d’Olonne and Talmont-Saint-Hilaire and on the Île de Noirmoutier.
• There are well-developed city bus routes in the larger cities. The bus networks Oléane in Les Sables-d'Olonne or Impulse yon in La Roche-sur-Yon offer connections on the lines from Monday to Saturday 1-3 times an hour, and neighboring towns are also served. The tariffs are cheap, the price of a single ticket for adults is, for example, 1.50 € (as of 2019).
• In many coastal towns, mostly free shuttle bus routes ("navette") are set up during the French summer holidays, which run every day of the week and offer regular departures. They run through the towns on short routes and connect the centers with shopping and leisure facilities as well as campsites. Information can be found on the websites of the respective locations. Such an offer is available in La Tranche-sur-Mer (FunBus), Jard-sur-Mer (L'Ocean shuttle bus), Les Sables-d'Olonne (navette), Saint-Jean-de-Monts (transport urbain ) or Noirmoutier-en-l'Île (gratibus). With this offer, you can do without the car, at least for trips in the vicinity of your holiday destination.

By bicycle

• The Vendée has the largest network of cycle paths in France. Over 1,000 km of routes of various types lead through the department.
• You can get information on the official Bike website the Vendée (in French), there you will find detailed topographical maps and plans for the individual routes, including in PDF file format.

Tourist Attractions

• Puy du Fu amusement park. Leisure park at Les Herbiers.last change: not specified
• Vendée car museum. Car museum east of Les Sables-d'Olonne.last change: not specified
• Vendée Museum Railway. Museum railway from Mortagne-sur-Sèvre to Les Herbiers.last change: not specified

activities

kitchen

nightlife

security

climate

trips

• Nantes (about 70 km from La Roche-sur-Yon)
• La Rochelle and Île de Ré (about 80 km from La Roche-sur-Yon)
• Castles on the Loire, e.g. Saumur, Langeais, Azay-le-Rideau, Chenonceau (about 150–250 km from La Roche-sur-Yon)

literature

Web links

• Official website of Vendée tourism (in German)