While tourists jostle for photos at the famous Vieux Port, a fascinating network of working ports lies just beyond the crowds, each with its own distinct character and story to tell. With fuel costs soaring and La Rochelle’s reputation as one of France’s most bike-friendly cities, we decided to escape the congestion and explore these hidden maritime treasures on two wheels. Here’s how we spent a perfect day discovering the ports that most visitors never see.
Starting Point: Port des Minimes
The first fine sunny day finds us driving to the Port des Minimes, where we park on the quayside, unload our bikes and set off in blissful near silence for a tour of France’s largest port de plaisance (pleasure craft marina). Constructed in 1972 beside a modest headland affording natural protection to La Rochelle’s existing ports, the works expanded the total pleasure craft capacity to 4,588 moorings, 464 of them dedicated to visiting vessels.
Close to the marina entrance we chance upon a couple of fishermen casting their lines from the rocky breakwater, while some way beyond them is the striking red and black outline of the historic Tour Richelieu, which since 1860 has indicated the safe approach to La Rochelle’s ports. Still an essential aid to navigation, it sits upon the northern end of a dyke built in 1627–1628 by Cardinal Richelieu to prevent English ships from reprovisioning the largely Protestant city during the siege of La Rochelle. This makes a spectacular photo opportunity with the marina stretching out behind.
Following the Marina Trail
From the quayside’s seaward tip we now turn our bikes to circumnavigate the marina, to the accompaniment of the metallic clank of thousands of lines on a forest of masts. Being car-free is already paying dividends, as we have a dedicated cycle path which follows a quayside shaded here and there by the elegant, gossamer foliage of mature Tamarisk trees. On the Quai Marillac we roll past a slipway and beside it a grue de manutention (lifting crane), a muscular-looking skeletal crawler unit capable of lifting vessels onto dry land for repairs or routine procedures, with support from various chandlery and maintenance businesses. A little further on lies the Quai du Bout Blanc, extending to the marina entrance and home to premium épicerie (delicatessen) and traiteur (caterer) Le Comptoir d’Assia.
A couple of minutes later we pause at the Passerelle Nelson Mandela, a slender metallic structure allowing walkers and cyclists to access the Digue du Nouveau Monde, a breakwater which in 2014 boosted capacity in the marina by the creation of the Bassin des Tamaris. It’s an elegant and striking addition to the landscape, although by now our attention is drawn to the very different views in the opposite direction, where the medieval Tour Saint-Nicolas and Tour de la Chaine mark the entrance to the Vieux Port.
Heading Toward History: Le Gabut
Road traffic heading their way follows the Avenue Michel Crépeau, while we cyclists simply continue along the quayside, an altogether calmer approach to the port of Le Gabut. For generations the Vieux Port had accommodated La Rochelle’s fishing fleet and small coastal vessels, but by the mid-19th century it could no longer keep pace with merchant shipping, so in 1862 the new Bassin des Chalutiers (trawler basin) was constructed, with a sea lock for access at high water to the Canal de Rompsay. Constructed by order of Napoléon I the waterway linked La Rochelle with Marans and onward to Niort via the Sèvre Niortaise.
Eventually, however, merchant shipping again outgrew the facilities, so when activities shifted to the new coastal port of La Pallice, La Rochelle’s fishing fleet took their place. The fishing port remained there until the Port Chef de Baie was completed in 1994 just below La Pallice. After years of abandonment, Bassin des Chalutiers was transformed to receive the Musée Maritime de La Rochelle, with a fascinating collection of historic vessels and a wealth of archive material recounting the town’s seafaring heritage.
A Bridge with a Story
From Le Gabut we cross another historic local feature: a much-loved iron lifting bridge originally built for the port of Marseille in 1927 and transported here by sea in 1936. After cycling across we join a crowd gathering to witness it cranking noisily from its slumbers and raising its deck to permit an approaching large sailing vessel to enter the bassin (basin).
We enjoy the timeless spectacle (have your camera ready for this moment), then follow the newly landscaped quayside of Rue de l’Armide past the Phare Rouge (the red lighthouse) and across the slender Passerelle du Gabut, pausing to regard the vessels moored in the Bassin à Flot, smallest of the ports. By now it’s midday, so we dismount and break for lunch in Rue Saint-Nicolas.
Planning your ride: By lunchtime, we’d covered approximately 8km in a leisurely 2.5 hours, leaving plenty of time to enjoy the sights and take photos. The route is mostly flat with excellent cycle paths throughout.
Coastal Path to La Pallice
Suitably refuelled, we set off again, negotiating the crowds thronging Quai Valin and Quai Duperré, followed by a brief detour past the medieval Tour de la Lanterne and the Plage de la Concurrence to reach the pleasantly leafy cycle path of the Allée du Mail, one of La Rochelle’s most desirable addresses, at whose midpoint we pass the enigmatic-looking Casino Barrière.
Forgoing the undoubted pleasures of the Parc Franck Delmas on the landward side, we dive into the welcome shade of its counterpart, the Parc Alcide d’Orbigny, and emerge from the tree cover virtually at the water’s edge.
Sadly the path doesn’t follow the cliff edge until Rue Philippe Vincent gives way to Boulevard Winston Churchill, a freshly restyled promenade with a bright future. Following the coastline takes us around the sleepy Baie de Port Neuf and past a modern boatyard to join a track which passes la Redoute de Chef de Baie, a massive fortified tower whose cannon were installed here during the 19th century to defend the seaward approaches to La Rochelle.
Where History Meets the Beach
From here the clifftop path shared by walkers and cyclists winds its way between dense hedges, emerging on a windswept grassy headland. Just 50 or so metres inland lies a substantial German WWII blockhouse, while directly ahead is a more welcoming sight: the Bar de la Plage, overlooking a sheltered sandy beach.
Seated beneath a colourful parasol we enjoy a cool drink at one of the tables of the terrace and watch the bathers on the beach below, oblivious to the fact that just out of sight beyond the cove lie La Rochelle’s Port de Pêche (fishing port) and Port Atlantique La Pallice.
The latter, inaugurated in 1890 and today France’s 6th busiest port, is understandably a secure site, so we content ourselves with views through the perimeter fencing. Contrasting with the expected modern facilities is the unmistakable, slightly sinister outline of a vast U-boat complex built by occupying German forces during 1941-43, and whose 6.5m thick reinforced concrete roofs resisted several direct hits by Allied bomber crews. Perhaps not surprisingly, this fascinating survivor has provided fittingly atmospheric locations for major film productions including Das Boot and Raiders of The Lost Ark.
The Journey Back
By now it’s late afternoon, and while the ports we’ve visited look close on the map, the wayward route and diversity of scenery along the way create the impression of having covered quite some distance. We therefore decide to save the tiny Port du Plomb, just 2km or so to the north of the airport, for a future visit, and retrace our route back to our starting point at Les Minimes.
It’s an enjoyable ride (things look different when seen in the opposite direction), and we have a sense of achievement as we load the bikes back into the car. That it was all so simple was due in no small part to La Rochelle’s pioneering efforts to promote greener tourism. With petrol prices showing no sign of falling, cycling isn’t just the environmentally conscious choice, it’s the smart one too.
Yellow is Green: Bike Hire Made Simple
La Rochelle now has 700 of its famous yellow bikes, available for hire at 100 locations. Find them on an interactive town map on the Yélo smartphone app or at yelo-larochelle.fr. Either way you’ll find lots of information, including pricing and availability (choose classic or e-bikes) in real time. Need to park your own bike while shopping or dining? There are 10 secure Vélos Parcs, each with 20 places and accessible with a Carte Yélo (see the website).
The town also has several independent bike hire outlets, including Cycling Tour, which you’ll find beside the Tour Saint-Nicolas and right in front of the Gare SNCF (train station). Travel to and from La Rochelle by train and enjoy a truly green day out: cycling-tour.fr