Camping Les Étangs Mina

If you’ve enjoyed cycling around the Brouage Marshes, follow up by bunging the bikes in the car and heading over to Oléron island (half an hour’s drive), where around 150 kilometres of quiet cycle paths wend their way through forests and marshes and link up the beaches. For an alternative way to see the sights, board the P’tit Train in Saint-Trojan for a 12-kilometre scenic trip. Fancy upping the speed level a bit? Roll up for some off-road action at the Buggy Leisure buggy driving park or clamber up to the tops of the trees at Indian Forest for high ropes courses and zipline zooming, plus water jumps, paintballing and a collection of crazy games to play. Both parks are half an hour away by car. Get some animal antics on the agenda with visits to Planet Exotica animal park (20 minutes’ drive) or La Palmyre Zoo (half an hour), or see sea beasties at La Rochelle’s excellent aquarium (45 minutes) – it’s one of the country’s largest, containing more than three million litres of seawater.