Camping l'Îlot des Marais

Make first for the big fishing pond just across from the site for an afternoon of angling or waterside snoozing, or take the walking and cycling trail from Le Langon village around part of the local marshes. Elsewhere, it's a drive of 30 minutes or under to several most excellent Marais Poitevin days out, and well under an hour to famed destinations like La Rochelle and the beaches of the Atlantic coast. Well worth the slightly longer drive 65 kilometres away is spectacular Puy du Fou, eclipsed only by Disneyland Paris as France's biggest theme park. Around 25 minutes in the car will take you to the Natur'Zoo at Mervent, in the Mervent forest a short drive from Fontenay-le-Comte, where you and your beasties can see around 450 animals representing over 50 species. Within 30 minutes, reach the Marais Poitevin in Maillezais, for guided or self-guided boat and canoe trips around the marshes: a day trip hugely recommended in these parts.