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The coastal city of La Rochelle sits in the southwest of France. Facing onto the Atlantic Ocean, the city has been a center for fishing and trade since the 12th century, and is home to Les Minimes - Europe’s largest marina for pleasure boats - and a rich boat-building industry.
It is often referred to as La Ville Blanche (or the White City) due to its luminous limestone façades. La Rochelle Airport (LRH) is the city’s nearest airport, placed just 6.5 km from the centre of the city.
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There is no credit card fee and if your travel plans change then there’s no charge for cancelling your La Rochelle car hire, as well as 24/7 customer support so there’s always someone to personally deal with your booking.
Some of La Rochelle’s car rental companies can be based in the city’s train station - Gare de La Rochelle - while the rest can be found just outside on or near Avenue du Général de Gaulle.
Within La Rochelle, we’d recommend that you head to the Les Minimes marina and picturesque Vieux Port (Old Harbour) at the heart of the city. Here, you’ll encounter hundreds upon hundreds of yachts and many restaurants serving amazing seafood.
Other notable attractions in La Rochelle include the city’s massive port-side family aquarium and natural history museum.
It’s worth making the drive over to Île de Ré, which sits just 3 km west off the coast of La Rochelle.
Less than 20 km north of La Rochelle brings you to Réserve Naturelle Nationale de la Baie de l'Aiguillon - a vast national nature reserve area covering around 5,000 hectares. There’s an even larger nature park to the east too - the 112,000-hectare Parc naturel régional du Marais Poitevin.
Some 35 km to the south is the commune of Rochefort, home to L'Hermione - a replica of a 1779 frigate - and Conservatoire du Bégonia, the world's largest begonia collection.
Driving two hours out to the vibrant port city of Bordeaux is definitely manageable. The region - famed for its vineyards and wine - is just located 190 km away from La Rochelle. If you can drive for another 200 km, you’ll reach Toulouse, known as France’s pink city due to its rosy-toned brick buildings.