Chateau d'Olonne travel guide

Visit Chateau d'Olonne (Pays de la Loire, France)

The seaside resort of Chateau d'Olonne is on the coast of Vendee in western France (in the Pays-de-la-Loire region) a few kilometres south of Sables d'Olonne.

Visit Chateau d'Olonne

The Chateau d'Olonne often goes unnoticed among the resorts of the Vendee coast, being a small and quiet town so close to the bustling resort of Sables d'Olonne. We suggest you find the time to visit however.

Along the coast in Chateau d'Olonne there is an attractive coastal path, especially in the region called Puits d'Enfer where the sandy coast of the region gives way to a dramatic rocky coastline.

You can also find a small beach and a leisure lake nearby at Tanchet or walk around the Bay of Cayola. The main town of Chateau d'Olonne is a few kilometres from the coast and has a good number of shops and supermarkets.

The castle that gave its name to the town has now completely disappeared, but there is one important historic monument here: the Abbey Saint-Jean d'Orbestier, in the roman style of architecture.

France This Way review: by contrast with Sables d'Olonne to the north it is true that Chateau d'Olonne has less to offer. However, we suggest you consider staying here when visiting, since parking and transport is much easier and the drive between the two towns takes less than 5 minutes. We stayed at the Lagrange Vacances L’Estran holiday village here and found it to be excellent value and our apartment overlooked the sea!

Abbey Saint-Jean d'Orbestier

When it was built in the 12th century this abbey controlled a very large region, a role that continued until the Wars of Religion in the 16th century after which the abbey fell into decline. In recent years the remaining abbey church has been substantially renovated.

We visited when in Chateau d'Olonne, but unfortunately the Abbey was closed and apparently is only open from 3pm-6pm, and only in July and August. So we can't tell you if the interior is interesting or not...

Attractions nearby

You will certainly want to visit the impressive resort at Sables d'Olonne during your visit. We also enjoyed a stroll around Port Bourgenay to the south-east of Chateau d'Olonne, and a short distance to the north-west you should explore the small town and harbour at Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie.

See more seaside resorts in France. You can find more travel ideas in the Vendee guide and the Pays de la Loire guide.