With its sea pines, holm oak and mimosas, this oceanfront woods feels like a piece of the Côte d’Azur that landed on the Atlantic coast.

This shaded promenade leaves from the Plage des Dames and runs along the ocean among wooded creeks. After the Phares des Dames lighthouse, pine trees are mixed with oaks. The cliffs tower over the sealine dotted with reefs. There are lovely views ove..

This square is dominated by the castle and church, and contains two 18C mansions - Lebreton des Grapillières (now the Hôtel du Général d’Elbée) and the Hôtel Jacobsen , named after the Dutch family that helped drain the land. This is where the Ven..

The austere and bare 15C wall of this castle forms a rectangle that is interrupted by two corner towers. The wall-walk around it provides pleasant views of the town, the saltmarshes and the ocean. A square 11C keep houses a museum containing a wond..

This old Benedictine abbey has a Romanesque choir and a Gothic nave. Underneath the choir, there is a lovely 11C crypt in place of the early Merovingian chapel. It contains the tomb of Saint-Philbert , whose sarcophagus was moved to Saint-Philbert..

The Museum of Shipbuilding is housed in an old salorge (salt loft) that was converted into a handcrafted shipbuilding yard. The museum shows traditional techniques in shipbuilding, including sawing, half-hulls and rigging, all in the surroundings o..

Specimens of local fauna and tropical fish live among underwater caves and upturned boats.

This well-shaded beach is a sleek curve of fine sand. As for the ‘‘Dame’’, they are supposedly Druidesses who liked coming here to pick branches from the nearby woods.