Hi
Thanks to all the wonderful comments we have decided to stay in La Rochelle for a few days but would like to hire a car and try somewhere else for the rest of the week.. any suggestions?? We have to be back in La Rochelle to catch our flight home so it should be a round trip.
Much appreciated

If you go north to Britanny then it shouldn't be far and the journey is worth it.

Good suggestion above. Another possibility would be the Bordeaux region, which is very convenient to La Rochelle. The village of St. Emilion is a very picturesque stop.

Here's a link to my travel notes on a La Rochelle-based trip from a couple of years ago:

http://www.igougo.com/planning/journ...JournalID=2326

Bon voyage, "Screamer"!

We were in La Rochelle a couple of weeks ago.

Before that we stopped for two nights in Cognac and afterwards we spent three nights in a wonderful chateaux in the Loire area.

See this thread for details:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...p;tid=34430811

Whilst in the La Rochelle area I strongly recommend you visit Brouage - an old fort which is situated in the marshy coastal area not far from you. It's an unusual site and a pleasant excursion for a few hours and the driving around it is beautiful too.

Saintes, near Cognac is a lovely lovely town to spend a morning or afternoon in and the Roman amphitheatre there was very impressive.

We picked up the Relais du Silence, Chateaux et Hotels and Bienvenue au Chateau accommodations books from a tourist office and made bookings from there.

I'd particularly recommend Chateau de Vau - so much to see there if you have a car - wonderful hosts, great restaurants around there. If you stay there please say hello to Bruno from Kavita - he will remember me as we spent 3 days there and I spent some hours chatting to him.

Thanks so much for all the help and web sites.. will certainly consider the Bordeaux region and Saintes. The Chateaux you meantion Kavey, is not listed on the web .. or did you mean Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte ?

You can google for Chateau du Vau, which is near tours. If you want an elegant place with nothing to do but relax and enjoy the fabulous cuisine, try the Chateau Curzay. Near St Emillion, try the Chateau Grand Barrail.

While in La Rochelle spend a day on the Ile de Re. You can rent bikes and tour the lovely charming little towns. Also if you enjoy fine dining try Coutanceau. It was one of the finest dinners I had on our 3 week trip to Bordeaux, Atlantic coast, Brittany and Normandy last year. I believe they are a 2 star Michelin establishment and deserve to be.

As Ron said, Chateau de Vau is on the web, and so are the other places.

I actually listed the websites for them on the thread I linked you to, let me know if they don't work, but the URLs are all in there.

Kind Regards
Kavey

PS Chateau de Vau is near Tours, up in Loire.

Hotel de la Monnaie (or whatever the exact name was) is the one we stayed at in la Rochelle.

Logis de Boussac is in Cognac, not too far from La Rochelle, towards the East and slightly South.

topping for Robin

Cigale--you r a doll--thanks so much for bringing this one up--this is just perfect for our planning.
Vous êtes gentille!

Robyn France