7 must-see lighthouses in Charente-Maritime

With tips, estuaries, islands and ports, the coasts are constellated with lighthouses in Charente-Maritime. At night, all over the sea, the codified lights signaling their presence are all precise landmarks through the ocean's perennial.

Because of this role of coastal guards, the lighthouses of Charente-Maritime have always kept a fascinating side, with this hint of unleashed seas and shipwrecks. They are like a reminder of the wrath that can shake the ocean, when the storm crawls. In more time, they are also excellent observation posts!

Most of these lighthouses are also impressive works, occupying strategic positions, vigies to outposts often established in the heart of beautiful natural or harbour sites. In a region that is also turned to the ocean, the lighthouses of Charente-Maritime are an integral part of the cultural heritage to be discovered: unmissable visits from the point of view of architecture, technical achievements and the marine environment, but also from the singular history of each of these monuments.

1. The Phare de Chassiron on the island of Oleron

The entrance to the Pertuis d’Antioche which borders the coasts of Charente-Maritime is in a risk zone between the island of Oleron and Island of Re where the high seas and other reefs are all dangers to sailors. A predilection ground for the sinister shipwrecks, which lit misleading lights to see the ships fail, to loot them!

This is why the need to build a lighthouse at the northern end of Oleron was very early: the ancestor of the Phare de Chassiron stood at the same location in 1685. The current building, built in 1836, is the second oldest lighthouse in France still in operation. Classified as a historic monument, it is open to the visit. The staircase of 224 steps leads to a superb 360° panorama, which embraces all the surroundings: Oléron of course, the islands of Ré and Aix, the coast and La Rochelle , Fort Boyard ...

Around this must-see among the Phares of Charente-Maritime, do not miss out on the coastal paths, on foot or by bike, to discover the northern tip of the island of Oléron and its amazing stone fish locks. An ever-changing show, at the will of the tide.

2. Le Phare du Cordouan off Royan

Here is the oldest lighthouse in Charente-Maritime, but also in France, still active. Built on a small rocky island in the middle of the Gironde estuary, the Le Cordouan Lighthouse quickly proved essential to the safety of vessels crossing the area, victims of opposite currents and water-flowing reefs.

Thus, the Light of the Cordoba has been off Royan and Verdon-sur-Mer since 1611. He then succeeds the Black Prince Tower, a signal maintained by a hermit, being no longer effective against shipwrecks. Several stages of construction during the 400 years of the lighthouse will give it the look that it has preserved today: and what look! The Lighthouse of the Cordoba is in fact part of the UNESCO world heritage.

The site is open to the visit in season from April. The access is made by excursion boat, from Port-Médoc or Royan, or by sailboat, and to descending tide to access the sandbank and the rocky plateau the dry feet (relatively). The departure takes place 2 hours after the sea bass, under penalty of getting stuck on the spot!

3. The Baleines Lighthouse on the island of Re

Another tip of the island, another must-have lighthouse in Charente-Maritime: the Baleines Lighthouse is one of the most emblematic sites on the island of Ré. He derives his name, it is said, that many whales chose this place to come to ground, in the end of life. They were not the only ones, and many vessels experienced difficulties in the area.

The decision was taken in 1849 to replace the former Baleines Lighthouse with the present, whose construction ended in 1854. It is coupled to its small double, not far off: the Baleineaux Lighthouse.

The Baleines Lighthouse is also open to the visit and houses a small museum. A winding spiral staircase allows you to reach the top, for a magnificent view of the sea and the entire island of Ré. Around the building, do not miss out on your way to the Parc des Baleines, in the direction of Saint-Clément by the coastal dam, or on the side of the Conche des Baleines, for many the most beautiful beach of Re.

4. Le Phare de la Coubre à La Tremblade

This time we are at the top of the highest lighthouse in Charente-Maritime, with 64 meters! In a flat area where reliefs are a rare commodity, the Light of the Coubre is a giant. From its position at the end of the Presqu’Île d’Arvert, it dominates the Wild Coast, probably one of the most beautiful natural corners of the region, with its vast beaches exposed to the Atlantic, its high dunes, and its thick pine forest.

On the sea, the powerful waves, the deflections, the opposite currents and the sand banks make the surroundings rather hostile to navigation... Originally, the Light of the Coubre was built at 1800 meters from the shore: the strength of the elements, the erosion of the wind and the waves, the square today at 150 meters from the sea only!

Visiting the Lighthouse of the Coubre will be first and foremost the right excuse to explore the surroundings: hiking, cycling, long walk on the beach, you will have the embarrassment of choice. When the site is opened, don’t hesitate to take advantage of the exceptional panorama that offers from its summit (300 steps to the counter).

5. The lighthouses of the Old Port of La Rochelle

To guide the boats in their way to the Old Port, La Rochelle’s alignment lights are a more peaceful approach than the great lighthouses of Charente-Maritime destined for the wide, but they have the advantage of being two! The Lighthouse of the Quai Valin is the echo of the Lighthouse of the Gabut, each 300 metres away.

They are an integral part of the rocky urban landscape, the first embedded in the facade of a typical house of the Quai Valin, the second standing next to the Tour Saint-Nicolas, recognisable to its large red bands ( hence its other name of Red Light). We take advantage of these two lighthouses by lifting the head or on the pictures taken on the way, as neither one is open to visitors.

6. The double Phare of the island of Aix

Without being the most spectacular of the lighthouses of Charente-Maritime, the Lighthouse of the island of Aix is like its small island, full of charm and unusual: it consists indeed not of one, but of two almost twin towers of 25 meters high, keeping the southern tip of Aix from the Fort of the Rade, next to the small town.

Deeply listed in the local heritage, the Lighthouse on the island of Aix is not only there to make it pretty: it prevents the ships from the danger of the high funds around Fort Boyard, in the heart of the Pertuis of Antioch. The lighthouse, active, is not visiting, but remains a stage of choice during a tour of the island at its pace.

7. Le Phare du Bout du Monde in La Rochelle

From all the lighthouses of Charente-Maritime, the Lighthouse of the Bout du Monde is the one whose utility is the most anecdotal. It shines more by its symbolic value as a representative of cultural exchanges between France and Argentina : it is indeed the exact replica of another lighthouse at the end of the world, reconstructed more than 12,000 km from here, south of the Patagonia , under the impulse of a rocky sailor.

Built on pilots off the Minimes, the marina of La Rochelle, difficult to miss the surprising silhouette of the Lighthouse du Bout du Monde: not far on the rocky estran (but also vaseux...), it is possible to approach the building on foot during large tides, but not to visit it.