ILE DE RE

What could be more perfect than a sunny Atlantic island, full of pretty blue-shuttered homes and villages? One peppered with traffic-free, signposted bicycle paths, decides Lara Dunn

- Lara Dunn

I’m heading towards what looks like the end of the world. The towering form of the Phare des Baleines looms ahead of me, marking the most westerly point on the Île de Ré. Tragically named for the number of whales that used to end up beached on the headland, the 57m-high lighthouse was built in the 19th century to replace the original constructed by Vauban nearly 200 years earlier. Vauban’s tower still sits nearby.

Windblown and slightly awestruck by the swell of the Atlantic stretching off into the distance, I’m ready to finish my cycling tour of the island with a final short stretch back to Ars-enRé where I’ll hand back my rental bike (cycland.fr).

For someone who lives in one of the UK’s hillier and damper areas, it’s been an absolute revelation meandering by bicycle around an island that’s sunny, flat and committed to encouraging cycling. Signposted paths crisscross Île de Ré, most segregated from traffic, making it a genuine option to leave the car at your accommodation and spend your stay exploring on two wheels.

Thirty kilometres long and just five wide, it’s perfectly feasible to cycle around the whole island in just a leisurely couple of days, taking in the sights along the way.

Setting off

Starting out on my bike at La Flotte with its picture-perfect medieval market place, crammed with delicious-looking saucisson, oysters, wine and all manner of local comestibles, it wasn’t long before I found myself in SaintMartin-de-Ré.