La Rochelle airport grants direct acces to La Rochelle city center, but it also give direct access to ile de Ré. Ideally located northwest of the city, near the coast, the airport is only a few kilometers far from the Ile de Ré bridge.
COMMUTING FROM AIRPORT TO CITY CENTER BY BUS
The airport is relatively well served by public transport. You can get to La Rochelle city center by bus. It takes about twenty minutes and buses leave approximately every 20 to 40 minutes from the airport (first bus at 6:00 a.m. on weekdays, 6:49 a.m. on Saturdays, last departure at 9:21 p.m. on weekdays, 9:16 p.m. on Saturday). On the return trip, from the city center to the airport, there is a bus every 20 to 40 minutes, first departure at 6:14 a.m. from Place de Verdun, last departure at 9:37 p.m. on weekdays, 6:55 a.m. until 9:33 p.m. on Saturday).
If you land on a Sunday, buses leave from the train station every hour from 9:05 a.m. to 7:05 p.m., and go through the city center. It takes about 15 minutes to get to the airport. On the way back, buses leave every hour from 9:45 a.m. to 7:45 p.m. from Place de Verdun. For Sunday, you have to take D5 line.
CONNECTION AIRPORT – ILE DE RÉ BY BUS
If your destination is the Ile de Ré, you must take line 3 or 3E of New Aquitaine transportation service. From the airport, there are 4 connections per day in low season: 11:05 a.m., 1:05 p.m., 6:05 p.m., 7:05 p.m. from Monday to Saturday. However, there is no service on Sundays It takes 45 minutes to go to Saint Martin de Ré, 1h30 to reach Les Portes. For the return, 2 buses serve the airport. The first departs from la passe (between Loix en Ré and La Couarde) at 10:26 a.m. (10:48 a.m. in Saint-Martin), and arrives at 11:25 a.m. at the airport. The second departs from Les Portes en Ré at 1:43 p.m. Stop in Saint Martin at 14h26, and arrives at the airport at 15h03.
Book a taxi
If you are very busy, it may be easier and quicker to take a taxi or a VTC. Book it in advance because there are few taxis available at the airport You will get Taxi or VTCs contact details on the taxi page reserved on the airport website.
Rent a car
From La Rochelle – Ile de Ré airport, it is possible to rent a car from one of the four main rental companies (Europcar, Avis, Hertz and Sixt). Book it in advance because the agencies do not necessarily have the car stock available on site. Be careful: La Rochelle city is not very suitable for car traffic and it is very difficult to park.
Rent a bike at the airport
Last solution when you flight to La Rochelle – Ile de Ré is to start your stay by directly renting a bike.
Use a self-service bike
First option: use the Yélo self-service bicycle service. The Airport car park is equipped with 8 bicycles on a self-service station, which allow you to easily get to La Rochelle city center. If you are lightly loaded, this solution is attractive. Thanks to the mobile application, you can check which bicycles stations still have room when dropping off the bike.
This solution is attractive if you stay exclusively in La Rochelle city because it lets you completely free to alternate cycling and walking, without having to go pick up your bike at the same place you left it. On the other hand, some stations might be empty, and in this case, you will have to walk to the next one, until you find a bike. Stations can also be full of bikes, so won’t ba able to leave your bike and will have to find another station. In addition, even if a maintenance service is provided, it is likely to end up with a defective bike.
Rent a bike at Le vélo van
Second option: Rent an electric bike at le vélo van. La Rochelle city and l’île de Ré are perfectly suited to biking. It is actually the fastest, most flexible, fun and friendly to the environment way of commuting. There are bike parks everywhere in La Rochelle and in l’Ile de Ré with fixed anchor points. In addition, with your Le vélo van electric bike, whether your accommodation is in the city center or out of the city, it will be very easy and fast to reach all of the various points of city interest.
Indeed, due to its privileged location, La Rochelle seafront extends over approximately 5 km, from chef de baie beach in the north to the Minimes beach in the south. Thanks to electric assistance, you can even push to Châtelaillon-Plage for an effortless seafront ride. It takes about 15 km in each direction. Thanks to Le vélo van extended luggage rack and its front basket, you can easily carry on your luggage. If you are traveling light with cabin baggage, you can opt for the taxi-van, a special configuration designed for couples on a single bike.
Located just 3 km far from the Ile de Ré bridge, La Rochelle – Ile de Ré airport opens the doors to “Ré la blanche”, also known as the bike island. You can rent your Le vélo van bike directly at the airport and enjoy your stay as soon as you land. Go to the isle de Re is very simple with the cycle road located at a few meters from the airport. No worries on the bridge : a specific concrete wall segregate bikes and cars.
Once on the re island, fell free to choice your destination ! More than 130km of dedicted cycle road are available. And because you came by bike, no worries about the trafic jam to cross the bridge when you go back. It takes sometimes a few hours to go out the island using a car or a bus. And of course, no trafic jam to cross the bridge by bike. It is unusefull to plan you trip back to the airport several hours before your flight time. Just enjoy your stay until the very end. You just have to plan for a standard bicycle trip (speed forecast is about 15-20km/h with our bikes).
Here are a feww distances from the airport by electric bike.
- Airport to Rivedoux (Ile de Ré) : about 20 minutes.
- Airport to Saint Martin de Ré: about 45 minutes.
- Airport to l’Houmeau camping: about 20 minutes.
- Airpott to La Rochelle city center: 15 minutes
- Airport to Les Minimes area : 15 minutes
Whatever is your destination in La Rochelle, you are only at a few minutes by bike. In this case, you can choose to book a lodging in a cheaper area than city center, because you can reach parks, harbors and city center in a minute biking ride.
Moreover, all our bikes are delivered where you wish. You choose your arrival time. And of course, if your flight is delayed, no problem, we deliver your bike at your arrival. You also can choose to plan check out at another area than pick up area (for exemple if meteo is not good enough to reach the airport by bike). So, no doubt, take a breath as soon you land in La Rochelle by hiring some of our bikes.
For any information, you can visit La Rochelle airport website.