Ile d'Yeu

Yeu lies about twenty kilometres offshore and splits in two geologically: the southern and western coast is granite, cut into small cliffs, coves and a rocky shore where the Vieux Chateau stands on a promontory reached by a footbridge, while the north and east are low, sandy and pine-backed with the harbour at Port-Joinville. Whitewashed houses with green or blue shutters and pantiled roofs are the island style. Almost everyone gets around by bicycle, hired at the port on arrival, since the island is about ten kilometres long and cars are discouraged. Marshal Petain was imprisoned here after 1945 and is buried in the island cemetery.

What you actually see

• The Vieux Chateau - a ruined fortress on a rock promontory over the sea.
• The granite coast - cliffs and coves along the wild southern shore.
• The whitewashed villages - Saint-Sauveur and the island's inland hamlets.
• The bicycle traffic - hire bikes as the standard transport.

When to go

May to September; ferries reduce sharply in winter and cancel in rough weather. Bicycle hire queues at the port on summer arrivals. Accommodation is limited.

Honest expectations

Taking a car is expensive and generally unnecessary. Ferries are weather-dependent. Bike hire and the coast path are busy in August, and there is little shelter from wind or sun.

Nearby

Noirmoutier lies north; Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie is on the mainland east.