Ars-en-Ré
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Ars-en-Ré

Ars-en-Ré

Île de Ré harbour village marked by a black-and-white church steeple above salt marshes.

Ars-en-Ré is one of the most distinctive villages on the Île de Ré, known above all for the black-and-white painted steeple of its Gothic church — a landmark visible from the sea that has guided sailors into port for centuries. The village sits at the northern end of the island, bordered by oyster beds and salt marshes that give it a quieter, less touristed character than the beaches further south.

The old harbour is the heart of town, where fishing boats tie up alongside pleasure craft and the morning catch is sold at the quay. The surrounding lanes are narrow enough that cars are a nuisance and a bicycle the obvious way to get around — the island's cycle path network passes through Ars on its way around the coast.

Guide

Things to Do

Ars-en-Ré rewards slow exploration. The village is small enough to cover entirely on foot, and the pleasures are correspondingly simple: the harbour, the church, the salt marshes, and the cycle paths that thread through the island. It is the kind of place where the best thing to do is not go anywhere in particular, and where sitting at a café table by the water counts as a productive afternoon.

The obvious orientation point is the church steeple — black and white, visible from boats at sea — which rises above the tiled rooftops and salt-marsh grasses. Once you have found that, you have found the village.