Pornic, which is an hour’s drive west of Nantes, is the most popular holiday resort south of the River Loire estuary on the Loire coast. This attractive and relaxed little town, which has a fishing port and is home to many yachts and pleasure boats, has no fewer than twelve beaches and coves dotted along the nearby coastline, though none are right next to the town centre itself. So you’ll probably need a car or bike to get around.

Things to See and Do in Pornic

The Beaches

The Plage de l’Étang and the Plage de la Boutinardière are perhaps the most striking. The Plage de l’Étang is a short distance to the north up the coast from Pornic though there is parking there. It is 150 metres long and divided into little coves, set against a backdrop of pine trees and oaks and has lovely golden sand. During July and August there are lifeguards from 11am to 1pm and from 2pm to 7pm. The Plage de la Boutinardière is in the other direction, well to the south of Pornic and is great for rock-pool fishing and has a number of stilted fishing cabins known as carrelets. It has some unusual rock formations and is around 500 metres long so it is not usually too crowded. Parking is about 300 metres away. But be aware there are no lifeguards on duty here.

But the beach with the best sand is reputed to be the Plage du Portmain, north of Pornic. This beach has lots of parking, is very popular with locals and has lifeguards during July and August. And among the biggest is the Plage de la Noëveillard, which is next to the marina of the same name and which is one of the biggest of Pornic’s beaches and perhaps the best equipped in terms of services, with a bar and a restaurant.

Others beaches include the Plage de la Source, which has two restaurants, the Plage des Grandes Vallées, which Pornic harbour on the French Atlantic coast also has a restaurant, the Plage de la Joselière, which is a sandy cove, the Plage de la Fontaine aux Bretons, good for rock pools, the Plage de Montbeau, another sandy cove, the Plage de la Birochère, a small but charming beach, and the Plage des Sablons, a popular sandy cove with golden sand.

Golf, horse-riding, cycling, go-karting, climbing and tennis

There is an 18-hole golf course close to the centre of Pornic called “Golf Blue Green Pornic”. But there’s also horse-riding, cycling, go-karting, climbing and tennis in the area. Ask at the tourist office, Place de la Gare Tel: +33 2 40 82 04 40 for more details.

The Botanical Garden – A must see!

The Parc botanique de la Ria just to the east of the town centre. It’s a large and superb garden (in fact series of gardens) that is great for a walk and which gives great views of both the town and the countryside. The gardens are part of an ambitious redevelopment of Pornic’s centre to boost its appeal both for locals and visitors.

Eating out in Pornic

Pornic has no shortage of restaurants and cafés and is fully geared up for the leisurely but key activity of lunching and dining out demanded by French people on holiday. Creperies – always popular when you’re near Brittany – and pizzerias abound. If you want to go for fine dining then the Auberge La Fontaine aux Bretons, Chemin des Noëlles, Pornic (website: www.auberge-la-fontaine.com ) gets good reviews. Or if what you really want is moules et frites in pleasant surroundings then there’s Le Skipper at the Port de Plaisance de la Noëveillard, Pornic. But there are more than 70 different places to choose from in all….

History

The town of Pornic itself still has the vestiges of its ancient past. In the 10th century AD it was subject to raids by marauding Vikings and a fortified castle was built to protect the entrance to the port, which was an important trading area for salt and other commodities. In the 13th century a stone castle was built that still stands today – the château de Pornic. The most infamous owner of this castle was the 15th century French military leader, lord and comrade of Jeanne of Arc, Gilles de Rais. He is thought to have inspired the fairy tale ‘Bluebeard’ and was certainly a loathsome character who later confessed to killing many children. The château is privately owned and cannot be visited.

Pornic has a British cemetery, the final resting place of 200 British soldiers, plus 199 Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, South Africans and Indians who were among the 4,000 who perished when the commandeered Cunard Liner Lancastria was sunk by German bombers off Chémoulin Point near Saint-Nazaire on 17 June 1940. It was the biggest loss of life of British forces in a single engagement in the Second World War.

Around Pornic

Pornic is in an historic area known as the Pays de Retz (the ‘Retz’ is pronounced ‘ray’) which stretches up to the Loire Estuary and down to the Marais breton (Breton marshlands) and the border with the Vendée. The historic capital of this area, which in the early 9th century was ruled over by the Franks but which was ceded to Brittany in 851, is the charming market town of Machecoul, birthplace of the aforementioned Gilles de Rais. The Pays de Retz is a good place to explore by car, or if you have the time (and the legs!) by bicycle, and has many small but charming towns and villages such as Frossay, Saint-Même-le-Tenu and Saint-Père-en-Retz.

To the north of the area is Saint-Brevin-les-Pins, which is a pleasant little beach resort opposite Saint-Nazaire on the Loire and which is at the crossroads between the coast and the Loire Estuary. It’s a great place to go for walks or take a cycle ride along the coast or along the estuary – or both.

Saint-Brevin-les-Pins is on the Vélodyssée, the 1,200 kilometre cycle route that goes down the French Atlantic coast from Brittany to the Spanish border.

Down the coast is the resort of Saint-Michel-Chef-Chef/Tharon Plage which is sometimes known as the ‘The pearl of the Côte de Jade’ as this stretch of coastline is evocatively known. And it you like beaches you can’t go wrong here – the beach stretches for 4.5 kilometres! Further still down the coast there is the the Saint-Gildas Point (or la pointe Saint-Gildas) which juts out into the ocean and is a great place to get some bracing sea air! You can also visit the old ‘semapahore’ station there; before the days of the telegraph they were popular in France as a way of communicating at distance, either on land or from shore to ship. Just to the south is a small but captivating little beach and spa resort called Préfailles.

Getting to Pornic

By air

Pornic is just 40 minutes from Nantes Atlantique Airport. It has regular UK flights to London City airport with CityJet, while Flybe has a service to Southampton and Manchester. There are also regular flights to and from Dublin and many other European destinations.

Pornic is around an hour by train from Nantes. Nantes itself is just two hours by high-speed TGV train from Paris, and around four hours from Lille in northern France.

By road
Pornic is about 430 km from Paris, with a journey time of just over four hours.

Photo 1 by Daniel Jolivet / CC BY 2.0 image cropped; Photo 2 by Florian /Photo 3 by Emmanuel PARENT