Pays de la Loire: The Vendée

. The only English-language guide available to the region . Angela Bird is the author of the bestselling English Family Guide to the Vendee, first published in 1997, which this new comprehensive Bradt guide replaces. . Includes coverage of La Rochelle and Nantes, the key entry points to the region by air, both served by budget airlines . Easy access from the UK with short driving times via the Brittany and Normandy ferry routes . Ideal for campers and self-caterers, who make up the largest part of the market . Foreign visitor numbers to the region are rising: an increase of almost 7% between 2015 and 2016 . Includes walks, cycling and a summary of the best bird-watching spots

The Vendée Travel Guide - Travel information and holiday advice featuring The Vendée département, plus Pornic, La Rochelle, Île de Ré, Nantes, hotels and restaurants, camping and self-catering. Also included are practical information, family holidays, history, local food and culture, maps, beaches, walks, cycling, bird-watching, museums and canals.This new title from Bradt is the only English-language guide to focus on Pays de la Loire: The Vendée and surrounding area including Pornic, La Rochelle, Île de Ré and Nantes, an increasingly popular part of France. Written by award-winning travel writer Murray Stewart and Angela Bird, who for almost 50 years has owned a home in the region, it offers comprehensive coverage of this beguiling area, with details on everything from family holidays to walks, cycling, local cuisine and history. Thanks to the authors' long history with the area, the guide also reveals the quirks and themes which give the Vendée its own distinct character, as well as straying just beyond the area's boundaries to incorporate La Rochelle and Nantes, both entry points for those arriving by air and both offering urban distractions for the occasional rainy day. The Vendée offers all the benefits of a well-established destination, both with French and British visitors, with easy access times from the UK by ferry adding to its appeal. Popular with campers and self-caterers, its sunny climate and 140km of sandy beaches, combined with tree-lined canals and open marshland, make for a diverse outdoor playground. Bradt's The Vendée and surrounding area includes information on suggested walks and cycleways and also summarises the best places for bird-watching. The region has no true cities, or even large towns, but the guide includes details of the many local museums which provide easily accessible insight into the bloody history of an area which has, at times, been central to the evolution of modern-day France.