Maillezais (43km, 1h25)
Le Mazeau (57km, 1h35)

Discover the Venise verte (a canal marshland) in a traditional boat! Peace and relaxation guaranteed!!
Come and appreciate the calm as well as the unique scenery, the abundance of flora, the magical ‘fire on water’.

Le Marais Poitevin
Also known as the Venise Verte for the part it plays in tourism, it is a vast territory consisting of water and green scenery. Lovers of nature love this area for the peace and quiet, with canals stretching to 400km. You will marvel at the scenery made entirely by mankind and nature. The fauna consists mainly of birds: blond and crimson herons, kingfisher, piverts, and orioles…, you can also see the coypu and the roe deer and in spring the type of flora is the Iris pseudacorus and the Garden Angelica.

This area can be discovered in a traditional boat or a canoe for the more adventurous. In our parents time the traditional boat ‘barque’ was the mode of transport. Livestock, hay, and churns of milk were all transported by ‘barque’. The use of the ‘barque’ was frequent because bridges and causeways had not been constructed until the sixties. During one passage a’barque’ could take up to four cows on board! You can also discover the canal and marshes by foot or by bike.

Open everyday from April to October