Dog-Friendly Attractions on Île de Ré

The island's capital and its single greatest sight: a star-shaped town wrapped in UNESCO-listed Vauban fortifications, built around a working harbour ringed with cafés. You can walk the entire rampart circuit, explore the cobbled streets, and sit on the quays with your dog at every step. The clocher of the Saint-Martin church offers a panorama over the island (the climb itself is not for dogs, but the square and streets are). The whole town is a leashed-dog paradise of harbour walks, ice-cream stops and rampart views. It is the natural base for a stay and the most beautiful place on the island.

At the wild northwest tip of the island, the Phare des Baleines lighthouse stands above a dramatic stretch of rocky shore and open Atlantic. The headland around the base, the old lighthouse and the coastal paths are a magnificent leashed-dog walk, exposed and windswept with huge sea views. Dogs cannot climb the 257 steps to the top of the lighthouse itself, but the grounds, the surrounding nature area and the long beach walks nearby are entirely dog-friendly. It is the most dramatic landscape on Île de Ré and a classic end point for a cycling day out to the island's far end.

Listed among the 'plus beaux villages de France', Ars-en-Ré is a tiny harbour village at the edge of the salt marshes, famous for its black-and-white church spire, once painted that way to guide ships. The narrow streets of white houses and hollyhocks, the small port, and the surrounding salt-pan cycling paths make it one of the most charming stops on the island. Leashed dogs are welcome to wander the village squares and the harbour, and it sits at the heart of the marais salants, so a visit pairs naturally with a salt-marsh walk and a galette on the square. Quieter and more intimate than Saint-Martin.