Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
84.5km²
Area
105km
Coastline
20m
Highest point
20°C
Warmest sea
August
3km
To the mainland
When to go to Isle of Ré
Best to visit from July to August.
The sea is warmest in August (20 °C) and coolest in February (10 °C). The water never reaches 21 °C: bring a wetsuit.
Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.
Island in Charente-Maritime, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
Isle of Ré is an island in France. It belongs to archipel charentais. It covers 84.5 km², with 105 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 20 m. The nearest mainland is 3 km away.
Getting there
- La Rochelle Île de Ré Airport (LRH)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 17 km in a straight lineCar hire at LRH airport (La Rochelle)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- FerriesLa Rochelle - Saint-Martin-de-Ré
- 3 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From July to Augustbest months to go (from 30 years of averages)
Plan the trip
Ferries, stays and things to do
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
On the island
What you find on Isle of Ré.
- 53beachesLes Golandières, Bidons V, Plage naturiste du Peu Bernard and 50 more
- 11viewpointsPlage de la Patache and 10 more
- 5lighthousesPhare des Baleines, Vieux Phare des Baleines and 3 more
- 5marinasBassin de Chasse de la Prée, Bassin de chasse de la Criée, Port de la Flotte and 2 more
- 1named peaksPeu des Aumonts
- 9castles and fortsFort de la Prée, La Citadelle, Redoute de Rivedoux and 6 more
- 10ruins and archaeological sitesMenhir de la Pierre qui Vire, Abbaye des Châteliers and 8 more
- 3surf spotsNeway, Rip Curl, Ré Surf
- 2waymarked walking routesSentier du Littoral - Rivedoux-Plage, Les Gros Peux
- 54campsitesLe Remondeau, Camping La Côte Sauvage, Camping Les Baleines and 51 more
- 2,801hotels, guesthouses and apartments
- 156restaurants, cafés and bars
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Isle of Ré in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Isle of Ré, each with its own numbers.
4beaches and covesCoastya
Beach with the warmest sea
20.0°C
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
4 beaches
on Coastya, the beach atlas
- Plage Nord20.0°C
- Plage de l'Arénault20.0°C
- Plage de la Clavette20.0°C
- Plage Sud20.0°C
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 7 m above the sea. 100 % of it is below 200 m.
- 100 %0–50 m
Share of the island's area in each altitude band, from the Copernicus DEM (30 m, read at 30–240 m on large islands).
Size, for real
Next to islands you may know.
10 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Towns on the island
- La Flotte2,933 people
- Sainte-Marie-de-Ré2,832 people
- Saint-Martin-de-Ré2,812 people
- Le Bois-Plage-en-Ré2,401 people
- Rivedoux-Plage1,885 people
- Ars-en-Ré1,444 people
- La Couarde-sur-Mer1,272 people
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 10 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 21 | 23 | 23 | 21 | 18 | 13 | 10 |
| Night low (°C) | 6 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 17 | 15 | 12 | 9 | 6 |
| Sea (°C) | 10 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 19 | 17 | 14 | 12 |
| Rain (mm) | 83 | 57 | 66 | 52 | 58 | 47 | 45 | 46 | 44 | 77 | 87 | 87 |
| Wet days | 14 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 15 |
| Sun h/day | 2.4 | 4.2 | 5.6 | 7.4 | 8.0 | 9.1 | 9.2 | 8.4 | 7.6 | 4.7 | 3.2 | 2.4 |
| Wind (km/h) | 22 | 22 | 21 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 19 | 22 | 22 |
Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.
Recent years
Warmer and cooler years at sea.
Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | +0.6 | +1.3 | +1.3 | +1.5 | +1.3 | +0.6 | +0.4 | +1.4 | +1.2 | ±0.0 | +1.1 | +0.8 |
| 2021 | −0.5 | +0.4 | +0.7 | +0.2 | −0.4 | +1.5 | +0.6 | +0.2 | +1.1 | +0.1 | −0.4 | −1.8 |
| 2022 | −1.1 | −0.3 | +0.6 | +0.4 | +1.9 | +0.7 | +0.1 | −0.3 | +1.2 | +0.9 | +1.6 | −0.6 |
| 2023 | +0.1 | −0.7 | −0.3 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +1.7 | +0.3 | +1.0 | +2.8 | +2.9 | +0.6 | −0.1 |
| 2024 | +0.1 | +1.5 | +1.5 | +1.2 | +1.0 | +0.1 | −0.1 | +0.2 | −1.0 | +0.2 | +0.6 | −0.4 |
| 2025 | −0.3 | +0.3 | +0.9 | +1.4 | +1.6 | +1.9 | +0.3 | −0.2 | +1.1 | +0.5 | +0.7 | +0.6 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Oléron Island
France174 km²7 m32 km awayÎle-d'AixFrance1.2 km²15 m28 km away
Île d'YeuFrance24 km²27 m91 km away
Isle of NoirmoutierFrance50 km²20 m109 km away
HœdicFrance2.2 km²23 m169 km away
Belle ÎleFrance88 km²63 m185 km away
Île d'ArzFrance2.5 km²6 m187 km away
Île aux MoinesFrance3.2 km²19 m189 km awayAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q292384) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Outline | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Sea temperature | NOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020 |
| Climate | NASA POWER · 1991–2020 |
| Relief, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Towns | GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfalls | Coastya — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
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