Discover boutique hotels with vintage charm in Charente-Maritime, France

Combining beach-fringed Atlantic coast and a leafy hinterland dotted with mediaeval communes, the Charente-Maritime (named for the river wending through) is where the French spend their summers. It has a surfeit of sunshine – even rivalling temperatures in the south – and beautiful stretches of sand in Royan and capital La Rochelle. There are suntrap islands, tooL cross the bridges to Île de Ré or Île d’Oléron, or catch a boat to petite Île d’Aix. Floating forts and tower-surveyed ports nod to a maritime past, and chateaux and churches are packed into hollyhock-hung villages – some clocked by Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. Also dreamy are its wild marshes and wetlands, such as the famed Marais-Poitevin, dubbed Green Venice for its sailable canals. You’ll find the freshest catches of the day and laden seafood platters here: make like the Charentais-Maritimes and wash them down with the regional claims to fame, cognac, or port wine pineau.