Camping near Fort Boyard
Take advantage of your camping holiday on the island of Oléron to make a childhood dream come true: discovering Fort Boyard! From the port of Saint-Denis d'Oléron or Boyardville, treat yourself to an unforgettable cruise and admire the colossus of the seas from every angle. Guaranteed wonder for young and old alike!
Unfortunately, Fort Boyard cannot be visited, at least not from the inside… However, you can sail in the Pertuis d'Antioche and get very close to the impressive walls of the fort. From April to the end of September, the Inter-Iles company offers different options to admire Fort Boyard from the sea: a short one-hour stroll, a cruise with a commented approach to the Fort and a one-day stopover on the island of Aix or La Rochelle, a walk with a tour of Fort Boyard and the island of Aix… If you have sea legs, you will be spoiled for choice!
From the Airotel Les Embruns d'Oléron campsite, you just need to go to the port of Saint-Denis d'Oléron or Boyardville / Saint-Georges d'Oléron:
Ticket office in Boyardville : in the port parking lot (behind the market)
Ticket office in St-Denis d'Oléron : next to the Harbor Master's Office (departures in July and August only)
In the 17th century, Colbert, minister of Louis XIV, planned to build a fortress on the sea to strengthen the defenses of the harbor of the island of Aix and the arsenal of Rochefort. Faced with the scale of the task, the project was constantly postponed and even the great Vauban remained totally disconcerted by this pharaonic challenge.
It was only at the beginning of the 19th century that the idea resurfaced under the impetus of Napoleon Bonaparte, then First Consul. Work began in 1804 and was completed in 1857 under the reign of Louis-Philippe. Ironically, due to advances in artillery allowing crossfire between Oléron and Aix, Fort Boyard very quickly became obsolete. The people of Charente then called it the "fort of the useless".
After a few years of service, it was finally transformed into a prison, in particular for the Communards and prisoners leaving for the penal colonies of New Caledonia... At the beginning of the 20th century, it fell into disrepair and became the object of desire of many looters (bronzes, cannons, pieces of wood and framework, doors, windows, shutters... everything went there!).
At the end of the 1960s, it served as a backdrop for a few films before finally achieving posterity in 1990 thanks to the broadcast of the famous TV game show, now exported to around thirty countries. A great revenge for the "fort of the useless"!
2,400 m: distance between the fort and the island of Oléron 68 m long
31 m wide
20 m from high
30 years old of works (cumulative duration)
160,000 m3 (total volume of the building)
80,000 m3 of cut stones extracted from the Crazannes quarries
The campsite "The sea spray of Oléron" is part of the Airotel group of high-end campsites. Airotel campsites remain independent and are all driven by the search for excellence in outdoor hospitality in Charente Maritime and in France.
