-Europe.France.Bordeaux.Le Verdon-
Out of all cruise ports I have stopped in, the most question marks I had was Le Verdon. This is because this port has basically nothing to do or see. Not just that, cruise passengers were also not allowed to walk out outside of the port. There were very few options besides taking the ship’s excursion.
A very interesting place to see is of course Bordeaux – the only problem was that it was a 2-hour drive per way. 4-hours spent on a bus was not what I wanted to do. Virgin Voyages which we were on , announced a free bus shuttle to Soulac-sur-Mer.
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Table of Contents
Docking at Le Verdon Port
Before embarking on the cruise , I did my investigations on this port and was disheartened by what I found or rather did not find. Long story short – the port is difficult to do independently. There were no buses or taxis and the port itself was in the middle of nowhere.
In order to get somewhere, it was recommended to get to the nearest village 3.4km away.
There is a train station at Soulac-sur-Mer – however I do not know where the trains would head to.
This port is difficult to do by our own. No Buses or Taxi and the nearest village is 3.4km .
The Ferry is only 75 minutes walk away.
Le Verdon Sur Mer is near to large vineyards. There are beaches and hiking trails .
Sail on the estuary or explore Coudouan lighthouse, one of the most beautiful in the world.
Getting to Soulac-sur-Mer from Le Verdon
We let the weather decide when to get off the ship as it has been rather rainy. As soon as we saw that it was clearing up , we headed outside and got on board the bus. As we headed to the village of Soulac-sur-Mer, there were vast empty lands along the way but not much else. The bus ride was about 10 mins to the village and stopped in front of the Place Aliénor d’Aquitaine
Place Aliénor d'Aquitaine
La basilique Notre-Dame-de-la-fin-des-Terres is listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site. Back then it was built as a pilgrimage church. The other structure in the Place is the War Memorial.
Market
We crossed the road to head to the beach. Along the road were plenty of shops which I stopped to do some shopping. This included a market as well.
Scenes from Soulac-sur-Mer
Here are other pictures along our walk along the Beach Street. It is also a great place to have a view of the Cordouan lighthouse.
The Beach
The Plage des Olives a very nice beach with fine white sand is a blue flag beach. From here is as well a place to enjoy a great view of the Cordouan lighthouse.
Options for D-I-Y excursions from Soulac-Sur-Mer (Le Verdon)
I am a complete advocate for a do-it-yourself planned visit when exploring cruise stops. This stop is pretty challenging since there is no walkable village nearby or even so much as a bus – stop. So with the free bus shuttle from the port , I explored options from Soulac-sur-Mer. Granted I did not do it due to the unfriendly weather at the time of our visit, still I hope you manage to.
Train to Bordeaux
From the train station of Soulac-sur-Mer there are trains to Bordeaux. If you plan to visit on your own – here is the link to the train schedule.
Ferry to Royan
If you can make your way to the Ferry port in Bac du Verdon-sur-Mer, either via taxi, train or bus , it is a good way to take the ferry to cross over to Royan. Here is a good link with information. Keep in mind that taxis need to be pre-booked , go to this link to book (in French)
Plan a visit to Cordouan lighthouse
From Port Medoc , it is possible to book a ride to and visit this incredible lighthouse. It is only accessible by boat. This lighthouse in listed as one of the Unesco World Heritage cultural property. I am pretty bummed out that I did not get to visit. However a lot of planning needs to be done for the visit as it is not accessible all the time and how rough the water conditions are need to be factored in as well. Here is a good site for planning to visit, so check it out.
Just Watch It!
A short video compilation to see the Le Verdon port and our short trip to the nearby village of Soulac-sur-Mer.
Just Pin It!
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