A region in west Central France, the Vendée got its name from the Vendée River that runs through its southeastern part. Vendée’s coast is a long 160 km stretch of luxurious white sandy beaches. Because of the region’s exceptionally mild climate, it is now one of the world’s top destinations.
Vendée offers a wide variety of enjoyable activities for locals and tourists alike. Activities for families, couples, and children are provided by the region’s private establishments all aiming to give everybody a good time in Vendée.

For those who like to get a good sweat, Vendée offers a coastal cycleway or a sentier littoral (which is almost done) that allows bicycle enthusiasts to ride from one end of the region to the other. Signposts are appropriately put up so you one shouldn’t fear from getting lost around the area. The Vendée even has services for cycle hire and picnic lunches where brochures, booklets, and maps of great cycle routes of the region are handed out.

Horse riding is also a major past-time in Vendee. 

“Poney clubs” in Vendée means riding stables as opposed to the pony clubs in Britain. Vendée has various centre équestre or riding schools where instructors hold certificates of competence. Get some riding experience at St Maurice des Noues, L'Etoile, Coëx, and Béatrice and Bruno Ripaud. Most instructors would advice you to gear up with a hard hat for protection, but it would definitely be fun to try riding without those uncool hats on

For a simpler sports experience, one could always try walking or running in some of the region’s walking or running routes. Running races are also held in Vendée, and if you would like to take part of this yearly event, you need to secure a medical certificate of fitness that you have to present to the event organizers. For a simple training in running, the forest trails are quiet enough to give you enough concentration on your task. If you plan to do some walking in any area around Vendée, it is also equally important to get yourself a map that will show you the region’s footpaths or sentiers de randonnée. This is so you would get to familiarize yourself with the perfect paths to take on your walking trips instead of worrying about getting lost and wondering how to get back to your hotel.

Vendée also offers exciting activities for water enthusiasts. One can go boating with the family or even with a lover at the great waterways of the Marais Poitevin, the Green Venice area. Flat-bottomed boats are also available for rent at some of the villages in Vendée. If you’re into fishing, you need to get holiday fishing permits though to be able to do so. But catching roach, chub, carp, pike to name a few is just something some people would not miss to try. And for those who are more adventurous, surfing is one big in thing in Vendée most especially in the south area along Longeville and La Trance. L'Embarcadero in La Roche-sur-Yon, Point Break in St Gilles Croix de Vie, Bahia surf shop in Les Sables-d'Olonne, Le Palmier in La Tranche-sur-Mer, Extreme in Les Sables-d'Olonne, L'Embarcadero in La Roche-sur-Yon, and Nova Fun in La Tranche-sur-Mer are some shops were surfers could find and purchase the latest and coolest surfing equipment.

There are quite a number of casinos that one can find in Vendée. Although some serious gambling rooms may ask for one’s passport upon entrance, other casinos aren’t that strict about this. Casinos at La Faute-sur-Mer, St-Jean-de-Monts, Les Sables d'Olonne, and St-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie offer rows of machines à sous with great places to eat even if you don’t plan to gamble. Blackjack and roulette fanatics, however, need to wait until about 10 p.m. when these games are open, but they have until 4 a.m. to enjoy their games.