La Rochelle cruise port, France
Three medieval towers stand at the mouth of the old harbour, and a chain was slung between two of them to shut the port at night. La Rochelle was Protestant and held out against Louis XIII for fourteen months, until a sea wall built across the harbour mouth starved it into surrender in 1628.
Worth knowing. The city spent the money it made on arcaded streets you can walk the length of in the rain without getting wet. The Germans built a submarine base at La Pallice, and that is the quay the ships tie up at.
What to do in La Rochelle for free
The ship lies at La Pallice, a working port six kilometres out with nothing at the gate, so the day starts on the city bus from outside the gate, in a taxi, or on the ship's own shuttle. Once you are in, the old harbour with its three towers is the walk, and the arcaded streets behind it are where the town shelters when it rains.
What costs money
The ship's own excursions usually cost more than booking the same trip yourself. Two things come with the price. The ship waits for its own excursions and does not wait for you. And if the port is missed, P&O refunds its own without you asking. A trip you booked yourself is a claim on your travel insurance, so check what your policy covers. The ship sells its own trips to all of these, and the desk is open on board if you would rather do it that way.
Inside the towers. One ticket covers the towers that are open to go into, and that is not always all three. The Lanterne is the one to climb: a lighthouse that became a prison, and the walls on the way up are cut all over with the graffiti of the sailors held in it.
The aquarium. Across the old port from the towers, and one of the largest in Europe. It is a serious couple of hours rather than a wet-afternoon stop.
Which ship calls at La Rochelle, and when
Every call here between 15 August and 28 November 2026, with the hours ashore P&O published. These times are a guide, not a promise: the captain gives the real ones the day before.
| Ship | Sails | Day | Ashore |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arvia | 28 May 2028, 14 nights | Day 12 | 06:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 4 June 2028, 7 nights | Day 5 | 06:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 4 June 2028, 14 nights | Day 5 | 06:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 25 June 2028, 14 nights | Day 12 | 08:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 2 July 2028, 7 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 2 July 2028, 14 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 17 September 2028, 14 nights | Day 12 | 08:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 24 September 2028, 7 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 18:00 |
How long you get ashore in La Rochelle
The published times give you between about 10 and 12 hours alongside, depending on the sailing. Take off the time it takes a few thousand people to get off, and the time you need to be back on board before the ship leaves, and that is your day. P&O give the real hours the day before, and the all-aboard time is earlier than the departure time.
The other stops on these cruises
Every one of these is on at least one of the sailings that calls at La Rochelle.
- AlesundThe whole town burned down in one night in January 1904 and was rebuilt at speed in Art Nouveau, with materials Kaiser Wilhelm II sent by ship.
- Getxo (tours to Bilbao)Basque country, at the mouth of the river up to Bilbao.
- HaugesundNorway calls this its birthplace: Harald Fairhair, who pulled the country into one kingdom in the 870s, had his seat at Avaldsnes, just down the coast.
- KristiansandLaid out as a grid in 1641 by Christian IV of Denmark-Norway, who wanted a fortress town guarding the entrance to the Skagerrak and had one built on the sand at the river mouth.
- Le HavreFour fifths of the town was destroyed in September 1944 and Auguste Perret rebuilt the centre in reinforced concrete on a grid, which is now a World Heritage site, listed for the planning rather than for anything old.
- Le Verdon (for Bordeaux)The mouth of the Gironde, where the estuary meets the Atlantic, and a deep water quay built for cargo rather than for a town.
- OldenA village of a few hundred people at the head of Nordfjord, 100 km in from the open sea.
- SkjoldenThe innermost point of the Sognefjord, about 200 kilometres from open water.
- StavangerA herring and sardine-canning town that struck North Sea oil in 1969 and became Norway's richest city.
Money and language in France
Euro (EUR, €). Cards are fine almost everywhere. A boulangerie queue moves faster if you have coins. Onboard is always charged in sterling, so this only matters ashore.
A greeting in French before you switch to English is worth more here than anywhere else on these itineraries.
| English | French | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| Hello | Bonjour | bon-ZHOOR |
| Goodbye | Au revoir | oh ruh-VWAR |
| How much? | Combien ça coûte? | kom-BYAN sa KOOT |
| Thank you | Merci | mair-SEE |
| Please | S'il vous plaît | seel voo PLEH |
Free, and it works with no internet. Give it the dates you sail and it works out your own stops and saves the street map for each one. It shows you round the ship too.
All the ports written up so far, the things to do before you sail, or the ship pages for Iona and Arvia.