The Cité de l’huître in Marennes – Oléron

It’s hard to imagine a holiday in Charente-Maritime without tasting oysters from Europe’s largest oyster farm, the Marennes-Oléron basin. To find out more, visit the Cité de l’Huître.

This unique space, located on La Cayenne harbor, offers a fun and educational approach that allows children and adults alike to discover all the secrets of oyster farming. For two hours, you’ll be immersed in an astonishing universe. Where do oysters come from? How are they grown? How to open them safely? What exactly does an oyster farmer do? No oyster-related question will go unanswered at the end of your visit. A two-hour guided tour of the world of oysters!

You’ll learn your trade on an interpretive trail called “le chemin des claires“. In the middle of the marshes, you’ll see oyster-farmers’ huts and the irrigation channels essential to oyster cultivation. The Cité de l’Huître also offers areas and activities for children: fishing, quizzes, treasure hunts, oyster painting, water cannons…