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Rochefort Transporter Bridge – Rochefort Transporter Bridge loop from Soubise

Routes

Bike touring routes & trails

Rochefort Transporter Bridge – Rochefort Transporter Bridge loop from Soubise

Moderate

5.0

(1)

riders

Rochefort Transporter Bridge – Rochefort Transporter Bridge loop from Soubise

02:08

35.1km

80m

Cycling

Moderate bike ride. Good fitness required. Mostly paved surfaces. Suitable for all skill levels. The route includes a crossing by ferry. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.

Last updated: March 28, 2026

This route includes a ferry crossing

Tips

Includes ferry crossings

Check ferry timetable.

After 6.30 km for 158 m

After 6.57 km for 158 m

Waypoints

Start point

Bus stop

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1.11 km

Soubise

Highlight • Settlement

Small town best known among cyclists for its river shuttle to Rochefort. The town remained for a long time an important crossing point for crossing the Charente between and the ocean, one of the only crossing points of the Charente with the Saint-Savinien ferry between Taillebourg and the ocean, until construction in 1842 of the Tonnay-Charente Suspension Bridge. The ferry was located at the current marina. The first mention of this ferry in the archives dates from 1477 but it existed well before. While the Rochefort lifting span bridge was put into service, the crossing of the Charente on the ferry stopped on February 5, 1967. The two stone slipways on either side of the river, where a road from Rochefort ended on the right bank, are still visible today at the village level and are used for launching boats. A ferry or ferry boat, the Rohan, has been back in service since June 2013 for the summer period. It has a transport capacity of 12 people including the pilot and 11 passengers on foot or by bike (2-3 Euro).
At an altitude of 13 meters, on a spur overlooking the Charente which naturally lends itself to defense, there was a castle with a village enclosed by a surrounding wall like on the other bank at Rochefort. The castle is attested from 1092 with a first siege, and its destruction by a first fire.
It is one of the first rocky banks encountered coming from the sea, on the left (south) bank of the Charente. On a seal dated 1383 there is this inscription in Latin: “subissia prima urbs insularum est sub borea” which can be translated as: “Soubise is the first town in the lee of the islands”. This is why in 1665, Jean-Baptiste Colbert proposed to the Duke of Rohan to sell his lordship or exchange it with the king to build a war port to arm and repair ships to protect them from attacks. English, but he refused and the project was finally carried out in Rochefort which is further from the estuary with a smaller draft.
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soubise_(Charente-Maritime)

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4.37 km

View of the La Noradière viaduct

Highlight • Viewpoint

The various imposing bridges that span the Charente river are visible from afar

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6.52 km

Rochefort Transporter Bridge

Highlight • Bridge

In the 19th century, the only way to cross the Charente was by ferry. But this one was disturbed by the tides. It would have been necessary to build a bridge, but it would have blocked the maritime traffic, then very important on the Charente. It was therefore decided to build this transporter bridge, which was inaugurated in 1900.

The pylons and bridge deck are fixed. A mobile nacelle is suspended from the deck and circulates between the two banks of the Charente thanks to a trolley.

The transporter bridge operated from 1900 to 1967, then was replaced by a lift bridge, itself destroyed in 1991. The transporter bridge has resumed service and now allows pedestrians and cyclists to cross for €2 or €3 each way -feedback.

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