Services tailored to visitors with intellectual disabilities

PLEASE NOTE: 

The staircases are narrow and uneven, and the handrails do not comply with current standards.

To prepare for your visit, download our FALC booklets at the bottom of the page: - FALC booklet for the Lanterne Tower - FALC booklet for the Chaîne Tower (The Saint-Nicolas Tower is closed for renovation work)

For individual visitors or small groups (up to 8 people with disabilities, excluding carers).

Entry to the monument is free for all people with disabilities and one carer, upon presentation of valid proof (the ‘Invalidité’ Mobilité Inclusion card for French nationals, or an equivalent foreign document).

For groups of 5 or more, booking is recommended.

Self-guided tour (45 mins to 3 hours)

• FALC booklets (easy to read and understand) for the Lanterne Tower and the Chaîne Tower are available to borrow free of charge on request at reception.
• A short silent video showing a 3D model of the elevations of the three towers is shown at the reception desk of each tower.
• Scale models of the three towers are on display in the Lanterne Tower.
• Visitor information leaflets in French and other languages are available in each tower.
• Explanatory information sheets or display panels can be consulted in the exhibition rooms.

For groups (minimum of 9 people with disabilities, excluding carers).

Whichever tour you choose, booking is essential.

Self-guided tour (lasting from 45 minutes to 3 hours).

This option allows you to explore at your own pace, according to your preferences and the time you have available. You will discover the monument guided by your group leader.

Price: €20

Accessible tour of one tower (1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes)

The accessible tour is led by a cultural guide. 

Price: €40

Remote guided tour (1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes)

Without having to leave your home, you can explore one or all three of La Rochelle’s towers. Accompanied by a cultural guide who provides live commentary on a 360° video, you’ll take a virtual stroll through the various rooms of this iconic monument in Charente-Maritime. 

Price: €40

Booking: 

All booking enquiries must be sent by email to educatif.tourslarochelle@monuments-nationaux.fr and must include the following details: 

• Desired date and time of visit.•    Name of the organisation organising the visit.• The organisation’s registered address. • Surname, first name, telephone number and email address of the person in charge of the group.• Number of people in the group.• Number of accompanying adults.• Type of visit required.

Once we have received your request, we will assess its feasibility and, if appropriate, we will contact you or send you a booking confirmation to present at the ticket office on the day of your visit, together with payment details.

Payment for the service: 

Booking is compulsory, including for groups visiting the monument independently.

Payment is to be made on site in cash, by cheque made payable to the ‘régisseur de recettes des tours de La Rochelle’, by credit card or by administrative purchase order (if you are a public body). For the remote guided tour, specific instructions will be sent to you once your booking has been confirmed.

• Benches are provided along the tour routes.
• The towers of La Rochelle do not have public toilets.
• Assistance dogs are permitted inside the monument. However, their work is made particularly difficult in the upper part of the Lanterne Tower due to the narrow passageways and very steep staircases.
• The tour route of the Tour de la Chaîne comprises 54 steps and that of the Tour de la Lanterne 162 steps.
• It is always cool inside the towers: you should bring warm clothing in winter and a jacket in summer. 

Parking

Tour de la Chaîne and Tour de la Lanterne: 

• The Vieux Port Ouest (Saint Jean d’Acre) pay-and-display car park is situated at the foot of the towers. The entrance is next to the Lanterne Tower. This car park has 8 parking spaces reserved for people with disabilities. Two spaces are less than 70 metres from the entrance to the Lanterne Tower and at the far left of the car park; four spaces are less than 50 metres from the entrance to the Chaîne Tower; and two spaces are less than 150 metres away.
• The surface between the car park and the towers consists of raised paving stones or steps and is therefore unsuitable for wheelchair users. 

Access 

• For the Tour de la Chaîne, there are approximately 34 steps from the quayside to reach the tower’s reception area, followed by approximately 54 steps along the visitor route.
• For the Tour de la Lanterne, there are 14 steps from the street to reach the tower’s reception area, followed by 162 steps along the visitor route.