The gare SNCF is located at the northern end of avenue du Président Wilson, about a fifteen-minute walk from the centre of town. The efficient tourist office (mid-June to mid-Sept, daily 9am–7pm, till 8pm in July & Aug; mid-Sept to mid-June Mon–Sat 9.30am–12pm & 2–6pm; tel 05.46.99.08.60, www.ville-rochefort.fr) is on avenue Sadi-Carnot off rue du Dr-Pelletier, two blocks north of the gare routière; the staff will reserve rooms for a charge of €2.29.Should you want to stay, you'll need to book hotels in advance to ensure reasonably priced accommodation. The cheapest hotel rooms in town are at Les Messageries on place de la Gare opposite the handsome station buildings (tel 05.46.99.00.90; €40–55). Other options include the extremely comfortable and friendly two-star Caravelle, at 34 rue Jaurès, off avenue Charles-de-Gaulle (tel 05.46.99.02.53, fax 05.46.87.29.25; €40–55) and Hôtel des Vermandois, 33 rue Émile-Combes (tel 05.46.99.62.75, fax 05.46.99.62.83; €55–70), next door to the Loti museum – an old hotel but with modern fittings. La Corderie Royale, within the seventeenth-century ropeworks on rue Audebert (tel 05.46.99.35.35, fax 05.46.99.78.72; over €150; closed Feb 1–19), is the town's poshest place to stay. There's also a new, modern hostel, centrally located at 97 rue de la République (tel 05.46.82.10.40). The municipal campsite (tel 05.46.99.14.33; closed Dec–Feb) is a long haul if you've arrived at the gare SNCF: take avenue du Président-Wilson and keep going straight, until you reach the bottom of rue Toufaire, where you turn right, then left – about half an hour all the way.
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