La Rochelle Self Guided Tour of Salt and Slave Ships

Overview

Inside a grand merchant mansion sits a bronze tribute to an enslaved man born on the island that enriched this city. The mayor framed it as La Rochelle making peace with its past. Beyond the postcard-perfect harbour and its iconic twin towers lies a deeper story: as one of France’s major slave-trading ports, this audio tour invites you to explore both sides of its history. This self-guided audio walking tour of La Rochelle follows a harbour that shipped salt and wine out as white gold, then grew fat on the triangular slave trade. You'll stand where a mayor drove his dagger into the council table rather than surrender, trace a Templar fleet that vanished one night with its treasure, and meet a ruined merchant whose lost ships came home laden with gold. Press play at 19 stops. Walk at your own pace, no fixed start time, no group to follow, with offline audio in your choice of language. Over 25,000 travelers have used our self-guided tours, and every tour comes with a refund guarantee.