Lighthouse of La Coubre — Attraction in Rochefort

Despite advertising opening hours until 19:30, they closed ticket sales at 18:30 telling us there was a queue of an hour and thirty minutes. We and the other 2 or 3 couples struggled to find the queue as at about 18:35 the place was pretty much deserted (literally no one queueing to enter the light tower). We were hanging around a bit to take pictures and visit the little museum and they closed up l tower at about 19:05 for welcoming a private tour.

This is quite a disappointing and not a great way to welcome guests.

The museum/ Infocenter was pretty old and lacks curation and oversight. Translations (if provided) may also benefit from a little curation/ overhaul.

Compared with other museums this was an overall poor experience.

Edit: To reply to the sites response. We understand that security and safety of visitors is paramount and we can understand temporary suspension of ticket sales. However, one could reasonably expect the ticket office to reopen one demand ceased, especially if all staff is still around and just ideling. When we arrived there was literally no one queueing and more than 1h20 time before the advertised closure time. Instead of reopening ticket sales, the site closed 30min early due to lack of visitors. Doesn't make us feel better seeing a private tour commencing just at about 19:05.

Looking at reviews of other visitors with similar problems and the standard response here shows poor management or simply ignorance towards their visitors.

I would suggest they change their advertised opening times to 17:30 or 18:30 to prevent future disappointment and ensure everyone who visits at their advertised opening hours can actually...

A must visit if you are in the area. La Coubre is stroking and iconic, dominating the landscape around it. For the Dubs/Irish tourists, it throws off Poolbeg vibes given it's size and coloring. 1 ton of paint was used to make it more visible... probably not an exaggeration when u stand next to it!

You can drive up and park beside the lighthouse. This car park is not huge, if it's full there is another huge one a short 5 minute walk away. It was €11 for a family for 4 to visit which is reasonable. U get your ticket in the gift shop to the left of the lighthouse entrance. 300 steps later and you have a fantastic view of the surrounding beach and...

2 stars for the lack of organisation. You can’t get tickets online and if you want to get them on the spot you also need to cue up right away - there are no slots for the visit which means that you need to cue up for 45mn-1h to go up the lighthouse which is a total unpractical waste of time especially if it’s hot and you have small kids with you! We dropped the visit and went to the beach instead. A shame - it’s so easy to organise tickets by slots so one can show up when it’s their time to visit and not waste precious...