In return for your effort in climbing these 224 steps, you will be rewarded with a vast panorama across Oléron, the rock of Antioche (which resembles an engulfed city), the isles of Aix and Ré, La Rochelle and La Pallice. Around the tip of the headland, at low tide you can see fish locks. An audio guide-cum-show in the guardian's former house examines the life of the headland's inhabitants, "land sailors and sea farmers". The splendid Jardins du phare gardens should not be missed.