La Rochelle’s blockbuster crowd pleaser, this is one of the biggest aquariums in Europe and has just benefitted from an upgrade, reopening in February 2018. It rises from a portside position near the Port des Minimes, north of the old city. Inside are guided walkways stretching over several floors of massive seawater tanks loaded with some 10,000 species of flora and fauna from the oceans of the world, living in what look like natural habitats. Our favorite exhibits look at the ocean’s deepest depths, with five large tanks employing light shows and interactive high-definition images to illuminate these little-known corners of the earth, along with the ecosystem of the Atlantic coastline and the stunning array of sea life carried by the Gulf Stream. The jelly fish exhibition remains as beautiful and popular as ever.