©Royan / CRTNA
Royan is unlike any other seaside resort. Although it was razed to the ground in 1945, it still retains a few Belle Époque villas and has been rebuilt with white façades and clean lines, bathed in ever-shifting light. Look up at the Church of Notre-Dame, its concrete structure sculpted by Guillaume Gillet; pop into the covered market, which sits there like a giant seashell (the perfect opportunity to pick up a few local specialities); and stroll along the seafront to the Grande Conche. No need for a plan: here, you simply slow down.
The coastline is dotted with many other seaside resorts, each with its own character: Châtelaillon, Arcachon, Lacanau, Hossegor, Saint-Jean-de-Luz. Out of season, with quiet terraces and soft, diffused light, a different coast reveals itself – one that’s slower-paced and feels more like our own.
Worth a try: hire a bike for the day to explore Talmont, with its little church clinging to the cliff above the estuary, and Meschers, with its fishing huts perched over the water.
Off the coast of the Gironde estuary, Cordouan rises from the water like a forgotten palace. To reach it, you have to time your journey with the tide: the crossing takes you amongst sandbanks and birds, with the estuary stretching wide open all around. On arrival, a flight of steps leads up to a view that stretches all the way to the horizon. It has stood watch for over four centuries, and UNESCO has listed it as a World Heritage Site.
The entire coastline is dotted with its sentinels. Chassiron on Oléron, Les Baleines on the Île de Ré, Cap Ferret and its ‘red cap’, and Biarritz, 73 metres above the imperial city. You climb their steps for the sheer joy of seeing life from a little higher up.
Please note: the crossing is an adventure in itself; book well in advance.
©Phare de Cordouan / D. Remazeilles / Gironde Tourisme
©Ile d’Oléron / Les Coflocs
On Oléron, you set your pace to the rhythm of the waves. Behind the dunes and pine forests, the beaches of Vert-Bois, La Rémigeasse and Saint-Trojan offer waves gentle enough to learn to surf, and plenty of space to eventually find yourself all alone. You can follow up a session with some oyster tasting at a beach hut, then cycle over to Chassiron Lighthouse. The island is best experienced barefoot, at a leisurely pace.
For more surfing spots, the coastline stretches down towards Lacanau, Carcans, Hossegor and Seignosse – hotspots for surfers from all over the world. Further south still, the Côte des Basques in Biarritz and the beaches of Saint-Jean-de-Luz offer a change of scenery: the ocean in front of you, and behind it, already, the mountains.
Just a short cycle ride from the liveliness of the Atlantic, the Great Lakes of the Médoc and the Landes welcome us with a more tranquil atmosphere. The shores here are shallow, the water still, held back by the dunes and fringed with pine trees offering protective shade. Here, you can glide along on a paddleboard or in a canoe towards shores where only the breeze remains, and swim without the roar of the ocean. The sky is reflected in its entirety, in all its shifting colours, from dawn to dusk.
From north to south, they stretch out in succession: Hourtin-Carcans-Maubuisson, Lacanau, Cazaux-Sanguinet, Biscarrosse, Parentis, Soustons, Hossegor. Some are saltwater, others freshwater, all nestled in the shelter of the dune ridge. A peaceful retreat, perfect for families and anyone seeking tranquillity.
©Randonnée autour du lac d’Houritn / David Remazeilles / Gironde Tourisme
©Parc ornithologique du Teich – Gironde (33).
At the far end of the Arcachon Basin, the Le Teich bird sanctuary is best explored on foot, moving from one observation point to the next. You’ll find yourself holding your breath at the sight of a Eurasian spoonbill, following a grey heron, or looking up as a stork flies overhead. Early in the morning or at dusk, accompanied by a nature guide, a whole world of winged creatures comes to life or drifts off to sleep before our very eyes.
The coast is dotted with these sanctuaries of wildlife: the Marais d’Orx and the Arjuzanx Reserve in the Landes, Lilleau des Niges on the Île de Ré, and Aiguillon Bay on the mainland. We come here in silence, to relearn how to observe and to marvel once more.
La Vélodyssée winds its way along the Atlantic coast, from beaches to fishing ports, through pine forests and salt marshes, mostly away from traffic. Whether between Royan and Marennes or along the Landes coastline, you can cycle at a leisurely pace, going wherever the mood takes you. Whether it’s a one-hour family loop or a multi-day stage ride, use the railway stations as staging points to set off light. At every stop, there’s a market, a village or a viewpoint you hadn’t planned for.
Other routes and cycle paths offer the same pleasure: the paths on the Charente islands, the loops around the lakes of the Landes, and the network encircling the Arcachon Basin. It’s the perfect way to explore the coast at the landscape’s own pace, without ever having to get behind the wheel again.
©Ile d’Aix à vélo / Salt In Our Hair / CRTNA
©Bassin d’Arcachon / Kristina Escortell Buscandoalsol – CRTNA
Because you can taste the ocean just as much as you can see it! In the oyster huts of Marennes-Oléron and the Arcachon Basin, oysters are savoured overlooking the oyster beds, in tune with the tides, a glass of white wine in hand. In the salt marshes of Ré and Oléron, you realise that the landscape is also a way of life. And on your plate, an entire culture comes to life: mussel stew, chowder, conger eels and estuary whiting, depending on the season.
Must-try experiences: the Arcachon fish auction at dawn, a day with an oyster farmer, and a family visit to the Loix Salt Marsh Ecomuseum.
Each island in the Charente has its own unique atmosphere. On Ré, you drive between salt marshes and whitewashed villages. Oléron has a wilder feel, with dunes, colourful huts and beaches stretching as far as the eye can see. The Île d’Aix, which can only be reached by boat, is best explored without a car. And Île Madame, connected by a causeway that is submerged at high tide, is a destination to be earned between the tides.
©Vue de l’Ile de Ré / Salt In Our Hair / CRTNA
©Dune du Pilat / Any Where we roam
At the entrance to the Arcachon Bay, the Dune du Pilat looms large: the tallest dune in Europe, a hundred metres of sand rising abruptly between the pine forest and the ocean. You climb with your feet sinking into the sand, breathless, and once at the top, everything changes: the forest on one side, the Banc d’Arguin and the passes on the other, the horizon stretching out before you. At sunset, you sit down, and say nothing more.
And then there are those sites ‘like nowhere else’: the Régulus and Matata caves carved into the cliffs near Meschers; the Bout du Monde lighthouse at Les Minimes, an Argentine replica that inspired Jules Verne’s final novel; the stilted huts standing on the Bassin or the Leyre delta as it flows into it; the Courant d’Huchet beneath its gallery forest, or the Abbadia estate clinging to the cliffs of Hendaye.
Set off to explore our destinations: from the foothills of the Pyrenees to hidden villages, from surfing sessions on the coast to hikes in the wide open spaces of the Limousin. You’re bound to find a holiday that takes your fancy.
To find out more about the destination or the experiences on offer there, here are a few pages that invite you to continue your exploration, either online or in person.
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