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Landes Coast
Alternative Aquitaine's
Destination Guide
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Active,
beach-based holidays for outdoor-lovers
The Landes Coast, from the Dune de
Pilat to the Adour estuary, is a natural playground of surfing beaches,
forest trails and shimmering lakes.
The coastline includes family-friendly
resorts Biscarrosse, Mimizan and Moliets and Europe's undisputed surf capital, Hossegor.
It's an active-outdoors type of holiday: surfing, sailing and watersports, cycle trails, golf, horse-riding, are all widely available. |
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We've
picked out five 'must-dos' when on holiday on the Landes Coast:
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A canoe trip along the Courant d'Huchet - peaceful, and shady
on those hot days |
| 2 |
Sitting
on Hossegor beach admiring the surfers when the waves are
up - impressive |
| 3 |
An
evening bowl of fresh mussels at Moliets' Cave aux Moules,
washed down with a carafe of rose, and beach-stroll afterwards... |
| 4 |
Cycle
ride from Biscarrosse Lac to town through the forest, lovely
route, but quite hilly - you'll earn a beer at the end of
it |
5 |
Drive
around sleepy Landes villages admiring their many stunning
medieval churches |
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Lots of familes and groups of friends going on holiday together
tell us they are struggling to satisfy quite different needs.
With its beaches, activities & sports, shopping, good
wine and food, day trips, history & culture, the Landes Coast can keep everyone's happy!
Ocean beaches
The Landes Coast is part
of the Cote d'Argent (the Silver Coast) so there's over 100kms
of ocean beach to choose from- sand and sea stretching as
far as the eye can see. All the main towns have supervised
bathing areas but if they're too busy, without venturing too
far along you can usually find a quieter patch (though sometimes
unsupervised - ocean currents can be strong so only good swimmers
should venture out of the shallows).
Lake beaches
Within cycling distance of
most of the main sea-side towns Aquitaine's lakes ('étangs')
offer a lovely alternative to the ocean, with beaches perfect
for toddlers and with the added comfort of shady picnic areas
close by. Try the etangs de: Cazaux & Sanguinet or Parentis & Biscarrosse (both
near Biscarrosse), Aureilhan, Soustons and Léon. All are delightfully
tranquil alternatives for beach-days and picnics, and offer
sailing and windsurfing centres. At Léon you can even
canoe from the lake along the serene Courant d’Huchet
to the ocean’s edge at Huchet!
Surfing
The Landes Coast is home
to Europe's capital of surfing, Hossegor.
It is the best-known and most fashionable surf-town and has
the boutiques to prove it! It's by no means surfers' only
destination though: Biscarrosse, Mimizan-Plage, Moliets, Vieux-Boucau and Capbreton all also offer good surfing, and
all have hire shops and surf schools.
Cycling
Bikes are a great way to get around
Aquitaine and casual and more dedicated cyclists are all well-catered
for. There is an extensive network of trails linking lakes
and ocean towns, for example running from Biscarrosse lake
to ocean, Aureilhan to Mimizan-Plage, in and all around Moliets,
and linking Leon-Moliets-Seignosse-Hossegor.
Golf
The Landes Coast is an outstanding destination
for golfers, and includes the highly-rated Golf de Moliets and Golf de Seignosse. Biscarrosse, Hossegor also offer courses. Try combining playing the southern courses
(Seignosse, Moliets, Hossegor) with ones around the Cote Basque
- the Biarritz
Golf Pass offers discounts on many of these.
Walking/hiking
Paths wind through the forest,
around lakeshores and over dunes all along the coast. Serious
walkers can try the GR8 national trail, connecting
the Etang de Sanguinet near Biscarrosse and all subsequent
lakes to the south, over 120km in all!
Watersports
Sailing and wind-surfing are also popular, especially
on the lakes.
Plenty of opportunities for canoeing and kayaking. You can take trips from Labenne (Bleu Pins campsite) or Lac de Leon along the serene Courant d'Huchet.
Children's Activity Parks
to let off a bit more steam
there are adventure playgrounds/adrenalin parks at
Moliets and Biscarrosse, and an impressive water park (Atlantic
Park) at Seignosse (near Hossegor).
Horse-riding
with all that forest and space,
it's not surprising horse-riding is popular, with several
'centres équestres' (including Biscarrosse and Messanges, near Moliets) offering courses
and treks for beginners and more experienced riders.
Markets
The staple of French daily life.
» Capbreton - Tue, Thu & Sun all year; every day
in Jul & Aug
» Dax - Sat & Sun all year
» Leon - Tue all year; every day mid Jun - end Sep
» Magescq - Thu all year
» Messanges - Wed & Sat in Jul & Aug
» Moliets - Tue, Thu, Sat in Jul & Aug
» Seignosse Bourg - Wed all year
» Seignosse le Penon - Thu & Sun in Jun & Sep;
plus Tue in Jul & Aug
» Saint Girons - Sun in Jul & Aug
» Saint Paul les Dax - Thu all year
» Soustons - Mon all year
» Vieux Boucau - Tue & Sat all year; every day except
Sun in Jul & Aug
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Going
from north to south, here's a selection of Landes Coast
places and sights to give a lasting flavour of this surprisingly
distinctive area:
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Hossegor
Has a lot to offer: boutique
shopping, great bars and restaurants, world-famous surfing
beaches, two lovely golf courses ranked in the Top 50 in
France and a beautiful lagoon for safe bathing. It’s
little wonder, therefore, that the town is popular in summer,
especially with well-to-do French families and their surfing
offspring.
Capbreton
Less well-known than Hossegor,
but preferred to its neighbour by many locals for its sheltered
beach and seafront, and the authentic village-by-the-sea atmosphere of the centre. The sea-front is a great
place for a stroll before or after dinner. The jetty, known
locally as l'estacade offers excellent coastal
views. There's normally a few locals here trying to catch
a fish for supper.
Experience Landais culture
To
sample a pastime particular to the south west, visit Vieux-Boucau to watch course landaise (a less gory version of
bull-fighting) and the Basque-invented pelota, the fastest
ball-game in the world. If you’d like to learn more
about the Landaise culture and traditions, try the eco-museum
at Sabres in the Landes National Park, about a 20-30 minute drive from Mimizan.
Visit a spa
In France, the south west
is known for its rejuvenating waters, both salt and fresh
varieties. Dax is the official spa capital of France and is a 30 minute drive from the southern Landes
coast.
Chalosse Country
To
the south of Dax and Mont-de-Marsan you start to enter rural
Gascony, which means several things: foie gras, floc de
Gascogne (a sherry-like aperitif) and a pleasantly slow
pace of life. The food is marvellous (salade landaise is a must-try), the towns are half asleep except for
market days, and the countryside is highly relaxing. Montfort-en-Chalosse, Mugron and St. Sever are
good stopping points
City culture
Bordeaux is just over an hour from Biscarrosse
and is a good option for a day-trip, whether it’s
boutique shopping, sight-seeing or museums. In the other
direction, Bayonne, Biarritz and
even San Sebastien and Bilbao in Spain are in manageable day-tripping distance from Moliets
and locations further south.
Head to he hills
An easy day-trip south to the Pyrenees for superb wildlife, walks and scenery.
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The
Landes Coast is situated at a wonderful gastronomic
intersection - lively Spanish and Basque influences to the
south, the sauces and wines of Bordeaux and the Bay of Arcachon
to the north, the rich delights of Gascony inland. This means
French classics - magret, boeuf de Bazas, foie gras - mingle
with paellas, mussels, oysters, tapas, freshly-caught fish,
and a huge selection of wines. All from within a 150 mile
radius - this isn't somewhere you'll go hungry or thirsty!
As well as its neighbours produce, here's a selection of Landais
specialities you might find:
Salade Landaise
A wonderful mixture
of fresh cold salad and warm salty meat - various, hard-to-identify
(best not ask), fried cuts of fowl. The Landes is renowned
in France for its poultry, especially, capons, ducks and geese,
and parts of some or all of these are to be found in the landaise
salad. Makes a perfect lunch with a glass of rose.
Tourtière
A Landaise-style
apple strudel whose pastry recipe substitutes butter with
(can you guess?) goose fat!
Confits and patés
This isn't
the place to explain the differences between the two, just
to say that the Landes duck and geese populations are raised
in a laudable purpose, maintaining the local tradition of
making fine accompaniments to toast and a glass of chilled
white wine.
Eating
out
Restaurant recommendations - as provided by owners and clients
alike. There are many more provided in our resort
guides.
Auberge
de Biaudos - Biaudos - between Bayonne
and Peyrehorade north of the river
Auberge
Batby, 63 avenue de Galleben, on the lake at Soustons. 05
58 41 18 80 - recommended by the Ridgways (2010) as "fantastic
for a special meal - set menu at €35 each, with a great
selection to choose from".
The
Farrers tell us that Relais de la Poste, 24 avenue de Maremne,
Magescq 05 58 47 70 25 is "excellent, looked after
the children well, food 9/10."
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