Villa,
Cottage & Apartment Holidays in South West France
Landes National Park Region Guide
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A
peaceful, natural retreat - refresh yourself!
An area of over 300 sq km and a population of just 350,000 - the
Landes National Park is somewhere to spread your
wings and to get back in touch with nature. Visitors here invariably
leave with a renewed sense of peace and vitality. For active days
there are lakes for boating, swimming, picnic-ing
or just observing the wildlife, and several centres
for horse-riding, canoeing, cycle
trails, rambling along marked routes or discovering local
history. Join in village festivals in summer -
lively, friendly, great fun! In the north the wine country
is on your doorstep, in the middle and south the ocean
beaches of Côte d'Argent and Côte
Basque are in easy reach, as is the culture and heritage of Gascony.
All in all, a natural haven.
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Click on map
for enlargement and more detail
Check our Travel page for flight/ferry
options to the Landes National Park |
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WHAT'S
THE LANDES NATIONAL PARK LIKE? |
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The
Landes National Park is a vast area of natural beauty, shady
pine forest opening occasionally into shimmering
wetlands and lakes. Gentle streams
and rivers, notably the Grande and Petite
Leyre, criss-cross the region. There's history too
- every now and then emerge sleepy hamlets and villages rooted
in history, many with churches dating back 900 years.
Occasionally, through the trees, you'll see isolated farmhouses
seemingly guarded by a few dozen geese, or a distinctive half-timbered
maison landaise standing proud in a clearing. Inviting
trails lead off into the forest, waiting to be explored. Nature,
history, open space and an emphasis on the finer,
simpler things in life - the perfect antidote for
the stresses of modern life. |
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The Landes National Park is a natural playground containing
numerous lakes perfect for sailing, boating, swimming, picnic-ing
or just observing the wildlife, there are innumerable places
for horse-riding, cycling and rambling along marked routes.
Cycling and walking trails - the larger Landes
National Park villages usually offer local walking and cycling
trails. Moustey and Morcenx
are good examples. The Mios-Bazas trail (from
the bassin d'Arcachon south eastwards towards Gascony) is
a lovely prepared forest cycle path which passes through the
north of the Landes National Park. Landes National
Park centres at Belin-Beliet and
Sabres offer a booklet with a wide selection
of suggested routes.
Horse-riding - horse-riding centres in the
region (including at Pissos, Sore,
Trensacq) offer treks & lessons, usually
for all ages, in what is an ideal environment. The Landes
Horse-riding Federation has addresses and details.
Canoeing offers an unforgettably different
perspective of the region. On the Leyre river, known locally
as the Petit Amazone, people of all ages and experience can
take canoe and kayak rides from various spots along its shore.
Look out for otters along the way. There are canoeing centres
at Commensacq, Pissos and
Belin-Beliet. Nearer the coast (towards the
south) there is also canoeing on the courant d'Huchet
at Leon.
Nature - being a department of wide-open
space, nature is everywhere in the Landes National Park. An
excellent place to enjoy this is the Domaine Departemental
de Loisirs at Hostens at the northern end of the
region, a woodland park with cycling and wildlife trails set
around a beautiful lake with beaches and suitable for swimming
(supervised in summer). There are also walks and trails at
Arjuzanx lake, near Morcenx.
For bird-watching, the Marais d'Orx on the
southern tip of the region, is a staging post for over 250
species.
Experience local history & culture -
the Landes National Park is culturally quite distinct from
the regions around. One tradition is stilt-walking - when
the Landes was mostly marsh, this is how the locals got around.
A list of demonstration events is available from the Landes
Folklore Society. Another is course landaise,
the Gascon version of bull-fighting (highly skilful, and doesn't
involve killing the animals). Events take place across the
region, including in Dax, Parentis, Mimizan, Sainte Eulalie.
More details from the
Course Landaise Federation.
Music & festivals - the people of the
south-west are renowned for their festivals (locally known
a heste), and the Landes is no exception. Each year
in mid-August the small village of Uzeste hosts
a jazz festival, known world-wide for a fantastic
atmosphere. Expect to hear the distinctive, infectious melodies
and rhythms of the bandas, Landais brass bands. Nearby
Luxey also holds an annual street
music festival in August. Bigger events also take
place in Mont-de-Marsan (July), Dax
(August) and Parentis (July) - you'll
need some stamina, they last five days and five nights!
Markets - the Landes Gascon-influenced heritage
means food is an important part of life here too. Traditional
markets take place weekly throughout the region, including
in Labouheyre, Luxey, Magescq,
Morcenx, Sabres, Sore.
Best to check days with property owners.
Spas - on the southern tip of the region
is France's spa capital, Dax, known for the therapeutic value
of its hot springs since Roman times. One of the best-known
is Thermes
de Borda, an extensive pool complex, for treatments,
or simply for fun!
The Landes National Park is, of course, located adjacent to
the Landes coast and all it has to offer
activity-wise, including golf, beaches and surfing.
Visit that region's page for more details: Côte
Landaise
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| PHOTO
GALLERY
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Pony-trekking
in the Landes forest
Typical maison landaise
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Player
in bandas, Landes brass band
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Foie gras & salade landaise, ingredients
Course landaise - the 'swerve' |
LANDES
NATIONAL PARK
OUR HIGHLIGHTS |
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picked out five must-dos in the Landes National Park: |
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Watch a course landaise, then join the town party
afterwards and drink up the atmosphere and excitement - an
amazing experience |
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Lunch
or dinner in one of the Landes' small towns' unpretentious
restaurants - eat royally for the price of a pizza |
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Late
afternoon forest walk, or cycle- or horse-ride, enjoying the
myriad sounds of wildlife |
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Day-out
at a magnificent Côte Landaise beach, then leaving the
crowds behind to return gratefully to your forest retreat |
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Drive
around sleepy Landes villages admiring their many stunning
medieval churches |
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USEFUL
LINKS |
TOURIST
OFFICES
Landes
Tourist Board
Parc
National Regional des Landes
Castets
Dax
Mont-de-Marsan
Morcenx
There are also offices on the edge of the region at Bazas,
Parentis,
Mimizan,
Soustons
SELECTED
ACTIVITES
Cycling
in the Landes (booklet order form)
Horse-riding
centres in the Landes
Also, a booklet of walking, cycling and
horse-riding trails is available from all Landes
tourist offices
Nature reserves/parks:
- Hostens
- Marais
d'Orx
- Arjuzanx
(under construction)
Canoeing/kayak centres:
- Commensacq
- Belin-Beliet
- Others at Moustey, Pissos, Castets
Landais
culture and history
Ecomusée
de Marquèze, Sabres
Course
landaise - history, events, clips
Stilt-walking
Landes
gastronomy
Establishments
offering Landes cuisine
Thermal
spas in Dax
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Many
visitors to the Landes National Park go
native, unwinding with walks and cycle rides close to where
they stay, enjoying the place they are staying in and visiting
not much more than the local boulangerie... If you do wish
to go further afield, here are a few suggestions:
• Learn about Landais culture: the
Ecomusée des Grandes Landes, is
a 'living' museum where traditional 19th landais farm-buidlings
have been sympathetically reconstructed and brought to life
by demonstrations of rural life back then. It is reached
by a 6 minute train ride from Sabres and is worth making
a day for, especially for those with children.
• Landais village life is quiet and
traditional - a reminder of how much of France lived pre-1939.
There are numerous villages worth visiting in the region,
including Luxey, Moustey,
notable for being home to two churches built side-by-side,
and Mezos. There is also the small village
of Uzeste to the north is the unlikely
home to 12th century gothic church containing the remains
of Pope Clement V. On your visits look out for 'cercles',
traditional Landais cafés originally the refuge and
meeting place of the privileged classes after the Revolution.
• Visit the 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
• For gastronomes, the Landes, with
Gascony, is France's largest foie gras producing area; whether
you prefer the goose or duck version there's plenty of choice
around. The Armagnac region isn't far away
- the ecomusée de l'armagnac is just south of Labastide
d'Armagnac, situated in the château Garreau.
• Visit the coast: several lovely
coastal resorts are easily reachable from teh Landes National
Park, including the Bassin d'Arcachon just
north of Biscarrosse - ferries run from Arcachon to a host
of destinations including Cap Ferret, a
smart resort on the other side of the Bassin d’Arcachon
and to the beautiful Banc d’Arguin,
a sand-bank nature reserve. To the south, Hossegor
and Biarritz also have a lot to
offer: boutique shopping, great bars and restaurants, world-famous
surfing beaches.
• 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
(a lovely, under-rated city) and even Bilbao
in Spain (and famolus for the Guggenheim museum)
are in manageable day-tripping distance from the southern
parts of the region.
As well as the attractions listed here, the Landes
National Park location in the centre of Aquitaine
mean its neighbouring regions attractions are often also
in reach. It borders the Pays des Vins
and Bassin d'Arcachon to the north, the Côte
Landaise to the west and, to the south Gascony,
the Côte Basque and even parts of
the Pyrenees are reachable - please browse
away for more discoveries...
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In
this part of Aquitaine, as with all the others, food plays
a very important part in people's way of life. Here's a selection
of what you might find:
• Salade landaise, a wonderful mixture
of fresh cold salad, locally-grown asparagus 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 landais-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.
• Cèpes and girolles. There
are a lot of words for 'mushroom' in French, a testament to
the depth of its culinary heritage. Look out for these delicately-flavoured
fungi in September/October, either in the forest itself, or
on the local restaurant's 'specials' menu.
• Vins de Tursan, Floc de Gascogne
and Armagnac all come from the area just
to the south of the Landes National Park.
If this has whetted your appetite and you'd like more details
and even a few recipes, try this link to 'Qualité
Landes', a site promoting local produce.
To try Landes cuisine while you are there, twenty establishments
in and around the region, brought together by the three Michelin-starred
chef Michel Guérin, offer very high quality, authentic
Landais cuisine. Details available at the Association
des Cuisiniers Landais website - click on a place
name for more details.
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