Landes North Coast, Landes de Gascogne Regional Natural Park

Automatic translation

This Landes region is contiguous to the border Gironde to the north and to Lot-et-Garonne to the east. Between land and sea, the coast is characterized by beautiful seaside resorts, such as Biscarrosse or Mimizan, with very long sandy beaches for relaxing, walking, surfing, or nautical activities. The landscape is varied and the large lakes and ponds are ideal for sailing, water skiing, learning to boating, stand up paddle boarding or canoeing / kayaking. Lush vegetation, immense forests of maritime pines as far as the eye can see and at the end, the beach, its horizon and the sparkling ocean: a beautiful vacation program!

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Sanguinet

Straddling the Gironde department and the Landes, the Lac de Cazeaux Sanguinet is a natural and wild body of water. Water sports are practiced there, and you can swim in clear, shallow waters. It is a quiet place, popular with families, where you can walk with your feet in the sand and cycle. Visit the Lake Museum to learn more about the remains of the Bronze Age and Gallo-Roman times, where the shores of the lake (which was lower) were occupied by our ancestors. Take a walk in the village of Sanguinet, visit the Butterfly Paradise to see beautiful insects with multicolored wings and flowers. At the end of July, a big Jazz festival takes place in Sanguinet.

 

Biscarrosse

Biscarrosse is the largest summer resort in the Landes. It is made up of 3 entities: Biscarrosse Ville, Plage, and Lac and offers a rich variety of natural sites, beaches, freshwater lakes, forests between dunes and valleys. Spend a day on the long beach of more than 15km, walk or cycle between lakes and forests on 125km of cycle paths, divided into 14 circuits. Take a stroll through the attractive town center of this trendy seaside resort, where you will discover numerous shops, restaurants and a pleasant seafront. Biscarrosse even has a casino, with various machines and table games, to try your luck and hope to extend the holidays! Golf enthusiasts can enjoy a magnificent 27-hole green facing the ocean, with a quality restaurant, at Golf de Biscarrosse.

For food lovers, the food market is held in town on Fridays and Sundays, on Saturdays it is on the beach side that you can do your gourmet shopping.

There is no shortage of leisure activities in Biscarrosse:

• The Museum of Traditions in fine weather for a walk with a boatman on one of the marshes, a Natura 2000 classified site.
• The Historical Museum of Aviation and the Seaplane, to learn all about these fascinating machines!
  
• Port Maguide, an exceptional leisure site designed in the 1950s, which today offers you a range of wonderful leisure and relaxation activities.
• Biscarrosse has very attractive summer leisure centers, such as the Aquapark for fun on giant inflatable structures, placed on the water.
• Go tree climbing, to gain height and observe the maritime pines up close...
• Take a surf lesson at one of the schools that offer introductions to this demanding sport with qualified instructors.
• Try mini golf, a fun activity for the whole family.
  
  

• Read our article : 3 good reasons to go for a holiday in Biscarrosse
  
• What if you tested the electric scooter in the Landes forest? Check out our article!

 

 

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Parentis-en-Born

Not far from Biscarosse and near the Lake, Parentis-en-Born has beautiful arenas where you can see shows during the Landes racing season. Here, you are quiet for the holidays and you can quickly go to the nearby lake, for example for fishing or a canoe trip, there is also an activity base in the trees (tree climbing).  

Mimizan

Mimizan, another large seaside resort on the coast, is also divided into several entities: Mimizan Plage and Mimizan Bourg. It is a very family resort, pleasant to live in with its multiple cycle paths which will allow you to walk between Bourg, beach and forest.

Born from the fashion for sea bathing launched by Napoleon III, Mimizan has 10 km of beaches. Between Mimizan Bourg and Plage, you can visit the abbey and the Mimizan Museum, the bell tower near the old church is a Unesco World Heritage Site. In associated visit, you will also have the chance to discover the Maison du Patrimoine. This place invites you to discover the Landes rural heritage through the emblematic characters of the resin tree and the shepherd.

• Another visit to the Landes industrial heritage born from the wood industry, that of the Papèteries de Gascogne on the road to Mimizan.
• For lovers of large natural spaces, a visit to the Lac d'Aureilhan site is a must. During this "flowery walk", we will explain to you the history of the formation of the Landes lakes as well as their silting problems, all to the song of the protected species of birds which once again inhabit the places since their classification. in Nature Reserve. Nautical bases are available, if you are a fan of water sports, now is the time to try the boat, take a sailing or windsurfing lesson, go stand up paddle or canoe kayak on the lake and its near channel.
  
• Another walk: The Étang de la Mailloueyre is a beautiful wild and exotic space, where you can take a walk of about 12 km, on a forest path, until you reach a beautiful viewpoint.
  
• Mimizan also offers a small municipal golf course with 9 holes.
• Mimizan also has arenas, near the beach and it is there that in summer, you can attend small Landes races, to learn a little more about the culture of bullfighting, dear to the heart of the Gascons.

Watch our report on the Cercle Nautique de Mimizan, to see all the boats you can rent and follow a descent of the current that carries water to the lake and the ocean.

 

Mimizan beach, pleasant all year round

 

Leisure at the Mimizan Nautical Base, on Lake Aureilhan

Saint-Julien-en-Born and the beach of Contis-les-Bains

In the town of Saint-Julien-en-Born, is 8km further on, the coastal town of Contis-les-Bains, where you can admire the only lighthouse in the Landes: Le Phare de Contis, with its beautiful white and black colors. It is from there that one contemplates one of the most beautiful points of view of the Landes coast, it is necessary for that to climb 183 steps, courage ! Saint-Julien-en-Born is 7300ha of forest and the tourists who stay there appreciate the natural setting, quieter than on the coast while keeping a few turns of the pedals (there are cycle paths to get around easily), the attractions of the Landes coast. In Contis, 8km of space await swimmers and surfers.

• Read our article on the descent of the Contis current in a Canoe
  
• 10 unmissable Landes experiences near Contis...

Contis Lighthouse @Lesley Williamson

Contis Plage @Lesley Williamson

Lit-et-Mixe and the Cap de l'Homy

The commune of Lit-et-Mixe is a calm and authentic place for holidays in the Landes. It is a popular destination for campers, who appreciate the tranquility of this small village. There is a beautiful forest of more than 11,000 ha of pines, perfect for hiking and cycling. The pond of Lit-et-Mixe is conducive to observing biodiversity, it is a classified wetland. Visit the Landes d'Antan Museum to learn more about life in the Landes countryside in the past, with anecdotes and the discovery of ancient and typical trades. There is also the small Bicycle Museum, which will delight fans of the little queen. On the way to Cap de l'Homy, a beautiful wild and natural beach of 10km, preserved from the flood of holidaymakers, especially in mid season ! We swim there, we do long walks, surfing and there is a campsite. Free shuttle from the village to the beach in summer, convenient!

 

By bicycle to Lit-et-Mixe and Cap de l'Homy beach @Lesley Williamson

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Old Saint Girons and Le Lac de Léon

Small seaside resort, 17km of beaches await you. The village presents some medieval remains and religious buildings, because it is placed on the road to Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle, on the coastal route to Bayonne. A forest commune, it was once swampy and the great campaign to dry up the coast, undertaken by Napoleon to fix the dunes and clean up the region, gave birth to the very beautiful current massif.

Nearby, the current of Huchet offers you beautiful canoe trips on the waves, as well as a superb, humid nature, made of a completely original mangrove atmosphere. The beach at the end of the Huchet stream is intimate and unspoiled!

Nearby, take a walk in the small village of Léon, where the Lac de Léon is located, with its fresh water, its activities to do with the family, its cycle path...

• The most beautiful sunsets on the beaches of the Landes, to discover in our article
  
• A boat trip with the boatmen in the Courant d'Huchet Nature Reserve from Lac de Léon
  

Leon Lake @Lesley Williamson

 

The village of Léon and the lake, suitable for swimming and water sports

Pissos

A little further from the beach, small Landes villages offer a different version of holidays in the Landes: between forest and rivers, lakes and heritage, it is an authentic and also gastronomic moment that awaits you. Pissos is a green resort, people come here to recharge their batteries and enjoy the attractions of the Testarouman leisure center. There is also an equestrian center, a municipal swimming pool and the possibility of tree climbing, tennis, archery, cycling on the tens of kilometers of trails... And the ocean, a few tens of minutes for a savory getaway!

Read our report on the Testarouman leisure center

 

Pissos and its nature activities

Sore and the Landes de Gascogne Regional Nature Park

On the banks of the La Petite Leyre river, which is a protected environment, hosting species of birds, remarkable flora and fauna, Sore is an old fortified town, you will see vestiges there through the Porte des Anglais. You can go for walks, such as the Balcon de la Leyre, where there is an Orchard Conservatory of endemic species on the way. It is said that there are miraculous fountains in Sore, which can cure ailments and their presence attracted pilgrims in the past. About twenty minutes from Sore is the village of Sabers, where you can visit the Ecomusée de Marquèze which will give you a good overview with an attractive museography, of life in the Grandes Landes in the 19th century.

• We visited the Écomusée de Marquèze, read our article! (fr)
  
• Read our article on cultural visits and museums in the Landes
  

 

Marquèze Ecomuseum in Sabers

Labouheyre

Well located to shine on one side towards the forest and the other towards the ocean, Labouheyre has 3 bodies of water, it is a perfect destination for fishing. There is also the Nautical Base of Mexico not far and all the walks to do on the forest trails.

Onesse and Laharie

On the way to Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle, (the way to Tours) it is a small typical Landes village with beautiful houses. The beaches are about twenty kilometers away and there are hikes to do in the pines and to discover old small wash houses.

Morcenx

In the Morcenais Country, there is the pretty Arjuzanx Reserve (fr): more than 200 ha of preserved ecosystem, for the observation of avian fauna and in particular the common cranes. There are guided tours organized in season and nature activities to discover. It is a former lignite mine, now managed by a mixed union for the protection of the environment.

Tartas

In the Tartusate Country, people come to enjoy nature : Canoeing on the Midouze, walks on the trails, and also by bike on the Sacandibérique, this great pilgrim cycle route (the Eurovélo 3), which crosses Europe from Norway to Spain. Small fountains, churches, traditional festivals and charming little shops, we take the time to live in this region of the Landes!

The Landes forest, magical and generous