Bordeaux, the Landes Lakes and Arcachon Bay

Editor's note

Two nights at Gradignan, about 11km from the centre, with the tram into town. Walk into the Miroir d'eau in front of the Place de la Bourse, 3,450m² of water two centimetres deep, and watch the façades of the 18th-century Port de la Lune reflected in it; the port has been UNESCO-listed since 2007. Downstream, the Cité du Vin opened in 2016, and the wartime submarine base beside it now holds the Bassins des Lumières and its immersive exhibitions. Eat a canelé, the little caramelised cake of the city.

Editor's note

One night in the pines at Saint-Symphorien, about 14km from the Domaine départemental d'Hostens. Five lakes lie in its 730 hectares, one of them set aside for swimming and water sports, with waymarked loops of 8, 11 and 16km round them. West of the domaine the Leyre winds under its trees towards the basin, and canoes are hired at Belin-Béliet for the paddle down it.

Editor's note

Two nights at Arcachon, about 6km from the bay's sights. The Dune du Pilat, measured at 103.6m in 2023 and the tallest in Europe, is climbed by a 170-step stairway, and from the crest you look over the Banc d'Arguin to Cap Ferret. Boats of the Union des Bateliers Arcachonnais run round the Île aux Oiseaux and its cabanes tchanquées, the huts the oyster farmers built on stilts. Behind the beach, the villas of the 19th-century Ville d'Hiver stand under the pines, with the view from the Sainte-Cécile observatory. Across the bay at Le Teich, a 110-hectare reserve open since 1972 has recorded more than 320 species, 80 of which nest there; its longest loop is 6km with 20 hides. Migrants pass through in spring and autumn. Oysters are eaten at the farmers' huts at Gujan-Mestras.

Editor's note

Two nights at Lacanau-Océan, on the dunes behind the beach. The town has been one of the capitals of French surfing since the Lacanau Pro joined the World Surf League's qualifying series in 1979, and lessons run on the beach. Inland, the 600-hectare Réserve naturelle de l'Étang de Cousseau, protected since 1976, has otters, European pond turtles and carnivorous sundews, and a waymarked trail through it. North in the Médoc, the Lac d'Hourtin-Carcans covers 56.67km² and is the largest natural freshwater lake in France, with a supervised summer beach at Maubuisson, a greenway on the old railway from Hourtin to Carcans and the twin 27m brick lighthouses of Hourtin standing in the dunes. The Vélodyssée runs the whole coast behind the beaches.

Editor's note

One night at Bruges on the lake north of Bordeaux, with the wine route driven on the way in. The Médoc runs up the left bank of the Gironde from the city, a strip of gravel vineyards holding some of the most famous estates in the world. Château Margaux, a First Growth with a neo-Palladian château of the early 19th century, and Château Mouton Rothschild at Pauillac, whose museum holds the artists' labels commissioned since 1945, are both toured by appointment, so book before you travel. Between them at Cussac stands Fort Médoc, built by Vauban in 1689 to close the estuary along with the citadel at Blaye and UNESCO-listed since 2008; its chapel, powder magazine and bakery are still there. The campsite is about 25km from the fort, at the bottom of the wine road and on the tram into Bordeaux.