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Astuces Voyage Bordeaux

A few useful hints for planning your trip to Bordeaux:

Contact the Bordeaux Tourist Office and get the tourist guide to the city, and a city map.

www.bordeaux-tourisme.com

For information on the Gironde département, the Comité Départemental du Tourisme (Département Tourism Committee) will provide with its « Carnet de Voyage » (Travel Notebook), which includes information on the vineyards, the Atlantic coast, the Arcachon Basin, the Libournais region, the Haute Garonne département, “Entre Deux Mers” (wine-growing area between the Garonne and Dordogne rivers), and much more.

www.tourisme-gironde.fr

The tourist guides will give you practical information to help in organising your stay: Le guide du Routard, Lonely Planet, Le Petit Futé etc.

There are many titles to help wine-lovers discover the riches of our region through the wine routes, including Voyages au pays des vins (Trip to Wine Country) from the Gironde Tourist Office, and vineyard maps from the Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux (Bordeaux Inter-professional Wine Council)

The bus and tram networks will take you to all four corners of Bordeaux. Stops are less than two minutes on foot from your accommodation in Le Village du Lac, and they will take you right into the city centre.

www.infotbc.com

Less than one hour to the Beach and the Lakes

The Atlantic Coast

Depending on what you want, choose your beach of fine sand, among the 126km that run along the Atlantic Coast.

Thrill-seekers have a wide choice of activities:

  • Go surfing, sea-kayaking or kite surfing in the wild waves of Lacanau Océan (unmissable stage of the World Surf Championships), Le Porge, Carcans, or surf the bore on the River Garonne
  • Indulge in jet-skiing on the Arcachon Basin, or the River Garonne.
  • Go water-skiing on the Lake at Lacanau (training site for the French team)
  • Take off in a paraglider and hang glider from the Dune du Pyla
  • Fly over the Arcachon Basin and the largest dune in Europe in a microlight or a helicopter
  • Go surfcasting on the beaches at Le Porge or Lacanau, or sea fishing on the Basin or in the Gironde Estuary

The lakes

Less than 35 mins by car from Le Village du Lac, 4-star Bordeaux campsite, explore the Lakes of the Gironde and the activities there:

  • Try an introduction to windsurfing or sailing beside the lakes of Bordeaux-Lac: Lacanau, Hourtin-Carcans (France’s largest lake)
  • Navigate the Leyre in a canoe or take the Porge Channel to get back to the Arcachon Basin
  • Go swimming with the family in compete safety on the lakes of Bordeaux, Lacanau, Hourtin-Carcans.
  • Enjoy a walk in the largest pine forest in France: the Forêt des Landes (Landes Forest), listed as part of the Landes de Gascogne Regional Natural Park
  • Stroll around the streets of Biscarrosse, that holiday high-spot offering activities for the whole family (lake, “taureau-piscine” [bull-running games with a pool], etc)

There are other, calmer activities for you too – nature-lovers can walk among flora and fauna along the various marked trails in the region:

  • Explore the 15km of trails about the Etang de Cousseau (Cousseau Lake), a nature reserve, where you might encounter deer, birds of prey, migrating birds, and much more.
  • Hike along part of the GR8 hiking route from Lac de Lacanau to Lège-Cap-Ferret

The Arcachon Basin

This 155km² inland sea, bordered by the Cap Ferret peninsula, the Dune du Pilat and the Leyre estuary, offers a choice of activities:

  • Enjoy all the pleasures of 70km of beaches (watersports, lounging around, etc)
  • Explore the 90km of coastal paths on foot or by bike
  • Go on an excursion on Pinasse boats or catamarans and explore the Arguin sandbank (the largest sandbank on the coast), Bird Island, the Dune du Pilat and the “Tchanquées” cabins (on stilts),
  • Follow the Oyster Trail, and discover the picturesque oyster-farming ports: l'Herbe, le Canon, la Hume, Larros (where you will find the Maison de l'Huître [the Oyster Centre] and the Chantiers Dubourdieu [shipbuilding yard),
  • Celebrate the Oyster Festival, meet the oyster farmers so that they can share their knowledge, visit the oyster beds and taste the “queen of the basin”.