Forest and beach together in Europe

[JaffaCake24]

We’ve been to Landes region in France and loved it but looking for somewhere else.

We loved the combination of forest plus beach on the doorstep. All of us are pale, so we need shade and forest activities (walking, cycling etc) as the beach for us is only from about 4pm when the sun not so strong. We love to be by the sea though.

Please help, I can’t find anything similar.

Does it have to be a coastal beach or could it be lakeside i.e Garda in Italy?

Corsica?

Also Crete apparently had some lovely hiking spots

We've done forest and sun but not beach in the Aosta Valley, Dolomites, near Lake Bled, Lake Garda, Corsica and Sardinia.

Rovinj Croatia. Stony beaches, an old town, and next to a forest/ park with biking and walking.

We’ve done Lake Garda and loved it but keen for the real sea this holiday.

Greece is a bit hot in august so need probably Italy or France as we like good food! Anywhere…? In Italy maybe?

We did Croatia for our honeymoon but DH said the sea was too flat!

This is one of our favourite campsites in France for the very reason that it has both forest and beach https://www.lesgrandspins.com/en/

Northern Spain - it's called Green Spain for a very good reason, totally unlike the rest of the country. You can fly into Bilbao with EasyJet or get the ferry to Bilbao or Santander. Pretty but rugged beaches of the Atlantic and plenty of forested areas plus amazing hiking in the Picos de Europa. Never gets too hot there either! Llanes would be a nice base or Bakio is closer to Bilbao.

I second this! Great cycling through the forest and right on a beach.

Corsica! Maybe look at ile de re too, or the island next to it, not sure how much forest there is.

Lacanau in france would be perfect. Lots of holiday resorts

Yes we stayed at a lovely Pierre et vacances place there

also, Newborough, Anglesey
is my most favourite place in the world

europe.huttopia.com/en/destinations/campings/

There are some Huttopia sites which have both. The cabins are small but nice.

Lake Annecy is my happy place - lots of walking and lake beaches

I also agree with PP's - Lacanau/Maubuisson area is lovely. The lake is great for water activities, Maubuisson has a lovely beach. And between the beach and the Atlantic (approx 10km iirc) there is a beautiful forest for cycling, walking etc. And of course the Atlantic beach side is great for surfing/body boarding.

Ronce Les Bains or La Palmyre in France

https://siblu.co.uk/camping/france/south-west-coast/nouvelle-aquitaine/la-pignade?aid=KNC-GB-02-190408-6289438435cab1de&keyword=siblu%20la%20pignade&matchtype=e&device=m&network=%5Bsearch%5D&gadsource=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAzJOtBhALEiwAtwj8tm2ADJwmRcPpL02hUr-J4trX6kzrwciISdBdCxqD8IrnyP-CWe28FBoCj8AQAvDD_BwE

This ricks all your boxes, the are is in the forest, cycle tracks through the forest to the beach, miles and miles of shady cycling

Bourg D’Oisans (and that region generally) in French Alps is pretty spectacular. No sea but some fantastic rivers for white water rafting (definitely not flat water so will suit your DH!!) Cycling trails, canoeing, cable cars to top of mountains to see ice caves. Anywhere around there, Alp-d’uez region is so beautiful in summer. Weather is gorgeous too but not too hot. There’s also an outdoor pool in Bourg which our kids love.

The coast up from Copenhagen to Helsingborg in Denmark has white sand and the beautiful woodland at Bakken - complete with oldest funfair in the world and Hansel and gretel type houses

@SingsongSu Bourg d'Oisans sounds really nice. Did you stay in a resort there? When I looked, all I could find was ski resorts - not much info about summertime facilities.

Lake Bled/Bohinnj in Slovenia. Great swimming and amazing hikes on your doorstep

Vendee

We rented a house there but know the area fairly well having visited a few times. We booked all our trips: white water rafting and ice caves when we got there. We actually drive there from the UK. Bourg is small town at the bottom of Alpe D’Heuz you can just drive up there to the ski resort in five minutes. Also lots of places to stay in Alpe D’Huez and tourist places to book your trips.

Italy will be too hot for you in summer. It was 40 plus last year.

La Tremblade on West coast of France. Forests with cycle tracks, and beautiful sand dunes and beaches