Arcachon

[zaragirl87]

I’m visiting Bordeaux in May and would like to extend my trip to include a few days by the beach to relax and some good restaurants. Any suggestions from people who have been? Or anywhere else close by which fits the bill

I haven’t been but have a picture in my bathroom 😂 Always wanted to go. I’ll D’Oleron is fabulous. About 90 mins drive from Bordeaux .

Arcachon is lovely (in a sort of faded, gentler time sort of way). Chex Pierre at the end of the promenade is amazing.

Great array of fresh food at the indoor market in the centre of town.

Alma Mia does amazing pizzas and also has Whispering Angel available by the glass.

Would also recommend getting the ferry across to Cap Ferret. As you get off the ferry there is l'Escale - superb food and great service.

Lots of great recommendations. Thanks for sharing, have tagged on a few extra days to my trip

Check out the amazing sea water swimming pools (bassin de baignade) at Audonge, free and huge. We had a brilliant day trip there and wished we'd been closer!
There are cafes and oyster shacks nearby too.

Noticed a typo in my post above - clearly I meant Chez Pierre (but you probably worked that out!)

Dune du Pilat is also worth a visit. If you're feeling brave then running down it is amazing.

There are several towns around the bay. We enjoyed Andernos-les-Bains and Gujan-Mestras. Just a relaxed vibe of mostly French people on holiday. When the tide is out the whole bay becomes a vast sea of mud, which is not pretty but is amazing in its own right.

In both places (and probably others) you can get really fresh and cheap oysters at a terrace outside several of the fishing shacks. I have never really liked oysters, but I was there in a party of four and had just one to keep people company... and ended up eating five or six. They were so delicious - finally I understood what the point was! They are also amazingly cheap. Two dozen oysters and four glasses of wine was about €40.

Arcachon is absolutely lovely. Very family friendly and an easy, frequent 30 minute train journey from Bordeaux. Arcachon train station is an easy walk to rhe beach - it’s v central.

my favourite holidays have been in Arcachon and Bordeaux. Dune du Pilat is v easy by bus , but get the earliest bus you can get.

And the oyster shacks in Arcachon! Omg! Amazing!

Don’t forget to do the Bassins des Lumieres in Bordeaux.

We took the train to Arcachon, and had a couple of days wandering around the various parts of the town and hired bikes to cycle out to the Dune du Pilat.

We stayed just outside it in Teste de Buch, as a pp said lots of French families on holiday. The boulangerie was most amused by my attempt at French! Lots of nice walking. Good weather.