Car Hire Arcachon - Mini guide to Arcachon

Arcachon, the oldest resort on the Cote d‘Argent possesses beautiful white sandy beaches and is a favourite haunt of Bordeaux’s inhabitants.

The main attractions not to be missed include the sweeping beach with its long promenade. On the beach be sure to climb up the imposing sand dune, la Dune du Pyla, and try to walk as far up it as your sinking feet can take you before joining the scores of people running down it as fast as they can.

A good way to explore the town is on foot, especially the wide boulevards and expensive mansions of Ville d’Hiver (winter town). This area overlooks the seaside-hugging summer town and can be reached by strolling down the Rue de Mar and taking a lift which deposits you in the flower filled Parc Mauresque, with its fine ocean views and the winter town arrayed behind it. Further afield, for hiking enthusiasts, is the largest forest in Western Europe, Las Landes, with its numerous trails and paths.

As befitting a Bordeaux resort, the food quality and choices are excellent. Two restaurants well worth trying for their quality seafood are La Marche and La Plancha. Shopping options centre on expensive boutiques and designer clothes stores for the well-heeled winter town residents.

Interesting excursions are available from the many boats which leave the Thiers and Eyrac jetties and which visit oyster farms, the Arcachon basin and Cap Ferret on the opposite peninsular. Also close to Arcachon is Las Landes Forest with its wildlife and scenic trails.

The best way to reach Arcachon is by train. You can get to Bordeaux from Paris in three hours and then there are fairly regular trains from Bordeaux to Arcachon, taking about 50 minutes.