If you are passing through the region of Gironde there is a great day trip out to the Bay of Arcachon (Bassin d’Arcachon). Namely, a visit to the highest dune in Europe, the Dune du Pilat!

The Dune of Pilat is a protected natural site, 2.9 km long, 616 m wide and 110 m high and offers some of the most fantastic views across the bay and forest.

HOW TO GET THERE?

There are 5 ways to get from Bordeaux to the Dune du Pilat: train, bus, taxi, bicycle or car

 

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Une publication partagée par Bordeaux Expats (@bordeauxexpats) le 2 Avril 2019 à 1 :32 PDT

TRAIN / BUS

Travelling from the Gare Saint Jean in Bordeaux, take the TER to the station of Arcachon. It roughly a 50 min local train trip. Then directly from Gare de Arcachon, take the Bus Baïa  Line 1 and get off at the Dune du Pilat. The bus timetables change between seasons, so check them out via the website prior to your trip (25 min one direction)

CAR 

This is probably the most direct and most flexible method if you have the luxury of having a car. On a good day, the 70 km will take only about 45 min. However, if you have the unfortunate pleasure of heading out there on a summer’s day with the rest of the hoards, it’s not unheard of to sit in the traffic jams for a couple of hours.

A63 –> Bayonne or A63 –> Bordeaux
A660 –> Arcachon
N250 –> La Teste de Buch
D259 –> Dune du Pilat

Parking

There are several car parks available to visitors. The main car park is just off the roundabout near the dune. It is holds around 950 cars / buses. It is from this parking that you can access the seasonal staircase that is installed from April to November. Access to the staircase is only around 400 m and is an easy walk.

The price of the car park changes year to year but you can expect that in season you’ll pay €4 and up for a couple of hours (less in winter).

TAXI

This is an untried method by myself and I should imagine it will become expensive but do-able.

Going on things I can find online, the cost could be around €120-€150 one way.

BICYCLE

If you are a keen cyclist, sure you can head out to the bay on your bike. However, this would be an approximately 4 hr bike ride on the national roads! If you are already in Arcachon, there are many coast cycling paths that lead around the bay (including the Dune du Pilat). You can count around 10 km from downtown Arcachon to the Dune to Pilat.

For more information check out this website.