Lacanau: mountain bike ride and seaside walk

I love going to Lacanau! With its large beaches, pine forests, and lake, there are some beautiful nature walks to do. For a weekend, I went for a walk in this magnificently colorful setting. Follow me for a mountain bike ride on the cycle paths and a walk by the sea!

A mountain bike outing in the Landes forest

Did you know that the Landes forest (which covers 3 departments, including Gironde) Is it the largest artificial forest in Europe? It was planted with maritime pines by man to stabilize the land and drain the many marshy areas. Imagine the life of the inhabitants of the time between the sand dunes near the coast and the marshes inland? Today, when you ride on the cycle paths, it is hard to believe that you are riding on land that was once very hostile !

The beautiful cycle paths of the Landes

I recommend the route between Lake Lacanau and Lake Hourtin-Carcans. It's an exceptional cycle path that goes through the pine forests. I did about twenty kilometers and you can choose your distance because it's not a loop. The path is varied, pleasant and it smells so good of pine trees! But be careful, it climbs. We pass over the dunes and even if the ground of the tracks is tarred, the difference in altitude changes all the time: it goes up, it goes down and then back up again. But what a joy to exert yourself in such an environment.

When you get a little higher, you have a beautiful view of the forest

The more adventurous can take the sandy tracks that run alongside the cycle paths... I tried it and didn't really manage to make any progress.

We met quite a few brave parents who were equipped with an ingenious traction system to attach their child's bike to their bike so that everyone could enjoy the ride: the Trail Gator!

A well-marked cycle path

The route I recommend is a greenway on the famous Vélodyssée, the longest cycle route in France! It crosses France from Roscoff to Hendaye in 1,250 km. Quite a program, isn't it? Before embarking on a tour of France, let's get back to our ride.

No way to go wrong, the path is clearly marked!

To start this walk, I advise you to park at edge of Lake Lacanau, in the Moutchic beach car park. Then take the forest path, turn left once then immediately right and you will cross the beautiful cycle path.

Moutchic beach, on the shores of Lake Lacanau

To best prepare for your outing, take a look at the map of cycle paths in Gironde which lists the different greenways in the area, points of interest, etc.

And to delve deeper into the subject, we've put together an article for you on the greenways of Gironde. I'm sure you'll want to go straight away!

Seaside walk in Lacanau

Now that we've had a good workout in the woods, let's take a trip to Lacanau Beach ! It's one of my favorite places to go swimming. There are four beaches in Lacanau, but I always go to the central beach because it's surrounded by nature, with a magnificent sea and miles of sand, as well as plenty of shops and great restaurants !

How about a meal with such a view?

The bike ride had worked up an appetite, and as soon as we arrived in Lacanau Océan, we rushed to the restaurant L'Assiette. A friend had highly recommended it to me, and the good reviews I found online had finally convinced me. I, too, can only recommend it to you. It's good, fresh, and not very expensive!

The delicious specialty of the restaurant l'Assiette

I opted for the house specialty : Rice, small vegetables, melting fish and an indescribable but tasty sauce. All with a view of the sea. In short, a very good plan.
For the evening, I have another address to recommend : the Bistro des Cochons. I've been there many times and every time, it's a treat. Enough talk about food, let's get back to the beach...

Now let's head to the beach!

I love this place because there's something for everyone. Whether you like to spend hours reading on your towel, building the most beautiful sandcastles, surfing... You can do it at Lacanau beach and what's more, the beach is supervised all summer long.

It's also possible to rent electric bikes that are suitable for riding on the sand at low tide. Aloha Bike 's are great and very stylish! The rental agency even offers reservations at 7 a.m. to enjoy the beautiful colors of sunrise... it promises to be magical!

At low tide, we take the opportunity to ride on the beach - Photo credit: Aloha Bike

4 p.m. is snack time! And yes, even for adults. When I'm in Lacanau, I can't miss the wonderful artisan ice cream maker Gelato Familia. It's a little further out than the others, but it's definitely worth the detour. It's always busy here.

I assure you it's hard to choose, everything looks so good.

The ice creams are delicious and made on site. The flavors are varied and original: green apple sorbet, snickers, candied chestnuts... to which you can add pistachios, speculoos... Last but not least: they are very generous with the quantities for the greatest pleasure of gourmets.

A chocolate peanut ball… my favorite

If you have some time left in Lacanau, why not try out the activities offered by the Les 3 Bandits leisure park ? You can try paintball, laser tag, pedal karts, and even archery! A new activity that combines paintball and archery. Original, isn't it?

So there you have it, plenty of ideas for activities in Lacanau ! As I told you, there's something for every taste and style. Now it's up to you to choose!

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Article written by Mélanie Oliva for the Bordeaux Gironde Guide