I didn\u2019t stumble upon this spot by chance. My partner\u2019s family are from the region, and this forest-fringed triangle of land by the Atlantic has become one of my favourite parts of France. <\/a>When the city blues hit, a few days of sun, forest air and soft Atlantic breeze feel like an antidote.<\/p>\n One spring, we flew to Bordeaux<\/a> and boarded a train heading south-west towards Hendaye, pausing at the station just long enough to pick up a chewy, rum-laced canel\u00e9 \u2013 the region\u2019s signature cake since the 18th century. No trip to Nouvelle-Aquitaine feels right without one.<\/p>\n Two hours later<\/a>, I arrived in Dax, a French city that dates to the fourth century and is known for its thermal spas. We crossed the Adour River at dusk to reach the village of Sainte-Marie-de-Gosse. It felt like a place where time was paused.<\/p>\n The next day, driving further south-west, I meandered through forests of maritime pine and caught glimpses of the Pyr\u00e9n\u00e9es. This is a land shaped by water and wood: briny air from the ocean, crisp and cool from the mountains, and the hush of trees.<\/p>\n In 2024, Landes had 1.7 million visitors, a figure that might surprise given the region\u2019s quiet reputation. Yet that is part of its charm<\/a>. It is deeply loved by the French but still flies under the radar internationally.<\/p>\n A villa stay can help visitors fall into the local pace. I met Joanna La Forge, a Briton who runs villa rental company, Summer France, with her French husband. \u201cI always dreamt of living in France,\u201d she said. \u201cBut here, it\u2019s not just about the landscape, it\u2019s the rhythm of life. People genuinely understand how to live slowly.\u201d<\/p>\n Joanna recommends the communes of Moliets or Messanges as a base, with the calm of the Landes, yet within reach of the Basque Country and Spain. In this area, accommodation for two starts from around \u00a3600 in August, with Summer France, falling to around \u00a3200 in September. Villa guests cycle to Moliets\u2019s Saturday market, take surf lessons from Golf Surf School <\/a>and pick up asparagus in Azur.<\/p>\n Winemaking here also holds surprises. In Messanges, they bury barrels beneath the dunes, a medieval practice revived for a fruity flavour. Just a short cycle from the villas<\/a>, Bergerie des Vignerons de Messanges<\/a> produces a sandy-soil ros\u00e9 made from Cabernet Franc and Merlot.<\/p>\n Auberge du Soleil in Azur<\/a>, a rustic inn once favoured by former president Fran\u00e7ois Mitterrand, serves traditional Landes cuisine in an unpretentious setting. Just 15 minutes away in Magescq, the Coussau family\u2019s Relais de la Poste <\/a>offers a refined two-Michelin-starred restaurant and a more casual bistro. Seafood lovers can head to Chez Vincent<\/a> in L\u00e9on.<\/p>\n Most villas include terraces and private pools, tucked within pine groves. Guests come back year after year, often to the same villa.<\/p>\n That quiet rhythm defines the Landes coast. In Capbreton and Hossegor, wild Atlantic waves roll onto dune-backed beaches. Best visited in September, when the crowds fade, this coast offers more than scenery. You come for the beaches, but stay for the way of being. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The lesser-known Landes is a coastal region favoured by the French, where forests, markets and vineyards meet Atlantic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":183390,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[2000,299,5510,36,58732,17978,10785,183],"class_list":{"0":"post-183389","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-europe-travel","11":"tag-france","12":"tag-france-travel","13":"tag-iweekend","14":"tag-summer-holidays","15":"tag-travel"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/SEI_255152694.jpg\")
Surfers at Hossegor Beach (Photo: Henrik Trygg\/Getty\/Corbis Documentary RF)<\/p>\n![\"View](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/SEI_255152795.jpg\")
The Huchet river in Moliets (Photo: Jerome Chobeaux\/Getty\/iStockphoto)<\/p>\n