The Gironde sits just north of the Landes, and it’s home to three of the biggest days out on this whole coast: the Dune du Pilat, Arcachon and Bordeaux. We’ve stayed at two campsites here at completely different stages of family life. Bordeaux Lac was our first ever camping trip with a baby, and Camping Côte d’Argent in Hourtin was a surf-filled summer with our 4 and 6 year old.
Heading further south? Our Landes campsite guide and things to do in the Landes cover Hossegor, Capbreton, Biscarrosse and the rest of the coast down to the Basque border.
Where to stay in the Gironde
Camping Côte d’Argent, Hourtin Plage
The biggest draw is the newly renovated 9,000m² pool area, with the Pirate Waterpark at the top, two lagoons in the middle (with real fish in glass tanks between them), a lazy river, racer slides, a toddler pool and an indoor dome with a retractable roof. Our girls absolutely loved it. The one thing to know is that the Pirate Waterpark got very busy with unsupervised kids, and our eldest was hurt more than once by children flying down the slide before she’d got out. We ended up waiting at the top with her.
The other reason we booked was the location. Walk out of the campsite, turn right, and you’re in Hourtin Plage within a few metres, with the golden beach at the end of the town. We spent the whole week doing surf lessons with Twins Surf School, and our youngest had her very first lesson two days after turning 4.
Before you book: we paid €980 for 10 nights on our own pitch with electric and a fridge box, which I do find expensive for camping. The evening shows start at 9.30pm, the foam party was so overcrowded we left after about 10 minutes, and groups of teenagers were loud between 11pm and 1am. The nearest supermarket is an Aldi around a 15 minute drive away. We’d still go back, we really did love it.
Read our full Camping Côte d’Argent review
Yelloh Village Bordeaux Lac, Bordeaux
Bordeaux Lac was our first ever camping trip with a baby, in March 2020, and it’s a genuinely peaceful little site just 8km from the city centre with a tram and bus right to the gate. There are 3 lakes on the grounds (not for swimming) plus a splash park, and Bordeaux Lac itself, which the campsite borders, has a supervised swimming beach. We spent every day of our stay in Bordeaux city, and the campsite made a lovely, quiet base to come back to.
There’s no kids club or evening entertainment here, which suits families who want quiet rather than a lively site. Our only real complaint was local drag racers on a nearby road one night, nothing to do with the campsite itself. We stayed in the Loupiac cottage and you can read our full thoughts on it, including the square French pillows we weren’t expecting.
Read our full Bordeaux Lac review and our Loupiac cottage accommodation review.
Camping La Rive, Biscarrosse (just over the border in the Landes)
Strictly speaking Biscarrosse is in the Landes, not the Gironde, but it’s so close to Arcachon, the Dune du Pilat and Bordeaux that it belongs on this page too. La Rive is our favourite campsite in the whole area and we’ve stayed twice. It sits on the Lac de Cazaux-Sanguinet with its own sandy lake beach and brilliant sunsets, and the indoor pool area has a lazy river and two kids pools side by side. We did Arcachon and the Dune from here, around 35km away, and spent a day in Bordeaux, about 70km and an hour and a half’s drive.
Read our full La Rive review, or see all of our Landes campsites.
Gironde campsites we’d love to stay at
We haven’t stayed at these yet, so this is what they offer rather than what we found. They’re all on our list, and all four have camping pitches as well as mobile homes.
Atlantic Club Montalivet, Vendays-Montalivet. A big Médoc resort with direct access to the beach, five giant waterslides and indoor and outdoor pools.
Le Palace, Soulac-sur-Mer. Around 400m from the beach, with nine waterslides and big pitches of around 100m².
Yelloh! Village Les Grands Pins, Lacanau. Around 350m from the beach through the pines, with a heated aquatic area and pitches for your own tent.
Camping & Spa L’Océan, Lacanau. A 5,000m² aquatic area, 1,500m² of it covered and heated, so it’s a good shout for a cooler week. You book this one directly with the campsite.
Things to do in the Gironde with kids
Hourtin Plage
We spent every day at the beach at Hourtin Plage. You walk down the sand dune on the path and at the bottom there’s a lifeguarded swimming area, which was supervised during our high-season stay. The town is small, a greengrocer, boulangerie, a few places to eat and lots of surf shops, but it had a really nice vibe, especially when the Monday night market was on. We loved cocktails and food at Le Surf, the restaurant closest to the beach.
It’s a very seasonal area though. By the last week of our holiday quite a few places had already started closing for longer, so expect less open outside the main summer weeks.
Lac d’Hourtin-Carcans
We only visited the lake once, on a cloudy day, and I had no idea how big it was. It’s around 18km long. We hired a pedalo at the port, which the girls loved, and the water was really shallow where we were. It’s nice, but not as nice as people had told me, the buildings at the port felt very dated and reminded me a little of Butlin’s in the 90s. Still, if your family wants a break from the big Atlantic waves, it’s a sandy beach and water without the same risk.
Dune du Pilat
The Dune du Pilat is the tallest sand dune in Europe, over 100 metres high (it shifts a bit year to year with the wind), and it’s one of the most famous sights on this whole coastline. We visited during our first stay at La Rive in Biscarrosse, around 35km south. If you’re not pregnant or carrying a toddler, climbing it is a great workout, Mike made it to the top and said the views over the Bassin d’Arcachon and the pine forests were worth every step. I didn’t quite manage it myself being heavily pregnant.
Good for older kids and adults rather than babies.
Arcachon and the Bassin
Arcachon is a lovely town and we barely heard a single English speaker on our visit, which to us is always a great sign of a good place to explore. It’s where French families holiday within their own country, with indoor and outdoor markets, clothes and coffee shops and a calm, shallow bay that’s much gentler than the open Atlantic, so it suits younger children better than the surf beaches further south. You can take a boat trip from the harbour across to Cap Ferret to see the oyster farming villages, or round to the Île aux Oiseaux (island of the birds), and several boat operators run the Dune du Pilat as a sea view from the trip too.
Good for all ages, the bay is much gentler than the open Atlantic, so it’s a good one for babies and toddlers to paddle in with you close by. Check the boat operators’ own sites for current times and prices before you go, especially in peak season.
Bordeaux city
We stayed at Bordeaux Lac campsite, just 8km out with a tram and bus right to the gate, and spent every day of that trip in the city itself. It’s stunning architecturally and there’s a genuinely good Science and Nature museum in the botanical gardens that kids will love. Bordeaux also has the Cité du Vin, a wine museum that despite the subject runs family tours with grape juice tastings for younger visitors, and the Miroir d’Eau, a giant reflecting pool by the river that turns into a free splash pad on hot days, which is an easy win with toddlers.
When we stayed at Côte d’Argent we did Bordeaux as a day trip on a Sunday to avoid the crowds. It was still fairly busy, but calm enough. We parked at a park and ride and got the tram into the city, which is the best way to do it and avoid the traffic. Rue Sainte-Catherine is one of the longest pedestrian shopping streets in Europe at around 1.2km, but it was super hot and the girls didn’t last too long before they started struggling with the heat.
Good for all ages, the Miroir d’Eau especially for under 5s who just want to run around and get wet. The campsite made a lovely quiet base to come back to after a full day in the city, there wasn’t any kids club or evening entertainment during our stay so it suits families who want the city by day and peace by night.
L’Île aux Enfants
We haven’t been here yet, but other guests at Côte d’Argent told us great things about it. They said it has lots of play areas and pump tracks, so it’s one to think about if you’ve got kids who need to burn off energy.
FAQ
Is the Dune du Pilat in the Landes?
No, it’s in the Gironde, along with Arcachon and Bordeaux. The Landes starts just south of the Bassin d’Arcachon, around Biscarrosse.
Is the Dune du Pilat worth it with young kids?
It’s a brilliant sight but a tough climb, deep sand and no shade. It suits older children and adults more than babies or toddlers who’ll need carrying. Take water.
Can you visit Arcachon and the Dune du Pilat in one day?
Yes, they’re close together on the Bassin d’Arcachon and several boat trips from Arcachon harbour pass the Dune on the way to Cap Ferret, so you can combine the two without too much driving.
Which Gironde campsite is best for a beach holiday?
Camping Côte d’Argent. You can walk to Hourtin Plage and the beach, and the surf school there takes children from 3 years old. If you’d rather spend your days in the city, Bordeaux Lac is 8km out with a tram and bus to the gate.
Not sure which campsite suits your family? Try our find your campsite quiz, it takes two minutes. And if you’re booking for the school holidays, check our summer holiday deals before you pay full price.
Camping somewhere else in France? We’ve also got guides to Brittany, the Vendée, the Landes and Hossegor and the Dordogne.
