44.66° N · 1.17° W
A bay enclosed by the Cap Ferret peninsula, with oyster-farming villages, huts above the water and the highest dune in Europe at its mouth. You tour it by bike and by boat.
Part of French Oysters
What to do
Each plan says how long it takes, who it's for and whether you can book.
Oyster farmers' villages on the peninsula, from Piraillan to L'Herbe: wooden cabins over the water where you eat a dozen with bread and white wine.
The oyster port of Gujan-Mestras: cabins on the canals, producers' terraces all year and the oyster museum, from €6.50.
A UBA commentated trip to the island of the stilt cabins and the oyster beds: 2 hours from €23.40, departures from Arcachon and Cap Ferret.
Itineraries
Days and weekends already planned out, with how to get between each stop and who to book with.
Plan the trip
Each choice narrows the next: the season shapes how best to travel, and how you travel decides where you stay and where you eat.
When to go
In September and October the huts are still open, the water is warm and the dune isn't crowded. In July and August there are traffic jams to Cap Ferret. In winter many huts open only at weekends.
How you travel
Choose how you're travelling and we'll tell you where to stay, how to get around, where to eat and which services you'll need. We only show the ways of travelling that make sense here.
The bay is circled by a single road, and the peninsula gets jammed in summer. Sleep in Arcachon, do Gujan-Mestras and the dune by car and cross to Cap Ferret by boat.
One of the few oyster coasts that can be done entirely without a car. The train drops you in Arcachon, the bus goes up to the dune and the boat crosses to Cap Ferret.
The Tour du Bassin circles the bay on cycle paths and greenways, almost without hills, and the boat to Cap Ferret carries bikes. You stop at every oyster village without thinking about parking.
You cannot spend the night in the dune car park. There are two campsites with facilities at its foot and a private area in Gujan-Mestras.
The Pyla campsites are in the forest, at the foot of the dune. Wild camping is not allowed: the forest and beaches are protected areas and the law prohibits camping on the seashore.
Bordeaux-Mérignac has direct flights from several Spanish cities and is about 50 minutes by car from Arcachon. You can get there without a car too: from the airport to central Bordeaux, then from Saint-Jean station a direct train to Arcachon in a little under an hour. For the Dune du Pilat, Cap Ferret and the oyster ports, a car or bike gives you more freedom.
Who you're with
A trip with a toddler is not the same as one with a teenager. Pick yours to see what works and what to bear in mind.
Children who don't eat oysters have more here than on any other coast: an enormous dune to run on, boats and flat cycle paths separated from cars. In the cabins there are prawns and bread.
On the Arcachon bay your dog climbs the Dune du Pilat with you, strolls the villa streets of the Ville d'Hiver and boards for the Île aux Oiseaux for a small supplement. To sleep, the Camping de la Dune, at the foot of the dune, and the Hôtel Le Dauphin, in Arcachon, admit it under their conditions.
Where to stay
We show you what suits the way you travel.Change how you travel
Why we like it: Close to the train, the centre and the beach, with a bike garage and hire at the hotel itself. Open all year.
Why we like it: Small, renovated, a hundred metres from the beach and with a room for bikes. Public parking nearby.
Why we like it: In the pine forest at the foot of the dune, with a swimming pool and kids' club. Open from 3 April to 27 September 2026.
Why we like it: The other campsite at the foot of the dune, in Pyla-sur-Mer. Open from 31 March to 24 September 2026.
Why we like it: A private area with everything included except showers, close to the Gujan-Mestras ports.
Services for this trip
Where to eat
From set lunch menus to Michelin stars. We mark the price level and what to order at each place.
What to order: a dozen with bread and butter and a glass of white; if you dare, with pâté, as in the bay.
What to order: the house oysters, raised at the Banc d'Arguin, facing the canal.
What to order: the seasonal menu by chef Thierry Renou.
Takeaway and markets
Nearby
The closest places, whichever country they are in.
Tips
By road you have to go round the whole bay. The UBA boat from Arcachon takes about 30 minutes and carries bikes.
There are fewer people, the sand isn't burning and the sun sets over the Banc d'Arguin.
Each hut has its rest day, and in winter they change. Phone before crossing the bay.
Do the huts by bike. The cycle path goes round almost the whole bay, is flat and stops wherever you like.
Driving to Cap Ferret on an August Sunday. The only road jams up and there is nowhere to park in the oyster villages.
Oysters are eaten all year round. In summer many turn milky because they are spawning; producers also serve triploids, which don't. The tasting huts open mainly from April to September, and out of season many open only at weekends or with reduced hours.
At the hut you order at the counter: a dozen or half a dozen, the size and a glass of dry white Bordeaux. It comes with bread, butter and lemon. Many serve only that, oysters and little else: prawns, bulots (sea whelks) and the country pâté that is eaten here with the oyster. Don't expect a menu or hot dishes. A dozen costs between €10 and €13 depending on the size. In summer, book or arrive before one o'clock.
The number is the weight, and the lower, the bigger: No. 5 weighs from 30 to 45 g and No. 0, more than 150 g. No. 3 is the everyday size. Fine and spéciale tell you how much flesh it has: the spéciale, with a fill index of 10.5 or more, is meatier.
Questions
At a producer's hut, between €10 and €13 depending on the size. The glass of white and the pâté are paid separately.
In July and August, better yes, especially for dinner. The rest of the year it is enough to turn up, except at weekends.
Bread, butter and a dry white Bordeaux. Here it is customary to alternate the oyster with a mouthful of pâté.
Yes. The train from Bordeaux to Arcachon takes under an hour, there is a bus to the dune and a boat to Cap Ferret.
The dune, the boat to the Île aux Oiseaux and cycling. At the huts there are prawns and bread; for something more, eat in Arcachon.
About fifteen minutes from the car park, the last stretch over sand. At the top you are more than a hundred metres above the sea.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/france/nouvelle-aquitaine/arcachon-bay
