Cap Ferret is a wonderful sandy peninsula facing Arcachon city, it forms the west part of the Arcachon bay ou Bassin d’Arcachon, situated at the West of Bordeaux city in the South West of France
You can reach this beautiful trendy sandy peninsula by many ways :
By plane
Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport is located at approximatively 50kms from the Peninsula.
From Paris
There are many interior flights from Paris « Charles De Gaulle » or « Orly » Airports to Bordeaux airport. Just check Google Flights for that
From UK, Europe and other places in the world
There are many flights from UK and Europe to Bordeaux Airport : see the destinations of Bordeaux airport and check if a city in your neighborood gives you the opportunity to have a flight to Bordeaux
Once in Bordeaux airport
We suggest you to rent a car in the Bordeaux airport when you arrive and follow our indications in the « by car » section
By train
Since 2017, the speed train TGV takes only two hours to go from Paris to Bordeaux. Once in Bordeaux station you can either :
Take another train to Arcachon and then make a 10 minutes walk from Arcachon station to jetty Thiers to reach Cap Ferret by boat with the Arcachon Boat Union (UBA in french) : you just have to buy your tickets at the beginning of the jetty, it costs approxymatively 10€/pax. More informations here
take the bus, line 601. The journey time is approximately One and a half to two hours. The cost is approxymatively 3€/pax. You can download the timetable on the website, clicking on « Horaires » and chose 601
By car
If you have datas availaible on your phone and want to be guided by Google maps,
check the exact place of our marker,
click on the Google icon in the down-left position of the map. You will be redirected to your GMaps app,
make a long click on the place you noticed in our map and chose to be guided
From Paris
The journey is long, about 6-7 hours, heading south to West Bordeaux rocade and taking the Cap Ferret way out on the Bordeaux Rocade
From Bordeaux
The journey will take approximatively one hour and a half, going straight to the West.
Avoid traffic jam in cap Ferret
The Cap Ferret is for Bordeaux like Cape Cod for Boston : the « Bordelais » people enjoy to spend the week end and holidays there, especially from spring to autumn.
You should avoid going to Cap Ferret
On Friday nights / saturday and sunday from 10AM to 1 PM especially if the weather forecast is sunny, from april to october
Everyday between 10AM to 1PM, in July and August, during summer holidays
Avoid leaving Cap Ferret
Sundays after 4 PM especially if the Week End was sunny, from april to october
Everyday after 4 PM, in July and August, during summer holidays
Cap Ferret is a long (more than 20 kilometers) peninsula composed of ten beautiful villages, going from Lege in the North to Cap Ferret village in the South
You can visit them in one day, in this case, we suggest you to head straight south trough the ocean road called « Truc Vert road » to the end of the peninsula and then come back slowly to the beginning of the peninsula, heading north, by the beautiful small villages road : see our detailed itinerary below the map
First of all, fill your tank in Claouey because you won’t find any more gas station, it’s the beginning of the adventure!
Now prepare to discover a raw country and relax, there is no red light anywhere on the peninsula…
Facing the gas station, you can do the currents in the super market.
Then go south and just before you arrive in « Petit Piquey » village, make a right before the road sign « Petit Piquey », heading to « Truc vert », which is the Ocean road (named « Avenue du truc vert »). This quiet forest road is very rarely busy and it will bring you straight to Cap Ferret and « La Pointe », the end of the peninsula, accross the pine forest along the ocean. Feel free to stop in « Le Truc Vert » or « La Garonne » car parks to discover the sandy beaches, a few minutes walk away, with their Atlantic Ocean big waves and admire the surfers.
When you arrive at the stop sign at the end of this small forest road, make a right to « Cap Ferret » and then wait for the « La Pointe » direction and follow it until the end...
You’re done! you can begin your visit of the Cape Ferret : if you have datas avalaible on your phone and want to be guided by Google maps,
check the exact place of our marker,
click on the Google icon in the down-left position of the map. You will be redirected to your GMaps app,
make a long click on the place you noticed in our map and chose to be guided
The head of the peninsula, « La Pointe »
View from Cap Ferret to the Pyla Dune
As locals say, there’s an « end of the Earth » feeling on this small sandy beach surrounded by the Ocean and its waves. You will enjoy a tremendous view on the Pyla dune, the highest and biggest dune of Europe
Take your car back and head to
Le Mimbeau and 44 hectares
Le Mimbeau, a sand peninsula inside the Arcachon bay
This place is unique : the sand makes a small peninsula inside the Arcachon bay and at the place where the small peninsula meets the Cap Ferret big one, there are 44 hectares of unspoiled lands with beautiful houses, but also sandy roads. Don’t go there by car but by walk! You just have to park as referred on the map and make a few minutes walk to discover this beautiful place
You can go by walk (or by car) to :
The cap ferret oyster’s farming village
Villa on the Arcachon bay in Cap Ferret
The charming village offers a view on the Mimbeau and the Pyla dune. There are many oysters degustation restaurants here, facing the Mimbeau
Then head to
The Lighthouse
Cap Ferret Lighthouse
The lighthouse is the symbol of the Cap Ferret don’t miss to climb it and admire the point of view on all the Arcachon bay
Take your car or walk (if you still have legs after the stairs climbing of the lighthouse) to
The Cap Ferret deck Belisaire
View on the Pyla Dune from Belisaire, cap Ferret
The center of the Cap Ferret village is there and it is the departure point to boat excursions to the Arguin bank, Arcachon and Pyla dune. But this is for an entire day trip. You will now go on your trip by train and go from Belisaire by the small train to the ocean beach :
Cap Ferret small train to the ocean beach
L’horizon ocean beach
Train to ocean beach cap ferret
After a few minutes trip in the small train, you will arrive at one of the surf beaches of Cap Ferret peninsula
Ocean beach in cap ferret
When you are back in Belisaire, take your car and head to l’Herbe village, going through La Vigne village and have a look at its harbour on your right
The algerian chapel by the sea
The algerian chapel in Cap Ferret
This is the chapel of the first house built in Cap Ferret, the « Algerian villa », now destroyed (and replaced by an awful building), made by a banker who succeeded in North Africa business, named Leon Lesca. He accepted a parcel of land on the peninsula from Napoleon III and only the chapel remains from the villa.
If you found a car park nearby, you can either have a walk along the sea to go to the next step or take your car and park on the hills above the village because car parking inside the village is impossible. You will then reach the village by stairs. The next map gives you the place where you can park your car
L’Herbe oysters farming village
A typical village of Cap Ferret
This is the most charming village of the Cap Ferret peninsula, simply walk through the small streets and feel happy! You can also taste some oysters in many small places
Take your car back and drive a few kilometers through Le Canon, Piraillan and Grand Piquey (feel free to make a right in all thoses villages if you have time!, you will always find the Arcachon bay sea and oysters farming villages) to :
Horses Point : « La Pointe aux chevaux »
The horses point : la pointe aux chevaux
Certainly the most beautiful view of the Arcachon bay… relax and admire the stunning point of view! downstairs you see the Petit Piquey beach and in the middle of the Arcachon bay sea, the bird’s island : l' »ile aux oiseaux »
Claouey oyster’s farming village and its restaurants
Starving at the end of your trip or stuck in the traffic jam, make a right when you arrive in Claouey, just after the white christian cross, you will discover a beautiful small oyster’s farming village : there are two restaurants here, facing the sea… but it is a locals’ secret…
We hope you enjoyed this unspoiled and authentical place!
Cap Ferret is a wonderful sandy cape facing Arcachon city, on the Arcachon bay. There are ten villages on the peninsula, from Lège in the North to Cap Ferret in the South
You will find on this map the main places to see in Cap Ferret peninsula
To have a suggestion of itinerary and know more about the places listed on this map, go to : « the places to see in Cap Ferret«
Cap Ferret is a wonderful sandy peninsula facing Arcachon city, it forms the west part of the Arcachon bay ou Bassin d’Arcachon
Sunset in cap ferret
Cap Ferret is a cape with sandy beaches offering both the Mediterranean sea-like waters of the Arcachon bay and the waves of the Atlantic ocean. See the Cap Ferret map
The head of the cap ferret peninsula
Most of all, Cap Ferret offers many typical landscapes such as oysters-farming villages, pine forests…
A typical oyster farms’s village
Cap Ferret is like an undiscovered jewel on the Aquitaine coast. Don’t miss it!
History
Until the 19th century Cap Ferret was uninhabited bar for a few fishermen who came here for winter from villages from the other side of the bay, becaus it was less windy. Then, oyster farming took off thnaks to Napoleon III and many oyster farmers set up on the peninsula, founding picturesque villages suche as Le Canon or L’Herbe.
However, the Cap Ferret remained largely undeveloped until 1905 when the last two kilometres of the peninsula, the ’44 hectares’, were sold by the French State for building plots.
The place long remained underdeveloped and devoted to oysters farming. Slowly, many people from Bordeaux took place for holidays on the peninsula, on which many houses were built in the 50’s and 60’s. Therefore the Cap Ferret kept most of its charming fishermen wood villages and unspoiled sandy beaches. France is a country with more affinity for protectionism than speculation, and the oyster farms were prtoected, as well as the Ocean side : urban law and regulations preserve the landscape from massive constructions.
Nowadays, the place is very trendy becaus ir represents an authentic place, were French stars in search of quietness are melting with the earlier inhabitants (oyster farmers or fichermen).
How to get there
You can reach the Cap Ferret by plane, train, car, and even boat!
If you plan to stay a few days in the peninsula, go to the best places to see in Cape Ferret : the end of the peninsula, the Mimbeau, the L’Herbe village, surf sandy beaches, Horses Point (la Pointe aux chevaux), Claouey oyster’s farm village…
You can take a boat and go to wonderful places in the bay :
Arcachon city
Arcachon is a twenty minutes boat trip from Cap Ferret. You go there by ferry or the typical Arcachon bay boat, the pinasse!
Typical pinasse boat in oysters parksPinasse in Cap ferret
Pilat (or Pyla) dune
Pyla dune is the biggest dune of Europe! you can go there by boat from Cap Ferret
The Pyla duneThe pine forest from the Pyla dune
Banc d’Arguin
It is a beautiful sand bank inside the ocean and a preserved marine fauna and flora natural reserve
At left, Cap Ferret, in the middle, Arguin, and on the right the Pyla dune
Bird’s island : « l’ile aux oiseaux »
It is an island situated in the middle of the Arcachon bay sea, very raw and with only two shacks
The typical shacks of Arcachon bay
What to do
Enjoy the variety of beaches
If you come to Cap Ferret betwen april and october, the weather will probably be mild, allowing sea bath.
On its West side, the peninsula offers you kilometers of unspoiled Ocean beaches, with absolutely non buildings! The main ones being from North to South the Grand Crohot, the Truc Vert and l’Horizon all of which are supervised by lifeguards during the high season betwen mid june to the first days of september. Be careful at all times though, as not only are the waves powerful, but the current is strong too.
On the east side of the peninsula, you will enjoy quiet water beaches but you have to wait for high tide betwen Claouey and Petit Piquey. From Grand Piquey, you can have a bath at low tide.
Go Fishing
You can catch your own seafood (check before if it is authorised and wait for low tide to catch clams, cockles and winkles) or go fishing both in the Arachon bay sea or the Ocean.
Go for a walk
The Cap Ferret is great for walking : you will find coastal walks, Pine forest walk, and don’t miss the Resevoirs de Piraillan, near the oyster farming village of Piraillan. Once reservoirs for fish, it is now home to many thousands of birds.
