Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France’s largest region, is a fabulous mixture of the country’s best sandy beaches, vibrant cities, wonderful gastronomy and prehistoric caves. Located in south-west France, with 450 miles (720km) of Atlantic coast, it’s the perfect destination for a holiday, with chateaux to explore, museums to visit and great outdoor adventures.
While driving south from St-Malo after the overnight ferry, keep an eye out for Saintes, about 17 miles (28km) west of Cognac. Famed for its Roman arch and amphitheatre, it is a great place to stop, not least to try the Pineau des Charentes, its locally produced fortified wine. The Château de la Roche Courbon in Saint-Porchaire, a magnificent 17th-century castle, is nearby. As well as attractive turrets and a moat, it has its own prehistoric caves and also hosts escape room games.
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The Roman arch in Saintes, erected to honour Emperor Tiberius and his sons Drusus and Germanicus. Photograph: Alamy
Close to Cognac, the road is lined with vineyards and you can smell the brandy in the air long before you reach the town centre. All the major cognac houses offer guided tours of their warehouses, a chance to taste France’s most famous spirit.
Direction Limoges
From Cognac, a 90-minute drive east towards Limoges brings visitors to the walled village of Rochechouart, famous for being the landing site, around 200m years ago, of one of the largest meteorites to hit Earth. Although there’s not much to see of the crater, the village is worth visiting for the local Musée d’Art Contemporain, a gem with more than 300 contemporary works all housed in an impressive chateau.
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Picturesque Limoges is famous for its porcelain; farther east, enjoy outdoor pursuits at Lake Vassivière. Photographs: Alamy, P Manteau
Another 30 minutes in the car eastwards is Limoges, known for its enamelware and porcelain, which is delicately displayed in glass cases at the Musée National Adrien Dubouché. For a more rough-and-tumble experience, continue east to Millevaches national park – it gets its name from the Celtic word for a thousand springs (not the literal translation of a thousand cows!). It is an undulating landscape of conifers, chestnut trees and is perfect for hiking, mountain-biking, canoeing and paddling around the shoreline of the Lake Vassivière. On an island in the middle of the lake is the Centre International d’Art et du Paysage, which also has contemporary art and sculptures hidden among the trees.
Destination Dordogne Valley
Stunning chateaux, waterside walks and vineyards make the Dordogne valley a vision of old-fashioned, genteel France. Sarlat-la-Canéda holds a bi-weekly market for the region’s fresh produce, from mushrooms to trays of summer strawberries, along with truffles, walnuts and jars of duck confit. There’s a night market in July and August on Thursdays.
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In Les Eyzies, visit houses that are carved into the rock face at the Grotte du Grand Roc. Photograph: Alamy
As well as being drawn to the gastronomic excellence of the region, many visitors come to explore the caves and paleolithic art – the Grotte de Rouffignac has the added attraction of an underground train. Lascaux IV is a replica of the original Lascaux cave, sited nearby and home to a treasure trove of ancient paintings. It had to be closed to visitors in the 1960s when it became clear that its artworks were degrading. The replica cave has already welcomed more than 2 million visitors since it opened at the end of 2016. Deep-set caves such as the Grotte de Lastournelle in Sainte-Colombe-de-Villeneuve and the Grotte du Grand Roc in Les Eyzies are marvels of fantastical stalagmites and stalactites, and a great escape from the summer heat.
To the south, in the Lot-et-Garonne department, is Agen, worth visiting if only to try the delicate sweetness of the Agen prune, which has been produced in the town since the 12th century. Every August, Agen hosts the Prune festival in the medieval centre, with parades, tastings, street performances and live concerts. This year, the singers Pascal Obispo and Olivia Ruiz are performing on the last Saturday in August.
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Fresh local produce at the market in Sarlat-la-Canéda (top); Espelette is known for its hot chilli peppers, hung out to dry outside. Photographs: Alamy, Getty Images
As summer turns into autumn, and the harvests begin, the beaches and restaurants become less crowded and the sea is still beautifully warm.
Heading south-west, the prune is replaced by the hot chilli peppers of picturesque Espelette. Dried on long strings all over the village, the red peppers are celebrated at the town’s festival on the last weekend in October. For fans of Cyrano de Bergerac, the Villa Arnaga in nearby Cambo-les-Bains is a must-see; with French and English style gardens, the villa was constructed by Cyrano author Edmond Rostand.
Follow your nose to Pays Basque
Towards the coast, look out for signs for the Route du Fromage Ossau-Iraty (cheese route) where the nutty-tasting sheep’s cheese Ossau-Iraty can be bought directly from the farms of the Béarn and Pays Basque, in the foothills of the Pyrenees.
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Half-timbered houses on the quayside in Bayonne. Photograph: Getty Images
Bayonne, capital of the Pays Basque, is an attractive port city with half-timbered houses and woodwork painted in the traditional green and red of the region. Locals sip frothy hot chocolate at the tea room run by the chocolate maker Cazenave, before a stroll through the narrow lanes of the old town, along the banks of the Nive River, or watching a high-speed game of pelota, a Basque ball sport. Bayonne hosts huge fetes in July but is calm for the rest of the year while tourists flock to its more glamorous neighbour, Biarritz.
This elegant, romantic seaside resort has fantastic sandy beaches, great restaurants and palatial hotels. Here, the Atlantic crashes on to the coast, making it ideal for surfing, and the area is popular for cycling, hiking, golf and spas. It also has one of Europe’s largest aquariums, with a huge pool of sharks and eagle rays, and the Cité de l’Océan, a high-tech museum about marine life and the sea.
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On the coast, Dune du Pilat (top) is the largest in Europe, while surfers enjoy the wide beaches and favourable winds. Local delicacies include Ossau-Iraty, a type of Basque cheese. Photographs: Getty Images, Alamy
Heading up the coast, the waves seem to get higher at Hossegor, about 25 miles (40km) from Biarritz. Autumn is the best time to go surfing on France’s Atlantic coast as the beaches are less crowded, the winds are offshore and the water is at its warmest. This part of the coast is an uninterrupted expanse of golden sand, a highway for sand-yachting, joggers and dog-walkers.
Farther north at Moliets-et-Maa, visitors can walk inland alongside the Courant d’Huchet, a small river, to a nature reserve. It’s an atmospheric 10km hike through a forest of pines and cork oaks where the path sometimes disappears into the water. The beach continues until the headland at La Salie, behind which is a waterpark at the town of Biscarrosse and a butterfly park, Au Paradis du Papillon, and beyond to Europe’s largest sand dune, the Dune du Pilat. You could easily spend a day here climbing the giant mound, or continue to the Arcachon Bay for a seafood meal and an afternoon cycle to the Lège-Cap Ferret.
Wine and much more in Bordeaux
An hour’s drive north-east is the self-styled capital of France’s wine industry, Bordeaux. Known as La Belle Endormie (the sleeping beauty), the city straddles the Garonne and is an ideal base for visiting the Côte d’Argent, the pine forests of Les Landes and the wine estates of Saint-Emilion. The Cité du Vin, a showpiece centre dedicated to wine was built in the former docklands, with a top-floor tasting lounge and interactive museum exhibits. Bordeaux also has fabulous collections in the Musée des Beaux-Arts Bordeaux, Musée Mer Marine, CAPC Musée d’Art Contemporain and Méca, the region’s latest cultural centre on the Garonne riverbank, as well as the Bassins des Lumières, the largest digital arts centre in the world. Bordeaux is the cultural and transport hub of Nouvelle-Aquitaine but has a surprisingly intimate feel – there aren’t many cities in the world where the tourist office organises a tour of the local wine bars.
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In wine country, visit vineyards in Saint-Emilion (top) and the Cité du Vin (below) before touring the local wine bars. Photographs: Shutterstock, Serena Bargiacchi
Getting to Nouvelle-Aquitaine
If you travel with Brittany Ferries you’ll enjoy the convenience of setting off on your French adventure in your own car, with the bonus of having been able to book your accommodation through the company.
The Portsmouth to St Malo route is the most popular crossing, and the journey time if you’re heading to Saintes is roughly four hours from St Malo. Brittany Ferries’ Portsmouth to Caen crossing also gets you into the heart of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in less than four hours’ drive, while the Plymouth to Roscoff hassle-free night crossing means you can be in Bordeaux in time to enjoy a late lunch. You can mix and match routes, travelling out on one crossing and back on another, or even consider sailing into Spain – it’s only a two-hour drive from Bilbao to Biarritz.
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Arrive in style with Brittany Ferries
An overnight crossing, such as Portsmouth-St Malo, is the perfect way to start your holiday early. Take it easy and enjoy some fine dining in the a la carte restaurant before retiring to a comfortable cabin. You’ll wake up refreshed for breakfast onboard and ready to disembark. Having your own car means you can pack everything you need – even a surfboard. It also means you can bring back a few bottles of fine wine and cognac on your return journey.
Find out even more about great things to do in Nouvelle-Aquitaine – and book your holiday crossing with Brittany Ferries. Plus, you can save up to 30% on sailings when you book a Brittany Ferries Holiday