Why not take a motorhome tour of the Landes region this summer? Find out all the practical information you need to rent and travel!
How about a motorhome trip to the Landes region this year? Travelling by sleeping in your own vehicle allows you to criss-cross natural landscapes and visit exceptional sites. What’s more, this practice inherited from the hippie years is back in vogue. Travel at your own pace, freely and comfortably, while camping.
A land of wide open spaces bordered by a wild coastline, the Landes region has plenty to offer. France’s second largest département, it is home to Europe’s largest pine forest. The Landes stretches over 100 kilometers of dunes and immense sandy beaches.
Great lakes, unmissable terroirs, spa towns, sport and a first-rate cultural heritage… Are you coming to visit the Landes by motorhome or converted van? From the hinterland to the beaches, here’s our guide to preparing your itinerant trip!
Route ideas in the Landes by motorhome
Photo credit: Shutterstock – Stanislav Simonyan
At 9,243 km², the Landes is the second largest département in mainland France after the Gironde. The territory has many points of entry. Your itinerary will vary depending on whether you’re arriving from the Gironde, the Gers or the Pyrénées-Atlantiques.
When planning your stopovers, think in terms of the length of your trip, and what you want to do. There’s no need to see everything if you’re visiting the Landes region in a motorhome for 7 days. For city breaks, 5 days is enough to visit Dax and Mont-de-Marsan. On the other hand, visiting the coastal wilderness will require more time. Here are a few ideas for your Landes road-trip.
- The Landes coast: Biscarosse-Plage, Vivier beach, Sanguinet, Parentis-en-Born, Gastes, Mimizan, Contis beach, Cap de l’Homy, Huchet current, Léon lake, Soustons and the pond, Estacade beach, Bourdaines beach, Seignosse, Gravière beach, Hossegor, Capbreton, Tarnos;
- Les Landes in 10 to 15 days: same route, plus Marais d’Orx national nature reserve, Hastingues, Peyrehorade, Dax, Mont-de-Marsan, Saint-Sever and Chalosse, Labastide-d’Armagnac ;
- Les Landes in 20 to 30 days: same stages, plus the villages of Brassempouy, Aire-sur-l’Adour, Saint-Julien-en-Born and the Arjuzanx national reserve.
Rent a motorhome in the Landes
Of course, you’ll have to adapt your itinerary to your own personal preferences: these routes are only estimates!
Driving a motorhome in the Landes: traffic rules you need to know
Photo credit: Shutterstock – sylv1rob1
In the Landes region, you will of course find the same provisions of the highway code as elsewhere in France. But there are a few basic rules. Driving is, of course, on the right-hand side of the road, and travelling in the left-hand lane. All passengers must have their seatbelts fastened when the vehicle is in motion. Since motorhomes under 3.5 tonnes are considered to be cars, the speed limits are the same:
- 50 km/h in town,
- 70 to 80 km/h on secondary roads,
- 110 km/h on dual carriageways
- And 130 km/h on freeways.
Make sure you have all the necessary documents before you leave: driving license, vehicle registration and insurance. Take extra care on Landes roads. Of the 12,128 kilometers of road network in the Landes region, 63% are communal roads. Given the size of your motorhome, take care when crossing narrow country and beach roads.
Freeway tolls in the Landes: what price for your category of motorhome?
Photo credit: Shutterstock – Unai Huizi
The Landes département is crossed by two freeways: theA63, nicknamed the « Basque Coast freeway », and theA65, nicknamed the « Gascony freeway ». To a lesser extent, the A64 freeway linking Toulouse to Bayonne passes through the Landes, at Hastingues.
The A63 is managed by Atlandes, the A64 by ASF and the A65 is operated by A’lienor. As all three are private companies, they are toll freeways. Visiting the Landes by motorhome? If you take the freeway, you’ll have to pay class 2 tolls. If you’re travelling in a converted van, you’ll have to pay class 1 tolls, like cars. Payment is simple. You pick up a ticket at the entry terminal, and pay at the exit according to the distance covered.
So how much should you pay to visit the Landes region in a motorhome? And how much for a converted van? Here are some prices for the longest motorhome stretches:
- Langon to Aire-sur-Adour: €25.90,
- Langon to Peyrehorade: €50.90,
- Bayonne to Saint-Geours-de-Marenne: €5.80,
- Salles (33) in Saint-Geours-de-Marenne: €11.40.
Here are some prices for visiting the Landes region in a converted van on the freeway (class 1):
- Langon to Aire-sur-Adour: €15.80,
- Langon to Peyrehorade: €31.70,
- Bayonne to Saint-Geours-de-Marenne: €3.80,
- Salles (33) in Saint-Geours-de-Marenne: €7.60.
As you can see, taking the freeway in a camper van is much more expensive than in a van!
How and where to rent a motorhome in France?
Are you planning to move to the Landes since your departure? You’re not shy! You’ll need to rent your motorhome in France. Nowadays, it’s very easy to rent these vehicles between private individuals. Numerous online platforms, such as Yescapa, make this type of rental possible.
How does it work?
- First, you need to choose the motorhome in your city (e.g. Bordeaux, Nantes, Toulouse, Paris, Montpellier or Marseille).
- Make sure you choose unlimited mileage, check the number of berths available and whether international travel is possible.
- Make your rental request online and share your travel information (dates, rental options, mileage, etc.) with the owner.
- If your request is accepted and after payment, you will have access to the owner’s contact details to arrange a first meeting.
- On the day, present your driver’s license and pay the deposit.
- An inventory of fixtures is drawn up and a rental contract signed by both parties. When you return from the Landes, sign the return inventory and that’s it!
RV parks in the Landes: where to park?
Photo credit: Caramaps
Parking in the Landes
In France, a motorhome is a car like any other, as far as the law is concerned. This means that motorhomes and vans can be parked in any of the regular parking spaces designated for this purpose. In built-up areas, this means spaces marked with white lines (free) and blue lines (paying).
But where to park outside the city? You can park wherever you don’t interfere with traffic or road signs. And that’s if there are no bans in force by municipal or prefectoral decree. This logic prevails in country villages, near beaches and in the forests of the Landes.
Parking for the night
In France, it’s legal to sleep in your vehicle, as long as you don’t set up permanent accommodation in public spaces. French law prohibits unauthorized camping. There are a number of solutions available for your stopovers in motorhomes and converted vans:
- On the one hand, you can opt for motorhome service areas. The Camping-car website lists 117 in the Landes département. These are paying areas where you can sleep, empty your vehicle, use the sanitary facilities and electricity.
- Then there are the campgrounds. A service area may be full, or you may be looking for a cheaper place to camp. Sleeping in a campsite can be a good option.
- Another alternative is wild camping. The Landes offers magnificent natural areas where you can sleep under the stars, isolated and free of charge.
Would you like to sleep on a sandy parking lot at the foot of the dunes and the ocean? This practice is forbidden, but there are ways to avoid getting fined. First, you can arrive late and leave early in the morning. You can also ask a landowner for approval. In any case, be sure to leave the site clean and free of garbage. Are you a fan of camping in the great outdoors? Carry with you the Park4night application, a reference in the field. This tool provides all the spots referenced by travelers.
A tip: keep your equipment (satellite dishes, wedges, tables and chairs) off the road to be as unobtrusive as possible.
When is the best time to travel by motorhome in the Landes?
Photo credit: Shutterstock – Christian Musat
The Landes is a south-western department on the Atlantic coast, with an oceanic climate. Winters are mild and rainy, summers hot and humid. Lows can be accompanied by violent thunderstorms, with heavy rainfall and hail.
In summer, the Landes region also experiences sharp drops in temperature after thunderstorms. Spring in the Landes is rainy and cool. Autumn is often summery, with a fine late season, and the cold sets in from November onwards. Autumn and winter storms can be violent, with strong gusts of wind. Although the Landes enjoys plenty of sunshine, rainfall totals can be substantial: 700 mm in the east of the département, nearly 1,300 mm on the south-west coast.
However, the Landais say it’s possible to eat outside every month of the year. Even in winter, the southern French sun is strong enough to warm the soil.
So when is the best time to visit the Landes by motorhome or converted van? The answer is pretty much all year round. The period between September and October is one of the best seasons to travel in the Landes. It’s still warm, the ocean has just been warmed by summer, and the weather is still dry. To satisfy all your desires and find an activity to suit the weather, we recommend visiting the Landes by motorhome between May and October.
Average maximum temperatures range from 22°C to 28°C: that’s five beautiful months in which to make the most of your road trip!