Camping La Chesnays

Sticking to what's around on land, horse riding can be had a kilometre from the site, or you could hire a bike to see what's what on the department's cycle trails: Gironde has 435 kilometres of paths and bike lanes, including a 100-kilometre stretch running for the whole west coast of the Médoc peninsula and linking Montalivet to the small town of Vendays. By water, fishing, canoeing, kitesurfing and sailing are all available seven kilometres away in Montalivet, a town that's also a popular place for surfing because of its strong waves. Wakeboarding and sailing are at the Lac d'Hourtin-Carcans 20 kilometres away, and more surfing is at nearby Soulac-sur-Mer, just along the coast. If you're an enthusiast of le vin, stop off first at nearby Margaux, for heaps of info on the hundreds of local wine châteaux at the Château Margaux tourist information office (ask for the Destination Vignobles en Médoc leaflet to find which ones you can visit). Pauillac, on the Gironde estuary, is also a famed wine town with plenty of châteaux to visit including the Château Lafite-Rothschild, Château Latour and Château Mouton Rothschild. The Animalia Parc zoo is 10 kilometres away, at the pine forest and seaside town of Naujac-sur-Mer.