Domaine de l'Herminière

Hiking and biking trails into the surrounding forest leave straight from the site and there's a good selection of other options including canoeing, paddleboarding, boat trips and fishing at Soustons lake within easy driving distance. Horse riding is available about 10 kilometres away. The closest Atlantic beaches are 25 minutes' drive away at Moliets-et-Maa, an Aquitaine and Côte d'Argent seaside town with a surfing school, the widest beach in the region and the famed Moliets golf course. This is a spectacular part of French coastline, on the edge of a maritime pine forest and close to Léon lake for more surfing as well as canoeing, sailing and kitesurfing. The Courant d'Huchet nature reserve is between the lake and the Atlantic: walk along the banks of the stream to end up at the lake nine kilometres inland, or take a wildlife boat trip down the Courant to spy otters and herons. Away from the coast, drive for 20 minutes for green and spacious gardens at the Parc du Sarrat just outside Dax, or about 45 to the 17th-century Château de Gaujacq and its green and flowered surrounds.