Le Vieux Port

If you do manage to remove yourself/the kids from the waterpark and local beach, you'll find a fair bit to do within about ten kilometres of Le Vieux Port, such as golf, hiking, cycling, go karting and surfing and other watersports. Food and flea markets are easy to get to in the area too, along with old and trad Landes villages to mosey around: try Messanges, Vieux Boucau les Bains and Moliets-et-Maa Soustons, sampling the local cuisine in each. If you want to delve more into the local character and traditions of Landes, over 200 town and village festivals run around the region from April to November, or one could get very involved and look out for a nearby game of pelote basque…? One could also sink into the relaxing atmosphere of the nearby spa town of Dax or ride the waves (again) in Hossegor and Capbreton; this latter has miles of sandy beaches too, as well as options for rockpooling, oyster catching and having much seafood from its popular fishy restaurants. If you're up for travelling a bit further, Biarritz and Saint-Jean-de-Luz are reachable from here, as is San Sebastián, a European City of Culture for 2016. The Rhune train ride through the Basque Country and the Pyrenees is also quite a bit of a must.