Known for its pine forests, Landes also draws tourists with its sandy beaches, surfing and outdoor charms, says Catharine Higginson
Les Landes, the 40th department in France, is part of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. Bordered by Gironde to the north, Pyrénées Atlantique to the south, Lot-et-Garonne and Gers to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Les Landes, is around 220km long and 100km wide. It’s best known for its forest, mainly of maritime pines, which is one of the largest in Europe and covers over 65% of the department.
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Prior to 1850, the area was pretty much entirely composed of poorly drained, open marshy land. The few inhabitants were mainly agricultural workers, with shepherds moving around on stilts, which made it easier and faster to cover the vast distances involved in their work.
ALL CHANGE
In 1857, Napoleon III passed a law designed to clean up and cultivate the region. Vast numbers of pine trees were planted to help drain the land and the industry gradually changed from sheep farming to resin collection.
Today, forestry is still a very important part of the Landaise economy, with the majority of the timber going for plywood panels and veneers, flooring and pulp. However, agriculture also features heavily, with a lot of corn produced around the Adour along with vines and asparagus; beef in the Chalosse; and of course, chickens, geese and the world-famous ducks, which are turned into confit de canard and foie gras.
COASTAL CHARM
But the biggest employment sector is tourism. More than seven and a half million overnight stays are registered every year. Tourism is generally concentrated on the coast at the seaside resorts of Biscarrosse, Mimizan, Hossegor and Capbreton, but the spa towns of Dax, Saubusse, Préchacq-les-Bains and Eugénie-les-Bains also see thousands of visitors.
Landes has four main parts. The Côte Nord includes the resorts of Biscarrosse and Mimizan, the regional natural park, as well as numerous beaches, lakes, dunes and forests, with the Gironde in the north forming its border.
On the Côte Sud, the seaside towns of Vieux-Boucau-les-Bains, Seignosse, Hossegor, and Capbreton are incredibly popular with holidaymakers and surfers, with Hossegor and Seignosse being world-class surf spots. Long sandy beaches, lakes, forest hiking trails and cycle paths abound and as you get closer to the
