The largest region in France — bigger than Austria — and it earns the size. Bordeaux is a UNESCO-listed eighteenth-century city with 6,000 châteaux in its hinterland and a water mirror on the river. The Dordogne holds the densest prehistoric record on earth: Lascaux's painted cave, the Vézère valley's shelters, and a run of clifftop bastides above the river. The Atlantic coast is a single 250 km beach backed by the largest planted forest in Europe, with the Dune du Pilat — 100 m of sand and still moving — at the mouth of the Arcachon basin. In the south it becomes Basque: Biarritz, Bayonne, and the first foothills of the Pyrenees.
- Bordeaux — the Place de la Bourse, the water mirror and the Cité du Vin
- Saint-Émilion
- Lascaux IV and the Vézère valley caves
- The Dune du Pilat and Arcachon's oyster ports
- Biarritz and the Basque coast
- Rocamadour and the Dordogne's clifftop villages
- Best time to go
- May–June and September for the vineyards and the Dordogne; July–August for the beaches, when the coast is very full. Surf is best on the Landes coast in September and October.
- Getting there
- TGV Paris–Bordeaux in 2h04. Bordeaux, Biarritz and Bergerac airports. The Dordogne and the Médoc both need a car; the Vélodyssée cycle route runs the whole coast.
© OpenFreeMap · OSM · terrain Mapterhorn · boundaries © EuroGeographics (Eurostat GISCO)
Headline places
What france.fr leads with in Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
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Dune du Pilat The tallest sand dune in Europe — 100 m, and still moving inland - Lascaux IV A full facsimile of the painted cave — the original is closed for good
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The Vézère Valley Fifteen UNESCO sites and twenty-five decorated caves in one valley -
Saint-Émilion's Monolithic Church Hollowed out of solid limestone over three centuries -
Place de la Bourse & the Water Mirror The largest reflecting pool in the world, two centimetres deep -
La Cité du Vin Wine as a world subject, in a building shaped like liquid in a glass -
Château de Beynac 150 m above the Dordogne, facing the castle it fought for 200 years -
La Roque-Gageac A single row of houses pressed between the cliff and the river -
Jardins de Marqueyssac 150,000 hand-clipped box shrubs on a spur above the Dordogne -
Cap Ferret Oyster shacks on stilts on one side, Atlantic surf on the other -
The Towers of La Rochelle Three medieval towers that chained the harbour shut at night -
Futuroscope France's second-biggest theme park, built entirely around screens -
Espelette Red peppers drying on every house front from August -
Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port Where most Camino walkers start, at the foot of the Roncesvalles pass - The Médoc Margaux, Pauillac, Saint-Julien — the D2 past the first growths
Tourism areas
The names people actually use for this part of France — some of them cross into the next region.
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Dordogne Valley Painted caves, clifftop castles and the densest prehistoric record on earth -
French Basque Country Surf, pelota and red-and-white villages where the Pyrenees meet the Atlantic -
The Pyrenees 430 km of frontier range — the Cirque de Gavarnie, Lourdes and the Tour's great climbs -
The Atlantic Coast Europe's tallest dune, 250 km of surf beach and the oyster basins behind it
Cities & bases
Where to sleep, and what each place is good for.
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Bordeaux An eighteenth-century city on a river, with 6,000 châteaux behind it -
Saint-Émilion A monolithic church cut into rock, ringed by grand cru vineyards - Arcachon Oysters, a Winter Town of villas, and Europe's tallest dune next door
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Biarritz An imperial resort that became Europe's first surf town -
Bayonne Basque ham, chocolate since the 1600s, and a five-day summer fête -
Saint-Jean-de-Luz A sheltered Basque bay, and the church where Louis XIV married - Sarlat-la-Canéda Golden stone, a Saturday market, and the Dordogne's best base
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Bergerac A riverside old town and the Dordogne's own wine appellations - La Rochelle Three harbour towers, arcaded streets and the bridge to Île de Ré
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Cognac The Charente, the angels' share, and every house name you know - Pau A boulevard with the whole Pyrenean chain laid out in front of it
- Hossegor A pine-backed beach break that hosts the world tour
Islands
Our guides
Full destination guides we already publish in this region.
Nouvelle-Aquitaine by experience
The themes this region delivers on.
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Culture & heritage 53 UNESCO World Heritage sites, and the cathedrals that invented Gothic -
Food & wine Seventeen wine regions, 1,600 cheeses, and the gastronomic meal on the UNESCO list -
Nature & outdoors Glaciers, gorges, volcanoes and 180,000 km of waymarked footpath -
Coast & beaches Three seas and an ocean — around 5,800 km of mainland coast, and far more overseas -
Mountains Six massifs — the Alps, Pyrenees, Jura, Vosges, Massif Central and Corsica -
Cities Paris, and eleven more cities that would headline any other country -
Villages & countryside The 180-odd villages on the official 'most beautiful in France' list -
Sport & adventure Skiing, surfing, climbing, paddling — and the Tour, Roland-Garros and Le Mans -
Cycling Over 25,000 km of signed cycle route, most of it flat and away from traffic -
Pilgrimage & spirituality Four Camino routes, Lourdes, Mont-Saint-Michel and the Romanesque abbeys -
Spa & wellness Around 90 working thermal spa towns, and the coastline that invented thalassotherapy -
Romance The Riviera corniche, a Loire château, a Provençal village, a Paris weekend -
Shopping & savoir-faire Perfume in Grasse, porcelain in Limoges, crystal in Lorraine, couture in Paris -
Nightlife & entertainment Festival season, cabaret, beach clubs and the theme parks
