Arcachon's Pereire beach visitor guide

Visit Arcachon's Pereire beach, France

Arcachon's Pereire beach is a favourite with both residents and holiday makers. Arcachon is a beautiful seaside town in the south west of France to the west of Bordeaux.

Explore Pereire beach

France This Way review: Pereire beach is our favourite beach in Arcachon. It has a long wide path running most of its length which is always busy with people walking and jogging and along its length are various beach activities and beach bars. The beach itself is a lovely sandy beach with views over to Cap Ferret on the other side of the bay.

The Pereire beach starts at the end of the Avenue du Parc Pereire where there is lots of parking and runs along to the lovely seaside town of Le-Moulleau about 1.5km away if you walk along the beach. The first section is called the Plage Pereire and the next section is called the Plage d'Abatilles.

The walk from Pereire to Le-Moulleau with a coffee at one of the beach bars along the way or in Le-Moulleau itself is one of our favourite morning activities when visiting Arcachon. An afternoon swim here is also high on our list!

At the Pereire end of the beach there is a beach bar set up every summer right on the beach. Also here there is a morning yoga session and a morning Tai-Chi session on the beach every weekend in the summer run for free by Arcachon's council. Just bring your towel/mat and join in!

Walking south towards Le-Moulleau you can choose to walk on the path, the Boulevard de la Mer, or on the beach. The lovely wide beach path runs almost all the way to Le-Moulleau. For the last part you can either walk on the beach or follow the path along the road behind the beach. There is a seperate bike path running all the way too.

Walking along the path you quickly get to a children's play area and a skate park which are both very popular. And there is a handy beach cafe next to them where you can have a coffee whilst supervising.

A little further along there is a fitness area and all along this stretch which is bordered by pines and very pretty there are large grassy areas where you can have a picnic and enjoy the views.

At Le Moulleau there is a jetty and the small but pretty town has lots of bars and restaurants to tempt you. Be sure to walk under the jetty to the beach on the other side and where you get great views of the Dune de Pilat, the biggest dune in Europe.

The beach is nice and wide with plenty of room for everyone to spread out and there is a gentle slope into the sea. If you come at low tide lots of pools appear in the sand and you can walk along a sand bar surrounded on both sides with water giving the impression you are walking on water!

The beach is in the Arcachon Bay and so is sheltered from the Atlantic currents making it much safer than the Atlantic beaches. There are lifeguards near the Avenue de Pereire end of the beach.

In the summer there are a couple of children's beach clubs and there are also places where you can hire stand-up paddleboards. There are showers at various points along the beach and also a changing area near to the skate park.

Attractions nearby

Arcachon's town beach runs all along the town centre and is another great beach. If you prefer a beach with waves or wish to go surfing then the Atlantic beaches a small drive down the coast from Arcachon are the place to be.

Le-Moulleau is a lovely little town with a pedestrian boulevard down to the sea and an attractive church on the hill behind the town.

You can find more travel ideas in the Gironde guide and the Aquitaine guide.