La Promenade Fleurie near Mimizan visitor guide

Photo of La Promenade Fleurie near Mimizan

Visit La Promenade Fleurie near Mimizan, France

About 6km from Mimizan Plage and only 2 km from Mimizan town is a large lake called the Etang d'Aureilhan. At its closest edge to Mimizan the lake has a small sort of mini lake called the 'Courant de Mimizan' seperated from the rest of the lake by an island of land.

A stunning garden walk has been created around this mini lake which is free to visit and is called ' La Promenade Fleurie'.

Explore La Promenade Fleurie near Mimizan

France This Way review: We came upon this beautiful lakeside garden quite by chance but it will be a regular on our visits to the area around Mimizan. It is simply stunning.

To get to La Promenade Fleurie take the Rue des Trois Pignes and then the Avenue de Wolsack from Mimizan and join the Avenue du Lac which leads to La Promenade Fleurie. It is quite well signposted.

Mimizan as a whole has been awarded 4 flowers in the national 'Villes et Villages Fleurie' classification, (flowering towns and villages). 4 flowers is the highest distinction and Mimizan has held 4 flowers since 1995.

The Promenade Fleurie is the flagship of the gardens of the town and is not to be missed if you are nearby.

At the entrance to the garden walk there is a parking area and a picnic area and a kiosk selling drinks and ice-creams.

The gardens are planted and looked after by the commune's gardeners and in all more than 400 varieties of plants, shrubs and trees have been planted. A stunning mix of herbaceous and annual plants have been used with many unusual exotic plants to admire. Many have labels with their names.

Every part of the path which is about a kilometer in length is edged with beautiful well thought out planting and all is beautifully maintained. Our visit in August found the trail to be a mass of colourful flowers.

The flowering trees of Largestroemia (crape myrtle) provided a colourful canopy to the walk and hydrangeas, dahlias and canna lilies amongst many others add to the colour.

Along the length of the path you get occasional glimpses of either the Courant de Mimizan on one side and the Etang d'Aureilhan on the other. At the far end of the walk there is a pleasant seating area with views over the Etang and an island in the water. It is very beautiful and tranquil and you will often see egrets, herons and various species of ducks.

The walk is open all year round and as well as the walk around the Promenade Fleurie you can continue and walk right round the lake. To walk around the whole lake is a walk of 13.5 km and takes about three hours. Every third weekend of May there is a gardening event held at the Promenade Fleurie.

Around the lake it is possible to hire canoes or Hawaiian pirogue boats as well as electric boats, sailing boats and stand-up paddle boards. The lake is also popular with fishermen

Attractions nearby

Mimizan Plage is very popular in the summer especially with young adults and young families. Further up the coast Biscarrosse and Biscarrosse lake are also popular with with holiday makers.

Further north the beautiful town of Arcachon has great beaches and is close to the Dune de Pilat, the largest sand dune in Europe.

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