Two weeks by car from Nantes to the Basque Country, never straying far from the ocean: the Passage du Gois, the Île de Ré, the Gironde estuary, the Dune du Pilat, the lakes of the Landes and the cliffs of Biarritz. Almost everything is on toll-free departmental roads; the main costs are the Île de Ré bridge and the Royan ferry.
| Days | Stop | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Days 1 to 2 | Nantes | Start |
| Days 3 to 4 | Noirmoutier-en-l'Île | 104 km · 1h50 |
| Days 5 to 7 | La Rochelle | 181 km · 3h10 |
| Day 8 | Royan | 90 km · 1h40 |
| Days 9 to 10 | Arcachon | 180 km · 3h10 |
| Day 11 | Hossegor | 144 km · 2h55 |
| Days 12 to 13 | Biarritz | 33 km · 40 min |
Road route calculated from the stops (OpenStreetMap). Driving times assume no stops and no traffic: add time for photo breaks.
June and September: less crowded beaches, and the Île de Ré bridge drops from €16 to €8 after 15 September. From November to March, the ferry and bridge are cheaper, but the Cordouan lighthouse, the Courant d'Huchet boats and the La Rhune train are closed.
🚗 104 km · 1h50 of driving from Nantes
D751 via Pornic, then Beauvoir-sur-Mer and the Passage du Gois, at low tide only. Otherwise, the toll-free Fromentine bridge.
🚗 181 km · 3h10 of driving from Noirmoutier-en-l'Île
Noirmoutier bridge, the D38 along the Vendée coast to Les Sables-d'Olonne, then the D949 via Luçon. No tolls.
🚗 90 km · 1h40 of driving from La Rochelle
N137 and D137 to Rochefort, the D3 via Brouage and Marennes, then Saujon and Royan. No tolls.
🚗 180 km · 3h10 of driving from Royan
Ferry from Royan to Le Verdon (20 to 30 minutes), the D1215 through the Médoc and Pauillac, the Bordeaux ring road, then the toll-free A63 and A660.
🚗 144 km · 2h55 of driving from Arcachon
D218 past the Dune du Pilat and Biscarrosse, then the D652, the Landes lakes road, via Mimizan and Léon. No motorways.
🚗 33 km · 40 min of driving from Hossegor
D652 via Capbreton, then the D810 or A63 to Bayonne. Stop in Petit Bayonne before Biarritz.
Skip Hossegor and drive straight from Arcachon to Biarritz via Mimizan and Léon, keeping the Courant d'Huchet. Nights: Nantes 1, Noirmoutier 1, La Rochelle 2, Royan 1, Arcachon 2, Biarritz 2.
| Car hire only, July | ≈ €49 a day |
|---|---|
| Car hire only, November | ≈ €32 a day |
| Small car, annual average | ≈ €36 to €40 a day (Kayak Nantes, Sept 2026) |
| Your own car | The simplest option. Display a Crit'Air sticker for Nantes and Bordeaux; plan the drive back from Biarritz. |
|---|---|
| Vehicle | A small or compact car: beach car parks are full in summer, and the streets of the old harbours are narrow. |
| Where to pick it up | Nantes station or airport, returned at Biarritz-Anglet-Bayonne airport. |
| Age | At Europcar, from age 18 with 1 year's driving experience; under 26, €40 a day extra. |
⚠️ Returning the car in Biarritz incurs a one-way fee, often €100 to €300: factor it in before comparing offers.
On this route, only Charente-Maritime has put 229 km back to 90. Motorways 130, dual carriageways 110.
Passable from about 1 hour 30 minutes before to 1 hour 30 minutes after low tide. Times posted at the entrance; otherwise, use the toll-free bridge.
Paid on the way in, on the La Rochelle side: €8 in mid-season, €4 from 15 November to 1 March.
0.2 g/l on a probationary licence. Up to 0.8 g/l: €135 and 6 points; above that, a criminal offence.
From April to October, plus €7 per adult, driver included. Tickets online; at least 18 crossings a day in summer.
Sticker compulsory inside the Nantes ring road and the Bordeaux rocade; only unclassified vehicles are banned.
Privately driven speed camera cars everywhere except Île-de-France. Detectors banned: up to €1,500 and 6 points.
Probationary licence: 110 on motorways, 100 on dual carriageways, 80 elsewhere.
≈ €2.15 a litre for SP95-E10 unleaded, €2.40 for diesel (23 Sept 2026)
Price recorded in September 2026: it changes every week, sometimes by 10 to 20 cents in a month. Today's price: prix-carburants.gouv.fr →
⛽ 732 km at 7 l per 100 km: about €110 at September 2026 prices, to share between passengers.
National averages from ministry data. Prices vary widely between stations: compare on prix-carburants.gouv.fr before filling up.
| Île de Ré bridge, return | €16 from 15 June to 15 September, €8 in mid-season, €4 in winter |
|---|---|
| Noirmoutier bridge and Passage du Gois | Free |
| Île d'Oléron bridge | Free since 1991 |
| Le Verdon-Royan ferry, car | €37 from April to October, €20 from November to March |
| Le Verdon-Royan ferry, per adult | €7 from April to October, €5 in winter; the driver pays too |
| Dune du Pilat car park | €7 for 4 hours in season, €5 out of season; 30 minutes free |
| Coastal departmental roads, A63 Bordeaux-Salles, A660 | Free |
| A11 Paris-Nantes, if coming from Paris | €43.30 (Ulys) |
| A83 and A10 Nantes-Bordeaux | €33.20 (Ulys) |
| A10 Bordeaux-Paris, for the return | €60.90 (Ulys), not counting the tolled A63 through the Landes |
| Passage du Gois | Submerged at every high tide, twice a day |
|---|---|
| Cordouan lighthouse | Visits in summer only |
| Courant d'Huchet boats | From 1 April to the All Saints' school holidays |
| La Rhune train | Daily from 28 March to 1 November 2026 |
| Royan-Le Verdon ferry | 8 crossings a day in winter, possible cancellations in rough weather |
Allow two weeks for this route of 7 stages and 13 nights, from Nantes to Biarritz: Noirmoutier, La Rochelle and the Île de Ré, Royan, Arcachon, the Landes and the Basque Country. With 10 days, skip Hossegor and cut one night each from Nantes, Noirmoutier and La Rochelle. Add a day's driving if you need to return to Nantes.
In your own car, about €110 of fuel at September 2026 prices for some 750 km from stage to stage, plus excursions, plus about €75 in crossings: Île de Ré bridge €16, ferry €51 for two in summer, Dune du Pilat €7. If you hire, add about €690 in July (€49 a day) and the one-way fee.
Only at low tide: the 4.1 km causeway is uncovered for 4 to 5 hours per tide. In good weather you can cross from about 1 hour 30 minutes before to 1 hour 30 minutes after low tide; the times are posted at the entrance, on the Beauvoir-sur-Mer side. Drivers have drowned there, as recently as 2020. Otherwise, the Fromentine bridge is free.
The return trip is paid once, on the way in from the La Rochelle side: €16 per car from 15 June to 15 September and over the Ascension and Whitsun long weekends, €8 in spring and autumn, €4 from 15 November to 1 March. Pedestrians and cyclists cross free.
The most scenic way is the ferry from Royan to Le Verdon-sur-Mer: a 20 to 30-minute crossing, €37 per car and €7 per adult from April to October (€20 and €5 in winter). Then head down through the Médoc via Pauillac. Without the ferry, the road goes via Bordeaux: faster, but you miss the estuary.
June and September: fewer people on the beaches and the Île de Ré bridge at €8 after 15 September. July-August is the most expensive, for car hire as well as the bridge. From November to March, the Cordouan lighthouse, the Courant d'Huchet boats and the La Rhune train do not run.
Driving rules, prices and closures checked in September 2026; hotels checked on OpenStreetMap and then on Booking. Rules change: read the official source before you leave, and check your own government's travel advice for the country. Stop photos: Wikimedia Commons, authors and licences under each image.
Off We Gooo road trip guide · offwegooo.com/en/road-trips/french-atlantic-coast · by Pierrick, updated 1 October 2026
