History

Hard to imagine today, but until the 19th century, Arcachon was just a remote hamlet surrounded by dunes and pine trees, home to fishermen and resin collectors. No bustling seafront, no colourful villas, just a small fishing port in the shadow of the vast Landes forest. Everything changed in 1857, when Arcachon was officially founded.

It was the golden age of sea bathing, all the rage among aristocrats and the upper bourgeoisie, who believed that sea air and ocean spray worked wonders for one’s health. Two influential financiers, the Pereire brothers, spotted the site’s potential. They brought the railway here, built hotels and thermal baths, and even created an entire district to attract health-seekers: the famous Winter Town, perched on the heights.

Extravagant villas, exotic gardens, and lookout towers quickly made Arcachon a sought-after retreat, visited by writers, countesses, and artists in search of light and sea air. Since then, the town has grown, spreading around the basin with its season-named neighbourhoods, marina, family beaches, and that same soft, salty atmosphere lingering in the air. Today, nearly half a million visitors come here each year, for a few days or a few weeks.

Some return every summer, others discover for the first time the beauty of the tides, the sight of the cabanes tchanquées in the distance, or the briny taste of a freshly opened oyster. That’s Arcachon: a seaside resort born from almost nothing, now a classic of the French summer, between basin and forest, between history and simple pleasures.