Published the 11/06/2026 in Exploring the Region
The Southwest France destinations to discover in 2027 are the ones most visitors drive past on the way to Bordeaux or Biarritz: the high Pyrenees valleys, the inland French Basque Country, the Charentes coast and cognac country, Limousin and Creuse, and, as a bonus, the lakes and forests of the Landes. They are also the places we escape to ourselves on a free weekend, which is the most honest recommendation we can give. Each offers what well-travelled guests now ask us for first: space, makers with a story to tell, and landscapes that still feel lived in rather than staged. Here is where we take private travellers, small groups and incentive groups, with the addresses we return to and the timing that makes them work.
At a glance
The Pyrenees are my go-to when I need a short break that truly resets me. Two or three days of cool mountain air, one long hike and a night under the stars, and I come home with a clear head and more energy than a week at the beach could give me. From Pau and Tarbes up to the Ossau valley and Gavarnie, the French Pyrenees are also among the least crowded mountains in Western Europe in summer. Shepherds still move their flocks to the high pastures, and the spa towns have kept their Belle Époque façades.
Built in the 1920s to supply a dam construction site, the Train d'Artouste runs for about 10 km at close to 2,000 metres, making it the highest tourist railway in Europe. A gondola lifts you from the Fabrèges lake to the departure station. The open carriages then follow the mountainside for around 55 minutes to Lac d'Artouste, facing the Pic du Midi d'Ossau (2,884 m). The full outing takes at least three and a half hours. The train runs from early May to early October.
Our insider tip: take the first departure of the morning in June or September. The light is softer, the marmots are out, and you will have the lake shore almost to yourselves. Bring a warm layer even in August, as the weather turns quickly at this altitude.
The Ossau valley is the place for walkers who want big views without technical climbing. Our favourite day hike is the loop around the Ayous lakes, where the Pic du Midi d'Ossau reflects in the water on a still morning. For less experienced walkers, the plateau of Bious-Artigues gives the same mountain atmosphere on an easy, flat path.
Our insider tip: walk with a mountain guide who also knows the shepherds. In July and August, a stop at a summer hut to taste Ossau-Iraty sheep's cheese where it is made is the moment guests remember most.
The Cirque de Gavarnie is the best known of three glacial cirques, with Estaubé and Troumouse, that belong to the Pyrénées–Mont Perdu UNESCO World Heritage site, shared with Spain. Its walls rise around 1,500 metres, and its Grande Cascade is among the highest waterfalls in Europe. Nearby, the summit of the Pic du Midi de Bigorre sits within an international dark-sky reserve, with an observatory you can visit and even stay in overnight.
Our insider tip: most visitors stop at the foot of the Cirque de Gavarnie. We prefer Troumouse, a wider and far quieter amphitheatre reached by a small mountain road, ideal for a picnic with a view.
The Pyrenees are one of the best mountain ranges in France for a family holiday. In the high valleys, several farms offer walks with a pack donkey. The donkey carries the picnic, sets the pace for the youngest walkers, and usually becomes the star of the trip.
At night, the sky takes over. The Pic du Midi de Bigorre (2,877 m), the oldest high-altitude astronomical observatory in the world, is reached by cable car from La Mongie and sits at the heart of an international dark-sky reserve. You can visit by day or book a night at the summit: sunset aperitif, dinner of local produce, a guided star-gazing session, a night in a room at almost 3,000 metres, then sunrise over the Pyrenees with breakfast. In July and August, guided astronomy evenings with telescopes also take place at the Col du Tourmalet, open to all ages.
Our insider tip: stay at the foot of the cable car. Opened in 2023 and listed in the Michelin Guide's hotel selection, Hôtel La Voie Lactée in La Mongie has 20 rooms facing the mountains, Nordic baths and a sauna. It is the ideal base for a star-gazing evening, with no mountain road to drive afterwards.
Cauterets is a 19th-century spa town that welcomed Victor Hugo and George Sand. It suits travellers who want the mountains at a gentle rhythm. A gondola and chairlift take you from the Pont d'Espagne waterfalls towards Lac de Gaube (1,725 m), which faces the north wall of the Vignemale. Back in the village, the thermes offers indoor and outdoor thermal pools looking up at the peaks.
Our insider tip: finish the day with the Cauterets berlingots, boiled sweets made in the village for generations. They were first invented to mask the taste of the sulphurous spring water.
The high valleys produce some of France's most distinctive food. Look for Porc Noir de Bigorre, a black pig breed raised outdoors and protected by its own appellation, and Barèges-Gavarnie mutton, which grazes on the summer pastures. Add Ossau-Iraty sheep's cheese and trout from the cold mountain rivers. In Esquièze-Sère, near Luz-Saint-Sauveur, La Carde has woven blankets, throws and clothing from Pyrenean wool since 1891. Five generations of the same family have run it, and the workshop shows every stage, from carding to weaving.
Our insider tip: I have a real soft spot for La Carde. Their Pyrenean wool throws are the kind of thing you keep for twenty years, and knowing they were woven a few metres from where you bought them, from the wool of the valley's own flocks, makes them far better keepsakes than anything in the souvenir shops.
Pau is the gateway to the Pyrenees, and its Boulevard des Pyrénées offers one of the finest mountain panoramas from any French city. Henri IV, one of France's best-loved kings, was born in its château in 1553. Legend has it that his lips were rubbed with garlic and a drop of Jurançon wine at his baptism. Twenty minutes south, the Jurançon vineyards climb steep slopes facing the mountains. They produce dry whites and late-harvest sweet wines from Petit Manseng and Gros Manseng grapes.
Our insider tip: taste Jurançon with the winemaker in late autumn, when the last grapes are picked shrivelled on the vine for the sweet wines. A glass of sweet Jurançon with Ossau-Iraty cheese is the pairing every Béarnais will recommend.
In the Pyrenees, rugby is a way of life rather than a sport. Pau's Section Paloise plays in the Top 14, France's top division, and the clubs of Tarbes and Lourdes have written some of the great pages of French rugby. Tarbes itself is worth a stop for its Haras national, a stud farm founded under Napoleon, and the Jardin Massey, one of the finest public gardens in Southwest France.
The region is also the heartland of the Tour de France. Pau has hosted the race more often than any city except Paris and Bordeaux, and a monument to the "giants" of the Tour stands on the site of its old velodrome. Above the valleys rise the legendary passes of the Tourmalet (2,115 m) and the Aubisque, which riders have climbed since 1910.
Our insider tip: for friends or incentive groups, combine a Top 14 match day in Pau, with a pre-match welcome at the stadium, and a guided e-bike ascent of the Tourmalet the next morning. Even non-cyclists reach the summit, and the photo at the top is guaranteed.
Our slow rail journey follows the foot of the mountains from Bayonne to Toulouse, stopping in Pau, Lourdes and Tarbes. You cross the Jurançon vineyards by regional train, watch the peaks rise from the window between Lourdes and Tarbes, and finish through the Gascon countryside with an armagnac detour. A private car or e-bike waits at every station, and your luggage travels ahead from hotel to hotel. Allow 8 to 10 days, travelling independently with a personal roadbook or with our private transfers at key moments. For a longer journey, our Bordeaux to Lourdes itinerary runs over 11 days from the Arcachon Bay and Saint-Émilion to the Cirque de Gavarnie.
The French Basque Country is where I go with friends. It is the most convivial corner of France I know: long lunches that turn into dinners, a game of pelota on the village square, and tables where everyone ends up talking to everyone. It is also far more than Biarritz and its surf beaches. Thirty minutes inland, the hills turn green and steep, villages keep their red-and-white half-timbered houses, and Basque, or Euskara, is still spoken at the bakery counter.
Ainhoa, listed among the Plus Beaux Villages de France, lines a single main street with 17th-century houses, their shutters painted oxblood red or deep green. Nearby, Sare and Espelette complete a circuit of villages that can be explored in a day, with long lunches between them.
Our insider tip: arrive in Ainhoa before 10am, when the street is still in shade and the village belongs to its residents. Then drive the small road to Sare through the hills rather than the main route.
The Petit Train de la Rhune has climbed from the Col de Saint-Ignace, near Sare, to the summit of La Rhune (905 m) since 1924. The 4.2 km ascent takes about 35 minutes at walking pace, and it is one of the last rack railways still running in France. From the top, the view takes in the Atlantic coast, the Pyrenees and Spain at once.
Our insider tip: take the train up and walk down with a guide. Semi-wild pottok ponies graze the slopes, and the descent shows a side of the mountain most visitors never see.
The Aldudes valley sits right on the Spanish border, about 30 km from Pamplona, and feels a world away from the coast. Here, Pierre Oteiza brought the black-and-pink Basque pig back from near extinction in the late 1980s. His family business now produces Kintoa ham, which has its own appellation. A free one-hour trail lets you walk among the pigs on the mountainside, and guided visits end with a tasting.
Our insider tip: combine the Aldudes with a stop at the Irouléguy wine cooperative on the way back. Irouléguy is one of France's smallest appellations, with vines planted on steep terraces.
Espelette gives its name to the protected Basque chilli, the piment d'Espelette, which you will see drying in red strings on the façades from late summer. To understand Basque culture from the inside, nothing beats a pelota session on a village fronton with a local player. Guests learn the basic strokes of the game, then watch a real match in the evening.
Our insider tip: time your visit for a village fête in summer, when pelota matches, Basque choirs and long communal dinners take over the main square.
Few people know that chocolate entered France through Bayonne. In the 17th century, Jewish families fleeing the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisition settled in the town and brought with them the art of working cocoa. Bayonne became the cradle of French chocolate-making, and its chocolate houses still line the arcaded streets of the old town, some serving hot chocolate to recipes handed down for generations.
Our insider tip: nothing beats a square of dark chocolate with Espelette pepper for a real mood boost. The gentle heat arrives just after the cocoa. It is also the souvenir our friends ask for every time we come back from the Basque Country.
The Basque coast is a favourite destination for golf lovers. The Golf de Biarritz Le Phare, opened in 1888, is one of the oldest courses in continental Europe. Chantaco in Saint-Jean-de-Luz and the links-style Chiberta in Anglet complete a trio that can be played in three days, with the inland villages in between.
A short drive from Biarritz, we walk with a local guide into the Basque hills to a summit facing the ocean and the Pyrenees. There, the picnic is laid out with a local artisan and a mountain cheese producer, who bring their work and their stories to the table. It suits families and teams equally well. Complete the day with a pelota lesson from a professional instructor at a village fronton, a gâteau basque workshop with a local pastry chef, or a private cooking class alongside a renowned local chef such as Cédric Béchade, depending on availability. Our four-day stay The Atlantic, the mountains and the art de vivre brings it all together: Biarritz, Espelette, Ainhoa and Sare, the Petit Train de la Rhune, the market in Saint-Jean-de-Luz and the producers of the Aldudes valley.
Most of these doors open more easily when someone calls ahead. That is a large part of what we do at My Private French Travel: we know who to ask, and when.
The Charentes are the trip I recommend to friends who think they already know France. Everyone has heard of cognac, yet very few have cycled from a distillery to an oyster hut in the same weekend. The region links the cognac vineyards inland to the lively port of La Rochelle and a coastline of islands, oyster beds and naval forts, all within a two-hour drive.
Rochefort was built from scratch in 1666, on the orders of Louis XIV and his minister Colbert, as a naval arsenal protected from English raids. Its Corderie Royale, a rope factory 374 metres long, still stands on the banks of the Charente. Film lovers will know the town from Jacques Demy's Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (1967), whose opening scene was shot on the Pont Transbordeur. This transporter bridge, one of the last of its kind in the world, was opened in 1900.
Our insider tip: the Pont Transbordeur is often credited to Gustave Eiffel, but it is the work of engineer Ferdinand Arnodin, a contemporary of Eiffel. Cross the river in its suspended gondola on foot or by bike. It is a five-minute ride over the Charente, and few visitors know it is open to the public.
Did you know that Fort Boyard, the stone ship made famous by the television game show, sits between the islands of Aix and Oléron? Vauban judged a fort on this sandbank impossible to build. Work finally began under Napoleon and was completed in 1857, by which time cannons could already reach across the strait. You can sail around it, but not land.
Our insider tip: book a private boat from Fouras or La Rochelle at sunset, and have oysters from Marennes-Oléron served on board as you circle the fort.
La Rochelle is the liveliest city on this coast, and one of the most convivial in France. Its Vieux-Port is guarded by medieval towers, and its old town is a maze of arcaded streets where locals shop and meet. Mornings start at the Marché central, the covered market where fishmongers, oyster farmers and cheesemakers set up their stalls. Evenings move to the café terraces and wine bars around the harbour and in the Saint-Nicolas quarter, which stay busy late into the night from spring to autumn.
Our insider tip: do the market like a Rochelais. Arrive around 9am, have a dozen oysters and a glass of white wine at one of the counters, then pick up local produce for a picnic. Come back in the evening for a drink on the quays as the towers light up.
The Charentes coast is one of the finest seafood larders in France, with Marennes-Oléron oysters, bouchot mussels, sole, sea bass and line-caught fish landed daily in La Rochelle. Its standard-bearer is Christopher Coutanceau, whose restaurant on the Plage de la Concurrence has held three Michelin stars since 2020. He describes himself as a cook and a fisherman, cooks only local, seasonal, line-caught fish, and has long championed sustainable fishing, which earned him the Michelin Guide's first sustainable gastronomy award in 2019.
Our insider tip: understand that table by going to sea first. A morning fishing trip with a local fisherman in the Pertuis d'Antioche, the strait between the islands of Ré, Aix and Oléron, shows where the fish come from and how they are caught. Then the dinner tells the rest of the story.
From La Rochelle, a 3 km bridge leads to the Île de Ré, where whitewashed houses with green shutters line streets filled with hollyhocks. Its capital, Saint-Martin-de-Ré, is encircled by fortifications designed by Vauban, listed by UNESCO. Over 100 km of cycle paths cross salt marshes, oyster beds and vineyards, all the way to the Phare des Baleines lighthouse at the island's western tip. Here, the salt is still harvested by hand.
Our insider tip: leave the car on the mainland and explore Ré by bike. Visit a salt worker in Ars-en-Ré in the late afternoon, when the fleur de sel is raked from the marshes, then end the day in Saint-Martin's harbour, once the day visitors have gone.
The Île d'Aix lies about 20 minutes by ferry from Fouras. It is car-free and small enough to cycle around in an hour, with pine woods, hollyhocks and white beaches. Napoleon spent his last days on French soil here in July 1815, in the house that is now a museum dedicated to him.
Our insider tip: the Charentes are ideal for a bike trip, with flat routes between Rochefort, Fouras, Aix and the oyster ports. We plan e-bikes, luggage transfers and lunch stops so that guests only pedal the beautiful parts.
In Cognac, the large houses line the Charente, but the real immersion happens with family estates in the Grande Champagne, the most prestigious growing area. There, you taste from the cask with the cellar master and learn how the different eaux-de-vie are blended. Forty minutes away, Angoulême is the European capital of comics, with ramparts overlooking the valley and murals painted throughout the old town. It is no surprise that Decanter devoted one of its wine lover's guides to Cognac, built around a long weekend of tastings and cellar visits.
Our insider tip: ask to visit a cognac estate's paradis, the cellar where the oldest eaux-de-vie rest in demijohns. Some have been ageing for more than a century, and families open it only to guests who are introduced.
A regatta in La Rochelle. For incentive groups, we organise a day of regatta in the bay of La Rochelle for teams of 6 to 50 people. Crews compete within sight of the towers, then celebrate together on the quays at the end of the day.
Cognac behind the bar. Cognac was a cocktail spirit long before it was sipped neat, and classics such as the Sidecar were built on it. Today, the town is a magnet for bartenders, and the great houses work hand in hand with the cocktail scene. Two addresses stand out for a mixology experience. The first is Rémy Martin, where guests go deep into distillation and blending, with insight into how a cognac is distilled, aged and assembled that few visitors ever get. The second is Origins, a cocktail bar in the town centre, where guests create their own cocktail with cognac, Pineau des Charentes and local botanicals. For groups of 30 or more travelling by train, the masterclass can even take place on board, between Cognac and La Rochelle. Personalised cognac blending workshops and cooperage visits complete the picture.
A Charentes cooking class. With a local chef, guests cook the produce of the coast and countryside, from Marennes-Oléron oysters and mouclade (mussels in a creamy sauce) to Charentes-Poitou butter, then share the meal with a glass of Pineau.
Limousin and Creuse form the quietest corner of Southwest France, and the easiest to reach from Paris, at around three hours by direct train to Limoges. Their wealth lies in two great crafts, porcelain and tapestry, and in a landscape of lakes, forests and pastures.
Every French family has a piece of Limoges somewhere: the good dinner service that came out for Sunday lunch at our grandparents' house, and that we all end up inheriting one day. Coming to Limoges feels a little like visiting the source of those family memories. The town has made fine porcelain since the late 18th century, after kaolin, the white clay that porcelain requires, was discovered nearby. The Musée national Adrien Dubouché holds one of the world's finest ceramics collections, and several historic manufacturers still open their workshops to visitors. You can watch the turners, decorators and gilders at work.
Our insider tip: ask for a private session with a porcelain painter and decorate your own piece. It is then fired and sent to you, a far more personal souvenir than a boutique purchase.
In Creuse, Aubusson has woven tapestries since the 16th century, and its craft is listed by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage. The Cité internationale de la tapisserie shows centuries of work alongside contemporary pieces, including tapestries woven from the imagination of J.R.R. Tolkien. Weavers still work at low-warp looms in the town's private workshops.
Our insider tip: a tapestry takes months, sometimes years, to weave. Visiting a workshop where a piece is on the loom, and meeting the weaver, gives a sense of time that no museum can match. Better still, sit at the loom yourself: initiation workshops let adults and children weave their first few rows under a weaver's guidance.
Twenty-five kilometres from Limoges, Oradour-sur-Glane is one of France's most important Second World War memorials. On 10 June 1944, its population was massacred by a unit of the Waffen-SS, and the ruins have been preserved as they were left. The Centre de la Mémoire, at the entrance to the site, offers guided tours of the martyred village lasting about two hours.
Our insider tip: the Centre de la Mémoire is currently undergoing renovation work, and its permanent exhibition is closed. Book the guided tour of the village, which now includes the historical context. Allow time afterwards for a quiet moment, rather than rushing to the next visit.
The Millevaches plateau regional nature park and the Lac de Vassivière offer forest trails, wild swimming and cycling, with very few other visitors. At the table, Limousin beef, a breed raised on grass, is one of the best in France. Add farmhouse cheeses, chestnuts and the clafoutis that originated in the region.
We build Limousin stays to order, around our Villages and Crafts theme. A typical stay includes a private session in a porcelain workshop in Limoges, a hands-on weaving workshop in Aubusson, a guided visit of Oradour-sur-Glane and a farm table with Limousin beef. At three hours from Paris by train, it makes an ideal long weekend or an extension to a stay in Cognac.
The Landes are where I go when I need my fix of ocean and wildness. Nothing clears the mind like a beach that seems to have no end, the scent of the pine forest behind the dunes and the roar of the Atlantic. Behind more than 100 km of wild beaches lies the largest planted forest in Western Europe, dotted with freshwater lakes and quiet villages.
Hossegor is one of Europe's surfing capitals, with powerful waves that draw the world's best riders each autumn. It is also a surprisingly gentle place. Its saltwater lake, linked to the ocean by a channel, offers calm water for swimming and paddleboarding, and its streets are lined with Basque-Landes style villas built in the 1920s and 1930s.
North of Hossegor, the village of Léon sits on a lake fringed with pines. From here, the Courant d'Huchet winds about 9 km through a protected nature reserve to the ocean at Moliets. The reserve covers 618 hectares and has been protected since 1981. Bald cypresses, giant ferns and hibiscus give it the look of a small Amazon. The only way to go down the river is in a galupe, a traditional flat-bottomed boat steered by the local boatmen, from April to October.
Our insider tip: book the boat ride for early morning, when the light filters through the cypresses and the herons are still fishing. Then walk the last stretch to the river mouth at Moliets, where the river meets the ocean on an unspoilt beach.
Our insider tip for friends, families and seminars: the Landes are perfect for mixing sport, beach and good times. Picture a morning surf lesson at Hossegor, an afternoon on the cycle paths through the pine forest, and a long evening around the grill in a forest villa. For a seminar, add a meeting room with a view of the lake and a beach olympics at sunset, and the team goes home with real memories.
Our active stays combine a private surf class with an instructor at dawn, a guided walk along the Courant d'Huchet with a nature guide from the reserve, e-bike rides through the pine forest and long evenings by the lake. To round it off, we head inland for a day at Château Arton, a family armagnac estate in Gascony: a private tour of the vineyards and ageing cellars, then a lunch in the estate's gardens paired with its wines and armagnacs.
At My Private French Travel, this is the part of the job we enjoy most: knowing who to call, when to go and which doors will open. Based in Bordeaux, our team designs and runs private trips, small group tours, group travel and incentives across all five of these regions, with a single point of contact from the first conversation to the last day.
May, June and September are the best months to combine several of these regions. The mountains are open, the coast is calm, and the vineyards are green. July and August suit the high Pyrenees but bring crowds to the Basque coast. Autumn is the season for the harvest in Cognac and Jurançon, and for surf on the Landes coast. Winter belongs to the Pyrenees ski resorts and the spa towns.
Planning a group or an incentive? These regions are ideal for groups looking for something new, with privatised venues, local experiences shared as a team and transfers handled from start to finish. Agencies and event planners: we work as your on-the-ground partner in Southwest France.
Not everyone knows that Cognac is not only a spirit but also a beautiful town on the banks of the Charente. From there, one of France's most underrated journeys runs west along the river, through salt marshes and oyster beds, to the Île de Ré. This new four-day stay combines both worlds: the great cognac houses and the unhurried pace of the Atlantic islands.
Day 1 – Cognac. TGV from Paris to Angoulême (1h50), then transfer to Cognac. Check in to a five-star spa hotel in the town centre, stroll along the Charente quays in the evening, and dine in a gastronomic restaurant.
Day 2 – The great houses. Visit one or two cognac houses to see the copper stills, the ageing cellars and the "angels' share". Optional visit to a cooper's workshop or a mixology workshop, with lunch in the heart of the vineyard.
Day 3 – La Rochelle and the Île de Ré. Transfer to La Rochelle (1h) to walk the old harbour and its towers. Cross the bridge to the Île de Ré, explore the salt pans and oyster farms by bike, and dine facing the Atlantic.
Day 4 – Île de Ré and departure. A morning ride through the villages of Saint-Martin-de-Ré or Ars-en-Ré, then an oyster and Pineau tasting before the TGV from La Rochelle to Paris (2h20).
Included: 3 nights (five-star spa hotel in Cognac and boutique hotel on the Île de Ré), cognac house visits and tastings, bike hire on the Île de Ré, oyster and Pineau tasting, all transfers and local assistance. Can be combined with our Bordeaux stay for a 7-day Atlantic journey, or adapted for a group or incentive with the La Rochelle regatta.
This is one way to discover Southwest France; yours will be built around you. Tell us who is travelling, when, and what you would like to feel, and we will come back with a first itinerary. Message us on WhatsApp at +33 5 23 53 15 15 or write to contact@mpfrenchtravel.com. Agencies and event planners: we work as your on-the-ground partner across the whole of Southwest France.
May, June and September offer the best balance across the region. The Pyrenees are fully open from June, with the Train d'Artouste running from early May to early October. The Basque coast and the Charentes are quieter outside July and August, when prices and crowds peak. Autumn suits wine and spirits lovers, with the harvest in Cognac and Jurançon, and empty beaches in the Landes in September.
Yes, and earlier than most travellers expect. Taxis and ride-hailing services are rare in the Pyrenean valleys, the Basque hills and the vineyards, and almost non-existent in the evening. The best estates, craft workshops and guided visits are by appointment only, often weeks ahead in high season. Booking your private driver and visits together keeps each day fluid and avoids being stranded between two addresses. Or rent a car upon arrival, that's the best value for money option. Ask us about our self-drive itinerary.
Allow three to four days per region to enjoy them without rushing. A week lets you combine two neighbouring regions, such as the Pyrenees and the Basque Country, or the Charentes and Limousin. To see all five, plan for around two weeks+, with one or two longer transfers by private driver or train.
Yes, these regions work very well for families. Children love the Train d'Artouste, donkey walks in the Pyrenees, star-gazing at the Pic du Midi and the rack railway up La Rhune, the walk among the Basque pigs in the Aldudes valley and cycling on the car-free Île d'Aix. The thermal pools in Cauterets, the lakes of Limousin and the calm lake beaches of the Landes are easy days out. Oradour-sur-Glane is better suited to teenagers than to young children.
Direct trains link Paris to Bordeaux in about two hours, to Limoges in around three hours, and to La Rochelle, Angoulême, Pau and Biarritz. Bordeaux, Biarritz, Pau, Lourdes and Limoges also have airports with domestic and European flights. From there, a private driver is the simplest way to reach the valleys and villages.
Written by Cyrielle Nau, founder of the My Private French Travel team, Bordeaux-based destination specialists for private, small group, group and incentive travel in Southwest France.
Last updated: November 2026