La Baule

The bay at La Baule runs roughly nine kilometres in an unbroken curve of fine sand between two headlands, and the resort behind it exists because of a nineteenth-century engineering problem: drifting dunes had already buried a village, so pines were planted across the sand to fix it, and the forest that grew became the setting for villas. The seafront is now a wall of apartment blocks, but streets inland keep the 1900s and art deco villas among the pines. The tide goes out a long way over hard flat sand, which makes it a place for sand yachting and long walks rather than dramatic surf.

History

The tourist potential of the coast was recognised in 1879, when the Parisian industrialist Jules-Joseph Hennecart conceived the railway from Saint-Nazaire to Le Croisic; just before it opened he bought 40 ha of dunes and engaged the architect Georges Lafont, who laid out a long avenue and a chapel and went on to build more than 250 villas. In 1918 the casino magnate François André began remodelling the resort on the Deauville pattern, with casinos, luxury hotels and sports grounds, and in the 1920s Louis Lajarrige laid out the Bois d'Amour district and had the railway moved back from the shore; the new stations opened on 27 July 1927, and La Baule became a fashionable resort, its beach one of the longest in Europe (Wikipedia, La Baule-Escoublac).

What you'll find

• The nine-kilometre bay - one long unbroken curve of fine sand.
• The villa quarter - belle epoque and art deco houses among pines.
• The pine forest - the planted woodland that fixed the dunes.
• The flat low-tide sand - hard ground used for sand yachting and riding.

When to go

June to September for swimming, with August crowded and expensive. Spring and autumn suit the beach walk and the villa streets. The sea stays cold into early summer.

Practical notes

The seafront is dominated by large modern apartment blocks, and the resort is expensive in season. The beach is groomed and busy rather than wild. Water quality is generally good but the sea is cold.

Nearby

Guerande lies north; Le Croisic is west.

Key facts