Dune du Pilat
The Tallest Sand Dune In Europe, Roughly 100 M High (Its Height And Position Change Every Year), Between The Arcachon Bay And The Landes Forest · La Teste-de-Buch, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
The Dune du Pilat, sometimes spelled Pyla, is the tallest sand dune in Europe, a ridge of fine pale sand roughly 100 metres high and nearly 3 km long at the mouth of the Arcachon Bay on the Atlantic coast, south-west of Bordeaux. Its height and position change every year: the wind pushes it slowly inland, burying pine trees and even roads at its eastern foot. From the top you look one way over the ocean, the sandbanks of the Banc d'Arguin and the tip of Cap Ferret, and the other way over an unbroken sea of pine forest. Getting up is the whole experience. From the paid car park a short path leads through the pines to the foot of the dune, and in the main season a wooden staircase is laid on the sand to the crest; otherwise you climb through soft sand. At the top you can walk along the ridge for a long way. Sunset is the favourite hour. The ocean side has dangerous currents, and in summer 2022 a large forest fire burned close by.
Dune du Pilat, 33115 La Teste-de-Buch, Gironde, La Teste-de-Buch, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
The dune itself is a natural site open at all hours and all year, with no entry fee, but access is organised around the paid car park at its foot, which is run as a managed site with a shopping and snack area, toilets and an information point. Car park charges are usually by the length of stay or a flat rate, and in summer the lot can fill by late morning, with long queues on the approach road. The wooden staircase on the sand is installed seasonally, typically from spring to autumn, and its position and length change with the dune; outside those months you climb in the sand, so confirm if it matters. Shops and snack bars keep long hours in July and August and shorter ones in shoulder months, and many close in winter. Paragliding flights depend entirely on wind direction and strength and run with licensed schools, mainly in the warmer season. Lifeguarded bathing zones on nearby beaches operate only in summer, and the ocean at the foot of the dune is not a supervised swimming beach.