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What to do in La Baule for a 2- or 3-day weekend?
An elegant destination, La Baule for a 2- or 3-day weekend offers an idyllic setting for a stay focused on relaxation, gastronomy and surprising sporting activities. What to do in La Baule? Our guide to the best places to go.
Less than three hours by train from Paris, La Baule unfurls its Atlantic elegance. From its Belle Époque villas nestled under pine trees to its endless sandy beach, the seaside resort embodies a refined, relaxed art de vivre. Here, you can indulge in the pleasures of the sea, from gourmet dining to oyster tastings overlooking the ocean, while thalassotherapy treatments and bike rides between salt marshes and the wild coast complete this invigorating escape. Here are our top addresses for a weekend in La Baule.
Day 1: Arrival and relaxation
9am - Landing at the Hôtel Barrière Le Royal La Baule
Facing the Atlantic Ocean, in the heart of a verdant park, Hôtel Barrière Le Royal La Baule embodies neo-Romanesque elegance. Completely renovated in 2015 by decorator Chantal Peyrat, who drew her inspiration from Guérande salt crystals, this five-star La Baule spa hotel offers 87 rooms, including 15 suites, decorated in soothing shades of beige and blue, offering 180° ocean or city views.
Ideally located, the hotel allows guests to stroll through La Baule's picturesque lanes and elegant boutiques, enjoy the sandy beach or explore the bay. The little ones can also enjoy their stay in La Baule thanks to the Kids Club at the l'Hermitage Studio by Petit Vip, where children aged 4 to 12 are supervised during educational and fun activities from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.: shell customization, mini-golf, origami and other evening activities that will leave their mark on their memories for a very long time.
Hôtel Barrière le Royal
87 keys, prices from 274 euros per night
6 Avenue Pierre Loti, 44500 La Baule-Escoublac
hotelsbarriere.com/la-baule/le-royal
12pm - Lunch at the hotel restaurant
For the first lunch of your 2- or 3-day weekend in La Baule, head for the hotel restaurant, Le Ponton, where you can enjoy a culinary experience with your feet in the sand, facing the ocean. The menu, inspired by world cuisine, focuses on energizing dishes. Large plates, snacks and finger food can be shared on the spacious wooden terrace, in a convivial atmosphere. Here, you can sample the Pink Shrimp Platter, Sea Bass Fillet à la Plancha, Duck Foie Gras or Whelks straight from the sea. For a sweet finish to the meal, the menu offers Churros for dipping, a Lemon Meringue Pie or a delicious Royal Chocolat Grand Cru. The sober, natural decor, reminiscent of the interior of a sailboat, adds a touch of escape to an already idyllic setting.
2pm - Enjoy the Barrière Thalasso & Spa center
We're staying right in front of the ocean at the Barrière Thalassotherapy & Spa center in La Baule, a sanctuary of well-being offering a sensory experience inspired by the brilliance of Guérande salt crystals. Facilities include a swimming pool, marine trails, saunas, steam rooms and relaxation areas. In collaboration with the Clinique des Champs-Elysées, the center also offers a medical spa, combining thalassotherapy and innovative beauty treatments. Targeted slimming, anti-aging, relaxation and fitness treatments, each formula is tailored to specific needs thanks to à la carte programs developed and monitored by specialized physicians. The 4-day mother-baby interlude allows pregnant women and their newborns to connect and enjoy these special months.
8pm - Dinner at the Hôtel Barrière L'Hermitage restaurant, the Brasserie du Royal
After a relaxing afternoon, head to the Brasserie du Royal, the flagship La Baule restaurant of the Hôtel Barrière L'Hermitage. The menu features the finest French cuisine, with dishes such as vol-au-vent, stuffed poultry, minced tartare and crêpes Suzette. The decor, with its light walls and high ceilings enhanced by bay windows, perfectly reflects the hotel's elegant setting. A superb terrace overlooks the golf course, allowing you to admire the verdant setting at any time of day. Desserts are not to be outdone, with the famous Belle-Époque millefeuille, ideal for sharing.
Day 2: Golf and exploration
9am - Book a session at Golf International Barrière La Baule
What can you do in La Baule if you love the great outdoors? For the second day of the weekend in La Baule, head for the Golf International Barrière La Baule, spread over 220 hectares in the heart of the Brière Regional Nature Park. Founded in 1976, this complex offers three distinct courses with a total of 45 holes. The Lucien Barrière course (red) offers 18 holes over just under 6 km, with narrow, wooded fairways providing a technical challenge for golfers. The Diane Desseigne-Barrière course (blue) extends over 6 km, while the François André course (green) offers a 9-hole layout. The club also boasts a training center accessible to all levels, a Club House with panoramic views over the courses and a well-stocked Eurogolf boutique for golf enthusiasts.
Golf International Barrière La Baule
Route de Saint-Denac, 44117 Saint-André-des-Eaux
12pm - Lunch at the Golf Club House
After a sporty morning, the Club House at Golf International Barrière La Baule offers a truly original setting. The restaurant's large bay windows bathe the space in natural light and open onto a south-facing terrace, offering a breathtaking view of the golf courses and the lake surrounding the final holes of the course. The menu features simple yet gourmet dishes such as croque du golf, fish and chips, beef tartare and scallop and risotto.
2pm - Visit Guérande
From the sunny beaches of La Baule, a guided tour of the medieval town of Guérande takes visitors to the heart of Breton history. After a journey of around 7 kilometers, you pass through the majestic Porte Saint-Michel, the main entrance to the fortified town. Accompanied by an enthusiastic guide, you stroll through the cobbled streets, discovering the 15th-century ramparts and the collegiate church of Saint-Aubin, jewels of the local religious heritage. The tour continues to the famous salt marshes, where you'll learn the secrets of the traditional salt harvest, perpetuated for generations.
8pm - Dinner at Le Castel Marie-Louise restaurant
Return to La Baule for dinner at the restaurant of Le Castel Marie-Louise hotel, embodying the timeless elegance of early 20th-century Breton seaside residences. As you cross the threshold of this manor house, you're welcomed into a classic bourgeois-style dining room, where large bay windows offer views over the wooded park and the restaurant's terrace. In charge of the kitchen, local chef Jérémy Coirier draws his inspiration from the riches of the region. The menu features freshly caught fish and shellfish, such as Casier spider crab and Saint-Pierre from the Breton coast.
Le Castel Marie-Louise
31 keys, prices from 290 euros per night
1 avenue Andrieu, 44500 La Baule-Escoublac
Day 3: Water sports and discovery
10am - Take part in a sand yachting session on the beach at La Baule
We kick off the third day of our 2 or 3-day weekend in La Baule with an exhilarating sand yachting session on the beach. The town is renowned for its long, arched beach, offering a vast expanse of fine sand ideal for sand yachting. At low tide, the beach uncovers a wide, flat surface, perfectly suited for speeding off, propelled by the force of the Breton wind. Conditions are generally favorable, allowing beginners and experienced pilots alike to enjoy the ride to the full. Several local clubs offer introductory courses supervised by qualified instructors. After a brief theoretical introduction to the handling of the craft and safety instructions, with feet on the pedals and hands on the sheet to control the sail, the float glides across the sand, offering unique sensations of speed against the backdrop of the exceptional panorama of the Bay of La Baule.
12pm - Seafood tasting at Le 16 Art restaurant
Just a 5-minute walk from the beach, brasserie Le 16 Art welcomes guests in its cosy interior or on its terrace overlooking the market. Here, the chef offers bistro-style cuisine with a predilection for fish and seafood. Lunchtime dishes include mussels with all kinds of sauces, shrimp curry and creamy spelt risotto with mushrooms. Just what you need after a morning of sand yachting.
Le 16 Art
194 Avenue du Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny, 44500 La Baule-Escoublac
2pm - Riding an electric bike
Head for the Hôtel Barrière L'Hermitage La Baule, where you can borrow bicycles to explore the town. One of the classic routes is towards Le Pouliguen, then along the Côte Sauvage towards Batz-sur-Mer and the Pointe du Croisic. This route offers breathtaking views of cliffs and rocky coves. On the way back, you'll cross the Guérande salt marshes, where you can watch salt workers harvesting salt in the traditional way.
8pm - Dinner at Ciro's, restaurant of the Hôtel Barrière L'Hermitage La Baule
When you drop off your bike at the Hôtel Barrière L'Hermitage La Baule, you mark your stopover with its seaside restaurant, Ciro's La Baule, which embodies the very elegance of the great seaside resorts with their yacht club spirit. As soon as you arrive, you're welcomed into a refined setting, where wood panelling and marine motifs provide a coastal immersion. The menu, designed by Yannick Hochet, offers a selection of dishes featuring marine gastronomy, such as lobster linguine, langoustine carpaccio and salt-crusted sea bass to share. Cocktails include the Judy, made with gin, elderflower liqueur, ginger, lemon and cucumber, and the Belle Poule, made with salicorne whisky, red vermouth, dry vermouth and orange bitter.
Hôtel Barrière L'Hermitage La Baule
200 keys, prices from 378 euros per night
5 esplanade Lucien Barrière, La Baule-Escoublac
Official website