Pays de Buch (, literally ''Land of Buch'') is one of several areas that make up the

Landes forest The Landes forest (; La forêt des Landes in French) in the Landes de Gascogne (las Lanas de Gasconha in the Gascon language), in the historic Gascony natural region of southwestern France now known as Aquitaine, is the largest man-made woodla ...

in France. It extends across seventeen towns around the

Arcachon Bay Arcachon Basin or alternatively Arcachon Bay ( French: ''Bassin d'Arcachon'') is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean on the southwest coast of France, situated in Pays de Buch between the Côte d'Argent and the Côte des Landes, in the region of Aquit ...

and the valley of the Eyre River. The village of Porge is at the north end and La Teste de Buch at the south, with

Belin-Béliet Belin-Béliet (; oc-gsc, Belin e Beliet) is a commune in the Gironde department in southwestern France. It was created in 1974 by the merger of the former communes Belin and Béliet. Population The population data given in the table below for ...

to the east.

Geography

Located in the southwest of the

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

of Gironde, Pays de Buch is bounded by Médoc to the north,

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...

to the east, the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

to the west into which the

opens, and

Pays de Born In France, a ''pays'' () is an area whose inhabitants share common geographical, economic, cultural, or social interests, who have a right to enter into communal planning contracts under a law known as the Loi Pasqua or LOADT (''Loi d'Orientation ...

to the south. CarteBassinArcachon

Tourist destinations

* The

, where many tourists go each year for summer vacation. It is a notable destination for fishing and water sports. Throughout the year it supports oyster farming and receives a number of species of birds. * The delta of the Eyre River and the Teich bird refuge. * Cap-Ferret * The oyster farming port of

Gujan-Mestras Gujan-Mestras (; oc, Gujan e Mestràs) is a commune in the Gironde department in southwestern France. It is twinned with Santa María de Cayón, Spain Population Geography Gujan-Mestras is located in the southern part of the Arcachon bay. ...

The Great Dune of Pyla The Dune of Pilat ( French: ''Dune du Pilat'', official name), also called ''Grande Dune du Pilat'', is the tallest sand dune in Europe. It is located in La Teste-de-Buch in the Arcachon Bay area, France, 60 km (37.2 mi) southwest of Bo ...

Arcachon Arcachon ( ; ) is a commune in the southwestern French department of Gironde. It is a popular seaside resort on the Atlantic coast southwest of Bordeaux, in the Landes forest. It has a sandy beach and a mild climate said to be favourable for i ...

Andernos-les-Bains Andernos-les-Bains (; oc, Endarnòs) is a commune in the Gironde department, southwestern France. Andernos-les-Bains is a located on the northeast shore of Arcachon Bay. To its northwest is the town of Arès. Andernos-les-Bains consists of ...

* The Isle of Birds and its

stilt house Stilt houses (also called pile dwellings or lake dwellings) are houses raised on stilts (or piles) over the surface of the soil or a body of water. Stilt houses are built primarily as a protection against flooding; they also keep out vermin. The ...

s. *

regional nature park

Landscape

The Pays de Buch is part of the Landes Forest and the landscape is composed principally of maritime pines. Most of these pine trees were planted in the nineteenth century, except for the working forest of

La Teste-de-Buch La Teste-de-Buch (; oc, La Tèsta (de Bug) ) is a commune in the Gironde department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Southwestern France. It is located on the south shore of Arcachon Bay, lying in the southwestern part of Gironde. It is the largest of ...

, which is natural. In the humid areas and near bodies of water like the shores of the Eyre River, the pines form a rich substrate for vegetation. The lands near the ocean are marked by active dunes, fixed in part by people at the end of the nineteenth century. Further inland, old dunes are oriented in a north–south line and the forest is slowly recovering them, extending a dozen kilometers west–east. Across this dune corridor is the sandy plain of Landes. The Arcachon Bay is, a large gap in the forested plain, offers a great variety of landscapes: salty marches at the bank of Arguin, the Dune of Pyla, and the Isle of Birds. The bay is the mouth of the Eyre River and receives the fresh water of the area. {{Authority control Geography of Gironde