Mimizan: surfing paradise of France
Yessss… for this we drove over 1200 km; the wonderful surf atmosphere of Mimizan. Mimizan is one of the many fun surf destinations of southwestern France. The surf conditions there are perfect, both for beginners and advanced surfers. PLus the town is bursting with cool hotspots. Enough reason to pack your things as soon as possible and drive to Mimizan. Read on quickly for all our travel tips for Mimizan.
What to do in Mimizan
Surfing, surfing and more surfing
Everything here revolves around surfing anyway. Whether you like to stand on the waves yourself or prefer to admire the spectacle from the beach. Also, if you want to learn to surf, Mimizan is the place to be. In fact, you will find several surf schools that offer surf camp. During a surf camp, you get 2 hours of surf lessons every day for a week (or longer). There are also often events, yoga classes and dinners planned during this week. Everything is about surfing and the atmosphere that comes with it. So enjoy!
It is also possible to join several surf schools for a day. Visit one of the many surf schools and ask about options.
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Also fun
- Skate park: If you don’t feel like water for a while, visit Mimizan’s new skate park.
- Promenade Fleuri: discover the nature of Mimizan
- Taking a beach walk
- Beer Picnic with an amazing sunset
Hotspots & food in Mimizan
- Little Asia: As a Little Asia, it always makes me happy with Asian food. This was by far our favorite hotspot in Mimizan for dining. You can choose from various street foods from different Asian countries. I opted for the Bo Bun and Leroy for the Yaki Udon. The food was truly amazing! At first glance, it looks a bit like a snack bar, yet you can sit outside and enjoy. All dishes are also available in vegetarian options. Super nice. Just be careful when ordering a beer. A simple Bintang can cost around 7 euros.
- Aloha Burgers: The tastiest burgers in Mimizan are found at Aloha Burgers. This trendy burger joint has a cozy terrace just outside the center of Mimizan. The burgers with fries cost around 12 euros. Unfortunately, for vegetarians, there was only one option and it wasn’t that great. It was grilled eggplant on a bun. A bit disappointing considering there are so many tasty veggie burgers available nowadays. Leroy’s burger, on the other hand, was truly amazing – so I heard ;p
- Chill House: Enjoy a drink with your feet in the sand? You can do that at the beach bar Chill House. Settle down in one of the comfy bean bags and enjoy the view. Great tip!
Saved as favorites or hotspots by followers:
- Coeff 112 – Coffee on the beach
- Meltingpot – Hamburgers and lunch
- Hey Poulette – Funny street food spot where you can get chicken
- L’orchestra bar – Tapas
- Le Wizz – Dining
Want to save all the hotspots at once as favorites? Then take my Mimizan hotspot map. These are the hotspots I found in advance via blogs, Instagram, or Google Maps. I haven’t been able to experience all of them myself yet, but I’ve saved them as recommendations. If you have cool tips to add, let me know through a comment.
Best time to travel to Mimizan
The best travel time for Mimizan is summer. In high season it can be quite crowded, so should you have the chance, try to avoid it. We visited Mimizan in mid-September and then it was wonderfully quiet.
Which budget do i need in Mimizan?
In total we spent 3 days in Mimizan and made 230 euros, and daily budget of 77 euros per day.
- Gasoline: 75 euros
- Tolls: 25 euros
- Camping: 36 euros (18 euros per day)
- Groceries: 37 euros
- Dining out: 57 euros
Most of it consists of toll roads and gasoline. Normally we travel a little slower and don’t take toll roads, but because we ran into a few breakdowns and because France’s travel advisory had been tightened up a few times, we decided to drive south as fast as possible.
We also went out to dinner 2 nights.
Practical information about Mimizan
- Buy a surfboard and wetsuit in advance. You can also rent a surfboard and wetsuit, but after 5 days you are almost more expensive. After all, a beginner’s board does not have to be so expensive. Tip! Buy your board secondhand through marketplace or take a look at Decathlon
- Try to avoid toll roads as much as possible. The toll in France is huge. It also takes you through pretty cozy French villages that you wouldn’t easily see otherwise
- Use the app campercontact or park4night to find the nicest RV sites and campsites
- Don’t forget to order an ACSI card if traveling in the off-season
- We have already had 2x per breakdown on the road and then were very I with the ANWB. This year we even opted for the complete package, since last year we got stuck in Germany for 8 days and only spent 80 euros per day on accommodation
- In France, mouth guards are currently mandatory i.e. Corona (Sep 2020). Also on the street and also in camping. Keep this in mind. We bought quite a few and put some in different places. The same goes for hand gel.
- Download the foreign affairs app and stay up to date with the latest travel advice
- Attention Orange Travel Advisory. Also, if you travel through an orange area, your insurance can deny charges. If there is an orange travel advisory regarding Corona, the insurance will only not cover the costs related to Corona
- Refueling is cheaper in villages. So never fill up your tank on the highway
- If you want to withdraw money in Europe, you often have to pay a small fee to your bank. We recently switched to Knab, which charges no additional fees
What are nice places to stay in Mimizan?
We found a really excellent campsite in Mimizan, namely Airotel Club Marina-Landes. Not really quite our thing, as it is a bit larger and geared towards families, but the sites were super spacious, green and the plumbing mega clean. Also, with ACSI you get a discount, so we only paid 18 euros per night. Topper so!
There was 1 small downside, though, as it could smell tremendously. By the way, this applies to all of Mimizan and has nothing to do with the campsite itself. In fact, in the city you will find a paper mill and now you will probably think, how bad can a paper mill smell. Well very much so! So bad that at our place, especially at night, the wind was wrong and I literally woke up from the stench. Finally, I got up to shove lavender oil up my nose and lay under the blanket. Really it was that bad. Super too bad, because Mimizan is really incredibly fun. Without the stench, we might have stuck around.
If you are not with a camping vehicle, we have also selected some nice overnight accommodations for you.
If you have a great tip for Mimizan yourself, let us know in a comment.
