Discovering Dax, France's leading spa town

In New Aquitaine, 40 minutes from the 5-star Le Vieux Port campsite, in the heart of the Landes department, Dax is France's leading spa destination. The small town of 20,000 inhabitants has been known since Roman times for its hot springs and its local thermal mud, Peloid. Wellness, fitness and cocooning will be the key words of your stay in this welcoming town. Discover it!

FRANCE'S LEADING SPA DESTINATION

The capital of well-being and fitness, Dax is located only 35 km from our campsite in the Landes, between the Atlantic coast, the Pyrenees and Spain. Founded by the Romans 2,000 years ago, Dax welcomes 60,000 tourists and spa-goers every year in search of nature, culture and well-being, making it the leading spa town in France, with almost 16 thermal baths in Dax and Saint-Paul-lès-Dax.

The thermal baths of Dax have long been renowned for the treatment of rheumatology and phlebology, as well as respiratory tract disorders. People come here to take advantage of the virtues of the thermal waters, known and appreciated since Antiquity, to recharge their batteries and regain their energy. On the programme: à la carte treatments or mini-cures, massages and thermal water baths. Dax owes its reputation to the quality of its treatments, but also, and above all, to the Peloid, a thermal mud unique in the world!

THE PELOID OF DAX, A THERMAL MUD WITH MULTIPLE VIRTUES

Since Antiquity, the Landes resort has been known for its local thermal mud, called the Peloid of Dax. The Romans were the first to exploit the therapeutic virtues of this natural mixture of thermal water, clayey silt from the Adour and an astonishing blue micro-alga: the famous Dax cyanobacteria. Nowadays, the blue algae is cultivated in greenhouses in the laboratory and is used in all the establishments in Dax, in the form of a poultice or directly on the skin. To find out how the medicinal mud of Dax is made, you will have to visit the facilities of the peloid production centre, Terdax.

NATURALLY WARM AND BENEFICIAL THERMAL WATER

Dax's reputation is also based on the therapeutic virtues of its hot springs, which gush out at over 60°C. Renowned for its purity and health benefits, the thermal water of Dax is naturally rich in sulphur, calcium and trace elements, recognised for its analgesic, sedative, anti-inflammatory and healing properties. It heats up deep down in the rock, where the temperature of the subsoil increases by an average of 1°C every 30 metres. The Place de la Fontaine Chaude is undoubtedly the bubbling heart and the main attraction of Dax. Built in the 19th century on the site of ancient Roman thermal baths, the Nèhe spring (named after a Celtic water goddess) delivers 2.4 million litres of water at 64°C every day!

URBAN THERMALISM AT THE GATEWAY TO NATURE

At the cutting edge of thermal innovation, Dax has managed to develop while preserving the cachet of its traditions, its art of living, its bullfighting and its férias. The richness of its heritage makes it a cultural stopover not to be missed during your camping holiday in the Landes. The Gallo-Roman ramparts, the archaeological crypt, the beautiful Andalusian-style bullring and the Art Deco architectural treasures such as the Splendid Hotel and the Atrium Casino are all there to see.

For nature lovers, Dax offers a privileged environment, between the pine forest, the ocean and the Pyrenees. Its mild climate allows tourists to enjoy, in summer and winter, the surrounding leisure activities and riches. Situated on the edge of the forest, a few kilometres from the Atlantic coast, Dax enjoys the mildness of the ocean in the shelter of the largest forest in Europe. Protected from the maritime winds as well as the rigours of winter, it benefits from an oceanic climate which makes it a pleasant winter resort. In summer, Greater Dax is full of ideas for nature trips in the heart of a mosaic of landscapes: from the Barthes of the Adour to the forest moors, from the hillsides of Chalosse and Armagnac to the long sandy beaches of the Côte d'Argent. With so much to see and do, you will not have time to get bored!