What to do in Mont-de-Marsan, with family and in the great outdoors?

Mont-de-Marsan is the prefecture of the Landes, but beyond this administrative aspect, it is a perfect destination for a nature weekend, or a week discovering the Landes. Well located, 1h30 from Bordeaux, the Arcachon Bay or Agen, it is a city on a human scale, dynamic and gourmet, bordered by 3 rivers and where it is good to walk in the nearby nature. Family weekend, full of sports activities, outdoor walks and discovering the surroundings of Mont-de-Marsan, a great program awaits you!

Photos of the article © Mont-de-Marsan Tourist Office + additional individual mentions

Where to walk in Mont-de-Marsan?

Although Mont-de-Marsan is surrounded by nature, this country town does not forget the essentials and also provides greenery in its center: the town with three rivers (the Midou and the Douze, whose confluence which forms the Midouze is in the heart of the town) is designed for strolling in the open air and enjoying a break for a snack or a picnic on the terraces on the banks.

Take advantage of the banks of the Midouze to stroll and soak up the memory of the flourishing period when Mont-de-Marsan was a large river port, one of the most important in Gascony and the southwest. The bargemen transported goods and materials on their wooden galupes, from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. Today, at the very place where the oxen pulled the barges full of salt, wine and wood, it is a gentle path, with resting places, a footbridge and a belvedere.

Jean Rameau Park

A little further north is Parc Jean Rameau (who was a poet and novelist from the department). This green setting is home to a beautiful collection of remarkable plants and ornamental plants that are used to bloom the municipal space in summer and spring. This is why it was once called the nursery. It is pleasant to walk there to appreciate the natural environment but also to get good ideas for your garden... Because all the plants are identified. It is a walk of horticultural inspiration !

Jean Rameau Park Photo © Les Conteurs Agency

The Laulom public garden

The Laulom Public Garden in Mont-de-Marsan is a 6,500 m² green space that opened in 2025. Located between the train station and the town center, it was designed to create a link between these two centers and offer a new place for residents to live and relax. This landscaped area is accessible to people with reduced mobility and offers various activities for all generations.

This setting features a green theater, children's play areas, sports modules and spaces dedicated to scooters and skateboards. The project's designers have integrated a variety of plant species, some of which are adapted to the local climate, to provide an island of freshness in the heart of the city. It is a modern and friendly place which aims to revitalize the neighborhood and offer a new leisure destination in an urban environment.

The Saint-Roch market in Mont-de-Marsan

Tuesday and Saturday mornings are the Saint-Roch market ! The weekly market in Mont-de-Marsan offers a wide range of gourmet food products and takeaways. Bring a basket of groceries, stock up on bread, duck preserves or fresh garnishes, smoked trout, seasonal crudités, goat cheese, and a delicious dessert like pastis landais (a local brioche cake), to enjoy by the river or in a park, with your family, and in a country picnic style!

Nahuques Animal Park

The Nahuques Animal Park is a large, 4-hectare green space located east of the town center. It's the perfect place to wander around on a beautiful, sunny afternoon. Admission is free, and children love to visit the menagerie of wild and domestic animals : sheep, spotted deer, woolly llamas, pygmy goats, donkeys, and more. It's fun! There are even games for children, and you can also go pony riding.

Mont-de-Marsan is an attractive town, which has many surprises in store with quality cultural and heritage visits. Museums, art galleries, food artisans and know-how are in the spotlight, also a little shopping for lovers of fashion and local products !

The Lacataye Dungeon Photo ©N-Le-Lièvre

Discover the surroundings of Mont-de-Marsan

Mont-de-Marsan is not just the city center. It is also a town with nature activities and very pleasant walks. The ocean and seaside resorts are about forty minutes away, but all around you is the Landes de Gascogne Regional Natural Park. Take a weekend or a week of nature to recharge your batteries in Mont-de-Marsan, spend a different, original and very authentic vacation. The people of Mont-de-Marsan are warm and will gladly tell you about their territory, their good addresses and favorite hikes!

The Marsan Leisure Center

A few minutes southwest of the town center, you'll find the Marsan Leisure Center. It's a lively place, home to many outdoor activities that will delight the whole family. You can swim there in season (the beach is supervised), go fishing, and enjoy a whole host of other leisure activities. There's a playground for children, a treetop adventure park to test your tree-climbing skills, yoga classes, an outdoor laser tag game, and if you prefer bows to pistols, come and try archery tag ! You'll also enjoy pony rides, a sandy beach for making sandcastles, and a restaurant area for eating and drinking. It's a favorite with locals, with a friendly atmosphere and friendly hosts.

The Marsan Urban Natural Park

The Marsan Urban Natural Park is a grouping of several sites, at the level of the Montoise agglomeration. It is a beautiful enhancement of the natural heritage, these sites are developed for tourists but also and especially for locals, so that everyone can enjoy this setting in the best conditions. Marked trails, hides to observe wildlife, enhanced wetlands, service providers with a catalog of educational activities, producers to meet... It's the opportunity to (re)discover the region, with a new eye!

• Come and discover pastoral activity and taste the farm products in the goat farm.
• Take a walk with binoculars to spot the local wildlife in its natural environment at the Nine Fountains Ponds.
• Walk in the footsteps of our ancestors, 3 trails introduce you to a site where humanity took its first steps 50,000 years ago, at the Castets castle mounds.
• Tease the fish at the Massy pond, in a preserved Natura 2000 area.

The Marsan Urban Natural Park is the ideal place to go for a walk and clear your mind! 5 places welcome visitors to practice hiking, fishing, orienteering, observing the fauna and flora, discovering producers or even discovering small heritage sites. You can also improvise a picnic and discover the 5 towns and villages of the park. You can meet the goatherd at the site of the nine fountains in Bostens, observe the viewpoint from the site of Castets in Bougue, set off on the hiking trails at the Massy pond in Gaillères, stroll along the banks of the Midouze in Mont-de-Marsan or discover the small heritage and the small people of the Limac wetland in Laglorieuse.

Finally, hiking and art lovers can take advantage of these two attractions during walks to discover sculptures, scattered throughout the Landes forest. The Contemporary Art Forest is a large-scale project, which combines the verticality of the trees with the surprise of finding a work of art in the middle of the pine forest. Since 2009, and after a selection of talents, visual artists have been working to bring the forest to life by offering large-scale works to search for like a great treasure hunt... Start looking for them! Your starting point may be the sculpture “Landscape and Wolf”, in the Jean Rameau park in Mont-de-Marsan!

Organize your stay and take guided tours of Mont-de-Marsan

Take a guided tour Photo © OT-MC

The sculptures Photo © GA41186

Finally, modern budding adventurers can download Tèrra Aventura on their smartphone and go in search of Poïz… It’s a geocaching treasure hunt, you follow clues to get from one cache to another, until you reach a final point with a little treasure. A great concept to get the kids walking !

Night Tour with a Guide

You're ready to go on a nature, outdoor and family holiday to Mont-de-Marsan ! An attractive Landes town, still far from the main tourist routes, a gem to be polished that you can now appreciate, thanks to these good tips.

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