Along the water
55,27 Km
3 h 46 min
I begin / Family
55,27 km cycling route from Dax to Urt
A Scandibérique stage offering you the chance to enjoy the thermal pleasures of the resorts of Dax, Saint-Paul-lès-Dax and Saubusse. Following the Adour by bike, riding along towpaths converted into cycle paths, you reach the village of Saubusse. A former river trading and fishing port, it stands in a lovely setting, tempting for a walk or a drink at a water-side terrace. At Josse’s port, you could opt to go out on the river in a boat or a canoe. There’s something for everyone in these parts, with the many outings, traditions and gastronomy on offer, all in striking landscapes carved out by the Adour’s waters and by Pyrenean torrents.
Elevation of the stage
93 m 84 m
Waytypes of the stage
Cycle path: 0,18 km By road: 55,09 km
Surface of the stage
Smooth: 46,53 km Unpaved: 8,74 km
The route
Segregated cycle paths to cross the towns of Dax and St Paul les Dax. Then minor roads leading you through a mix of agricultural fields and oak forest. Rough tracks take you across the Mèes peat bogs and the local wetlands known as barthes. From Rivière Saas Gourby, you ride beside the Adour on the former towpath that has recently been laid out for cyclists, up to Saint Laurent de Gosse, where you cross the river to head for Urt. Signposted EV3.
Surfacing smooth: asphalt and compacted tracks.
Link
For the EV1, La Vélodyssée, 16km away at Bayonne, going from Saint Laurent de Gosse – follow the Adour towpath.
Trains
- Dax train station: regional TER line to Bordeaux and high-speed TGV direct trains to Paris, Hendaye and Tarbes
Don’t miss
- Dax: the Fontaine Chaude, or La Nèhe Spring, emblematic of this thermal spa, built in the 19th century on the presumed site of ancient Roman baths. In former times, 2,400,000 litres of water gushed out daily, at 64°C. The thermal waters here, mixed with the algae that form on the spring’s surface and with clay from the Adour River, go into making a natural medicine, Péloïde de Dax.
- Saint-Paul-lès-Dax: the 12th-century Romanesque church with an 11th-century apse, beautiful capitals and bas-relief friezes.
- Mèes peat bogs: as explained on the instructive trail, or sentier d’interprétation, this lovely environment similar to marshland is covered with rare, very specific vegetation that decomposes to produce peat.
- Saubusse: a former fishermen’s village at the little river port, with some fine merchants’ houses.
- Base Nautique La Marquèze at Josse: an outdoor watersports centre where you can hire canoes or electric boats, without needing a special licence, to explore the Adour River and its wild fauna noiselessly and gently.
- Urt: a little river fishing port with fish ladder on the Adour; the traditional façade for playing the famed Basque ball game, pelote basque
Travellers’ reviews