Cap Ferret is a headland

Headland

A headland is a point of land, usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends out into a body of water.Headland can also refer to:*Headlands and bays*headLand, an Australian television series...

, situated at the south end of the commune of Lège-Cap-Ferret

Lège-Cap-Ferret

Lège-Cap-Ferret is a commune in the Gironde department in Aquitaine in southwestern France. The commune stretches from the village of Lège in the north, to the point of Cap Ferret in the south, along the length of the peninsular of Cap Ferret.-Population:...

 in the French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 department of Gironde

Gironde

For the Revolutionary party, see Girondists.Gironde is a common name for the Gironde estuary, where the mouths of the Garonne and Dordogne rivers merge, and for a department in the Aquitaine region situated in southwest France.-History:...

. The headland takes the form of a spit

Spit (landform)

A spit or sandspit is a deposition landform found off coasts. At one end, spits connect to land, and extend into the sea. A spit is a type of bar or beach that develops where a re-entrant occurs, such as at cove's headlands, by the process of longshore drift...

, which separates the Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

 from Arcachon Bay

Arcachon Bay

Arcachon Bay is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean on the southwest coast of France, situated between the Côte d'Argent and the Côte des Landes, in the region of Aquitaine. The bay covers an area of 150 km² at high tide and 40 km² at low tide...

. At the same time, the entrance to Archachon Bay separates Cap Ferret from the resort town of Arcachon

Arcachon

Arcachon is a commune in the Gironde department in southwestern France.It is a popular bathing location on the Atlantic coast southwest of Bordeaux in the Landes forest...

.

Cap Ferret is famous for its lighthouse

Lighthouse

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....

 and as an up-market resort that has retained its natural feel at the heart of the Landes of Gascony and the Pays de Buch

Pays de Buch

Pays de Buch is one of several areas that make up the Landes forest in France. It extends across seventeen towns around the Arcachon Bay and the valley of the Eyre River...

.

Cap Ferret is accessible by road from the north, and by passenger ferry

Ferry

A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...

 from Arcachon. The Tramway du Cap-Ferret

Tramway du Cap-Ferret

The Tramway du Cap-Ferret, also known as the Petit train du Cap-Ferret, is a narrow gauge railway on the Atlantic coast of France in the department of Gironde...

, a diesel operated narrow-gauge railway, links the ferry landing on the shores of Arcachon Bay with the beaches on the Atlantic coast.

External links

Panoramas of Cap Ferret Official web site of Cap Ferret The lighthouse on the site World Wide Panorama