Villas in Le Barcarès

About Le Barcarès

Le Barcarès began in the mid-nineteenth century as a small fishing village and turned to tourism in the twentieth. It sits on a narrow strip of land between the Mediterranean and the Étang de Salses-Leucate, a 54 km² lagoon averaging under two metres deep and protected as a Ramsar wetland. The resort, marketed as Port Barcarès, only really took off with the Mission Racine launched in 1963. Its landmark is the Lydia, a ship beached in the sand in June 1967, which now hosts the Christmas village with chalets, an ice rink and fireworks. A fully signed 10 km bike path links the districts, and the Vélitorrale runs on to Canet-Plage. Our homes sit close together, within a few kilometres, and most are apartments and small houses. Summer brings the Electrobeach electronic music festival, held every year since 2009. The permanent population is about 6,100.

Is Le Barcarès right for you?

Best for

Families wanting a resort beach, a lagoon and a short airport transfer

Not for you if

You want an old village with a historic centre, because the resort only really developed from the 1960s.

Near Le Barcarès

• Fort de Salses

  About 15 minutes by road. The Fort de Salses stands in Salses-le-Château, traditionally considered the northernmost point of the Catalan Countries.

• Collioure

  About 40 minutes by road. Royal castle improved by Vauban, famous for anchovies, with reproductions of Matisse and Derain paintings shown around town.

• Leucate

  On the same strip of land between lagoon and sea. On a clear day the Cap Leucate lighthouse looks along the coast to the Spanish border.

• Perpignan

  About 20 minutes by road, 15 km as the crow flies, with a Sankéo bus from the town hall about every two hours. The nearest city for bigger shops.

Getting to Le Barcarès

Perpignan airport is about 15 minutes away by road, with seasonal Ryanair flights from London Stansted, Birmingham and Leeds Bradford. A Sankéo bus leaves Le Barcarès about every two hours towards Perpignan, taking around 35 minutes. A car is useful for Collioure, Salses and anywhere inland, since the resort stretches along the strip.

When to go to Le Barcarès

Summer is the peak, with the Electrobeach festival held every year. The wider climate zone is windy, with winds above 5 metres a second 40 to 50 percent of the time, which you feel on the beach and lagoon shore. Ryanair's flights to Perpignan are seasonal, so check timetables for winter trips. The Christmas village at the Lydia, with its ice rink and fireworks, is the main winter draw.

Le Barcarès villa holidays: questions answered

Nearby towns to Le Barcarès

• Saint Cyprien (94)
• Canet-Plage (57)
• Argelès sur Mer (33)
• Bolquere (12)
• Collioure (8)
• All of Pyrénées-Orientales