Biarritz

France·Europe

Currency

EUR

Language

French, Basque

Timezone

Paris

Continent

Europe

Our guide

Discover Biarritz

Biarritz was a whaling village until Empress Eugénie had a villa built here in 1855; titled Europe followed, and the villa became the Hôtel du Palais. What remains is a town of cliffs and staircases where you walk a great deal. The Rocher de la Vierge, joined to land by an iron footbridge, is the obligatory view over the Basque coast and, on a clear day, the Pyrenees. The Musée de la Mer, in a 1935 Art Deco building, keeps its aquariums and its seals. The Phare de la Pointe Saint-Martin closes the town to the north — two hundred and forty-eight steps. The blue-domed Russian Orthodox church recalls another wintering clientele. And surfing arrived here in 1957, making the Côte des Basques the cradle of the sport in Europe.

When to go

June and September are best: twenty-three degrees, the water at twenty in September, and the autumn swell bringing surfers back. July and August are full and the beaches saturated at high tide. Winter is mild at thirteen degrees but very wet: the Basque Country gets more rain than Brittany, and this is the season of the big swells that hit the sea wall. Spring is unreliable and often superb.

Getting around

The centre, the beaches and the Rocher are all walkable, provided you accept the stairs — the town is built on cliffs. Buses reach Bayonne and Anglet in twenty minutes, Saint-Jean-de-Luz in forty. The station is three kilometres out with a bus link. The TGV puts Paris four hours away. A car helps for the Basque hinterland and Spain, thirty kilometres off, but summer parking is a real problem.

Where to eat

Bayonne ham, Espelette pepper and Ossau-Iraty ewe's cheese are the three pillars. Gâteau basque, filled with cream or black cherry from Itxassou, is an afternoon thing. Pintxos are eaten standing at the counter, Spanish-style. Les Halles, in the centre, gather producers and wine bars around midday. Ttoro, a Basque fish soup, is the local answer to bouillabaisse.

Good to know

The euro is the currency. One site is free; the Musée de la Mer and the Cité de l'Océan charge and offer a combined ticket. The beaches differ in character: the Grande Plage is urban, and the Côte des Basques is for surfing and largely disappears at high tide — check the tide table before settling in. The season ends sharply at the end of September.

Smart Planning