Luxury hotel holidays to French Basque country

The French Basque Country, or Pays Basque, occupies the far south-western corner of France, where the Pyrenees meet the Atlantic, and its great appeal lies in the closeness of sea and countryside: within a few minutes of the coast, with its sandy beaches, cliffs and fishing harbours, lie green hills, rivers and villages of white houses with red and green timbers. It also has a strong cultural identity of its own, with its own language, sports, music and cuisine, quite distinct from the rest of France. Saint-Jean-de-Luz is, in our view, the best base. It is an old fishing and trading port with a lively harbour, a pedestrian old town and a broad, sheltered sandy bay protected by sea walls, which makes swimming calm and pleasant; its history is rich too, as Louis XIV married the Infanta Maria Theresa of Spain in its church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste in 1660. Ciboure, across the harbour, was the birthplace of Maurice Ravel. Saint-Jean-de-Luz is quieter and more intimate than Biarritz, yet Biarritz, Bayonne, the inland villages and the Spanish border are all within a short drive. We offer two hotels here: the Grand Hotel, a Belle Époque hotel directly on the beach a few minutes’ walk from the port, with a thalassotherapy spa, and the Hotel Parc Victoria, a small, elegant villa-hotel set in its own gardens a couple of minutes from the beach, which suits clients looking for a quieter and more private stay. A week in Saint-Jean-de-Luz gives ample time to explore the whole of the French Basque Country and to cross into Spain without moving hotel.

The region rewards slow exploration. On the coast, Biarritz, the resort made fashionable by Empress Eugénie and Napoleon III in the nineteenth century, retains its grand villas, its rocky headlands and the Rocher de la Vierge, alongside a long-established surfing culture; Bayonne, a few minutes inland, is an attractive cathedral town on the Nive and Adour rivers, with a fine Basque Museum and a chocolate-making tradition dating back to the seventeenth century. Inland, the villages are a particular pleasure: Ainhoa and Sare, both listed among the Plus Beaux Villages de France, Espelette, famous for its red peppers hung to dry on the house fronts, and Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, the medieval walled town at the foot of the Pyrenees where many pilgrims begin the final stretch of the Camino de Santiago into Spain. The Petit Train de la Rhune, a rack railway dating from 1924, climbs to the summit of La Rhune on the Franco-Spanish border, with views over the whole coast and the mountains. Almost every village has its fronton, the wall against which the Basque game of pelota is played, and matches are held through the summer. The food is central to any stay: Bayonne ham, Espelette pepper, axoa, a stew of veal and peppers, line-caught tuna from Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Ossau-Iraty sheep’s cheese served with black cherry jam, gâteau basque and the macarons of Maison Adam, made in Saint-Jean-de-Luz since 1660. Irouléguy, the only wine appellation of the French Basque Country, is grown on steep terraces near Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and is well worth a visit. Golf is also well established, with courses including Chantaco and La Nivelle near Saint-Jean-de-Luz.

Very easily, and this is a real advantage of the region. The Basque Country straddles the border, and from Saint-Jean-de-Luz, San Sebastián, or Donostia, is only around half an hour’s drive. It is an elegant small city set around the shell-shaped bay of La Concha, with a Belle Époque centre, a lively old town and a food culture of international reputation: its bars serve pintxos, the Basque equivalent of tapas, and the city and its surroundings have a remarkable concentration of Michelin-starred restaurants for their size. We can reserve tables at the region’s celebrated restaurants and arrange a guided pintxos evening in the old town. Closer still, Hondarribia, just across the Bidasoa estuary from Hendaye, is a walled town of brightly painted houses with good seafood restaurants. Bilbao, around an hour and a half from Saint-Jean-de-Luz, is home to the Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Gehry, and makes a rewarding day out or a night’s stay. For clients who want to spend longer in Spain, a two-centre holiday combining Saint-Jean-de-Luz with a stay in San Sebastián, or a touring holiday continuing into the Spanish Basque Country, La Rioja and northern Spain, is straightforward to arrange, and our Spanish Basque Country page has more on this. With a hire car or a private driver, crossing the border is effortless, and the contrast between the French and Spanish sides of the same culture is a pleasure in itself.

The quickest route is to fly to Biarritz, whose airport has direct flights from London and some UK regional airports, several of them seasonal, and lies only around fifteen minutes from Saint-Jean-de-Luz. Bordeaux, around two and a quarter hours’ drive away, has a wider choice of flights. By rail, Eurostar connects in Paris with TGV services from Montparnasse to Saint-Jean-de-Luz in around four and a quarter hours, so the journey can be made in a day, and our French Basque Country by rail holiday follows this route. For clients who prefer to take their own car, Brittany Ferries sails from Portsmouth to Bilbao and from Portsmouth and Plymouth to Santander, both within a comfortable drive of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, and it is possible to travel out by ferry to Spain and return through the French Channel ports; driving from Calais, we recommend at least two overnight stops in each direction, for example in Normandy and the Loire Valley. A car is useful for the inland villages and the Pyrenees, though Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Biarritz and Bayonne are connected by train and bus. The region combines naturally with its neighbours: the Bordeaux vineyards to the north, the Béarn and the Pyrenees to the east, Carcassonne and Languedoc, the Tarn and the Dordogne further afield, and the Spanish Basque Country, La Rioja and northern Spain across the border. Our touring holidays combining the Basque Country with Bordeaux and Carcassonne, or with the Dordogne and the Tarn, show how naturally it fits into a longer journey through south-west France.

The French Basque Country has a mild Atlantic climate, with warm summers, mild winters and enough rain throughout the year to keep the hills green, and it can be enjoyed in every season. May and June are a particularly good time, with the countryside fresh, the gardens in flower, the beaches quiet and the days long and comfortably warm. July and August are the busiest months, when French and Spanish holidaymakers fill the coast, and the Fêtes de Bayonne, held over five days at the end of July, draw very large crowds in white and red; they are a memorable spectacle but are best either planned for well in advance or avoided. The summer also brings pelota tournaments, Basque music and village festivals throughout the region. September and October are, for many of our clients, the most rewarding months: the sea is still warm, the light is soft, the crowds have gone and the vineyards of Irouléguy are being harvested, while the Fête du Piment in Espelette, at the end of October, celebrates the pepper harvest. Winter is mild and quiet, a good time for walking, restaurants and the thalassotherapy spa at the Grand Hotel, and the cities of Biarritz, Bayonne and San Sebastián remain lively. Some smaller hotels and restaurants close for part of the winter, so we always check opening periods. We will always advise on timing in relation to your interests and the hotels you are considering.