Routes · Europe

Santiago to the French Basque coast: Biarritz and Saint-Jean-de-Luz

Santiago → Biarritz → Saint-Jean-de-Luz

An imperial surf resort & a fishing port with a royal wedding Best season (general guide): Jun–Sep

The French Basque coast mixes the grand hotels of a nineteenth-century resort with fishing towns and green hills running down to the Atlantic. This route spends three nights in Biarritz and three in Saint-Jean-de-Luz. From Santiago you'll connect through a European hub to Biarritz. Biarritz lies on the Bay of Biscay in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, about 35 kilometres from the Spanish border.

How to pace it: Spend days one to three in Biarritz: day one, the Grande Plage; day two, Rocher de la Vierge and the aquarium; day three, surf lesson or coastal walk. Then spend days four to six in Saint-Jean-de-Luz: day four, train to Saint-Jean-de-Luz; day five, old port and the church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste; day six, train up La Rhune.

The villa Napoleon III built for Empress Eugénie is now the Hôtel du Palais. The Rocher de la Vierge, a rock topped by a statue of the Virgin Mary, is reached by a footbridge from the shore. Biarritz is one of the birthplaces of surfing in Europe; surfers rode its waves from the 1950s.

The Musée de la Mer, an aquarium and museum of the sea, stands above the old port. Louis XIV married Maria Theresa of Spain in the town's church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste in 1660. Inland, a cog railway climbs La Rhune, a mountain on the French-Spanish border with wide views of the coast.

The bay of Saint-Jean-de-Luz is sheltered by sea walls, which makes its beach calmer than those of Biarritz. Summer brings the warmest weather and sea, though the coast is green because of its rain. In Basque, Saint-Jean-de-Luz is called Donibane Lohitzune. Its port has long been home to a fishing fleet, and tuna and sardines were the main catches.

Biarritz's lighthouse, on the Pointe Saint-Martin, can be climbed for views along the coast. Gâteau basque, a cake filled with cream or black cherry jam, is the classic sweet of the region.

Safety: Canada's advice for France is to exercise a high degree of caution (updated 11 Aug 2026), and the US rates France Level 2 (28 May 2025).

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