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Basque Coast, Biarritz & St Jean de Luz
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Port
Hendaye (Biarritz), France
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Activity Level
Moderate Activity
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Excursion Type
Information Not Currently Available
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Wheelchair Accessible
No
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Starting At (prices in USD)
$140
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Minimum Age
Information Not Currently Available
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Duration
Approximately 4¼ Hours
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Meals Included
Meals not included
Your adventure starts with a visit to St Jean de Luz, a port once famous for piracy. Many of the fine houses remaining today were built from the treasure captured by privateers. Take a brief orientation tour of the historic district and fishing port. You’ll visit the St Jean Baptiste Church and see the two houses on either side of the Town Square where Louis XIV of France and Marie-Thérèse of Spain awaited their wedding in 1660. Not a match made in heaven, the marriage was, in fact, engineered by the Treaty of the Pyrenees.
Next, head to Biarritz via the coastal road. A panoramic motorcoach drive through Biarritz will acquaint you with the ‘Queen of Resorts and the Resort of Kings.’
Your walking tour will take you to the lighthouse, located on the northern tip of Biarritz with its sweeping view of the city, and to the Grande Plage (main beach) in town, where surfers from all over the world come to hang ten. The Hotel du Palais, with its façade overhanging the golden beach of Biarritz, evokes the indolent and frivolous days of the 1920s. Built in 1855 as a summerhouse for Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie, the building owes its ‘E’ shape to Eugenie.
Stop at Biarritz Casino and walk to the handsome fishing port, nestled among the rocks and considered by many to be a tiny village within the city of Biarritz. The Rock of the Virgin “island” is reached by way of an imposing bridge constructed by Gustave Eiffel of Eiffel Tower fame. Conclude your oceanfront tour of Biarritz with a look at the ancient whaling port.
En route back to Hendaye, you’ll drive through Bidart and Guethary -- typical Basque villages where the locals play the traditional sport of pelota.
Please note: Wear comfortable walking shoes. In the event of religious services, the visit of St Jean Baptiste Church will be an exterior view only