Biarritz travel guide

Thalassotherapy - Spa

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Biarritz is the perfect town to pamper yourself - enjoy the natural benefits of the sea and treat yourself to a session at the excellent local spas. A long tradition of marine cures has made the success of Biarritz's highly-reputed spa establishments.

Coastal walk

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Along the coast, left of the beach, you will see a large rock outcropping, that yu shoudl definitely explore. It provides a beautiful view back over the beach and the waters below. There is a massive rock overhang that you can walk over which ends in the "Rocher de la Vierge", a rock topped by a white statue of the Virgin Mary. The man-made walkway built out of iron was desgined by none other than, Eiffel himself.

French golf holidays

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Biarritz is a paradise for golfers with five courses in Europe’s top 100 and ten courses within an half hour drive of the resort. There is a long history of golf in Biarritz - the Biarritz Le Phare course is the second oldest on the continent, being built in 1888 by Willie Dunn and long-time host to the prestigious Biarritz Cup.

Biarritz itself came to fame in the mid-19th Century, when Empress Eugenie (the wife of Napoleon III) fell in love with this part of the Basque country and built a Palace on the beach at Biarritz. This building is now the glorious Hotel du Palais, a hotel that is a firm favourite amongst FGH clients for its old style elegance. Biarritz itself is among the most fashionable resorts in Europe, with excellent shopping and beaches as well as lively nightlife.

The French Golf Holidays team have played at all the Biarritz courses and vote for the following three as their favourites;

• The Moliets course is cut through a pine forest with views of the nearby ocean and is home to the French Professional Training Academy. The greens are huge but well defended by Robert Trent Jones trademark bunkers. 6406 yards, Par 72

• Seignosse was designed by Robert von Hagge and takes two or three rounds of matchplay before you can tackle it with confidence. Set out on hilly terrain, the raised tees make for wonderful views of the challenging but superb course. 6531 yards, par 72

• Chiberta was designed by Tom Simpson and we consider it to be one of the best links courses in France. The course is short, rugged and quite wide and is a good blend of links golf and beautiful parkland with some intelligent hazards.

Other nearby courses which are well worth a visit include Tom Morrison’s Hossegor and the classic Chantaco. Biarritz hosted the prestigious International Golf Travel Market (IGTM) conference in 2002 – a privilege reserved for the best golf destinations in the world.

Miramar Beach

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This beach is set just below the Thalassa institute, built on the same site as the former luxury Hôtel Miramar (founded in 1927) which gave its name to the beach, one of the most fashionable on the coast in the 1930s. (It used to be called Plage BERNAIN.)
Facing the beach the Rocher de la Frégate is colonised by seagulls and cormorants. From Miramar beach, you can take the strange, damp, rocky Passage Winston-Churchill which goes underneath the Hôtel du Palais and reaches the Grande Plage.

La Grande Plage

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La Grande Plage was first called the Côte des Fous, then the Côte du Moulin and, in 1858, Plage de l'Impératrice. This name was withdrawn in 1871 after the fall of the empire, and it took on its present name.
It is one of the most beautiful and extensive beaches in Biarritz, stretching north to south from the bay between the Hôtel du Palais and the Bellevue.It is the only one to have kept the coloured canvas tents (which haven't been compulsory for changing since 1930!), which can be hired, even for a day.Ideally you should go on foot to the Grande Plage, which is right in the heart of the town. Two underground car-parks are at your disposal (beneath the Casino).

The Old Port

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Formerly called Vieux-port, until a municipal decision in 1897.The Port Vieux is a veritable natural swimming-pool, sheltered on both sides by rocks that are fully exposed at low tide. Further out to sea, there is the Rocher du Boucalot (meaning "small entrance" in Gascony dialect). It was on this beach that whales were towed in to be cut up. It was also here in 1830 that, before any other beach, the first canvas tents were installed for bathers to get changed in.
The tents were later replaced by cabins on stilts, arranged in a semi-circle. On the orders of Napoleon III, a bathing establishment was opened in 1858. Replaced by a cement building topped with a terrace in 1924, it was demolished by the bombardments.After the last war, a horseshoe shape hewn out of the stone and harmonious staircases replaced the cabins, which had become superfluous.The members of the "Ours Blancs" club bathed here daily, in summer and winter, never missing the new year's day swim.

La Cote des Basques

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The present Côte des Basques used to be the Plage des Basques and before that was called Côte Pernauton.It owes its name to the tradition whereby each Sunday following the Assumption, or the second Sunday of September, Biarritz was invaded by joyful crowds of people from Labourd and Navarre, who came to swim on this beach…In September 1858 there were several thousand Basques here, but what about the crowd of 1928? More than 200 luxury cars lined up on the promenade at bathing time. The drivers in their livery waited by the Rolls, Bugattis, etc. In 1910, Edward VII took a walk from the Grande Plage to the Côte des Basques every morning.
In 1957, an American film-maker, Peter Viertel, was the first to surf here on a long board he had brought from California. For those who watched him in amazement, it was the start of a fantastic era: the first European surfing spot was born.To get to the Côte des Basques, go down the twisting paths among the tamarisks. Make the most of the many benches on the way to take a rest and look at the sea.The boulevard comes to a dead-end before the future pedestrian link with the Marbella and Milady beaches. Between them, large-scale work is underway to drain the cliffs, which were collapsing due to erosion and infiltrations of water. At high tide swimming is impossible, as the sand is completely covered.

Marbella and Milady Beaches

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Beyond the Côte des Basques, the wild coastline with its rocks and reefs runs to Marbella beach. It was the Villa Marbella, a hispano-moresque folly inspired by the Alhambra de Grenada and built in 1863 for Lady Bruce, which provided the name for this beach.In this luxurious villa surrounded by gardens, Lady Bruce welcomed both Napoleon III and the future king, Edward VII.
In 1891, after the death of this woman known by all as Milady, her son inherited the estate and rented it out before finally selling it. It gradually fell into ruin, and a storm finished it off in the 1950s.Bought by property developers, it was demolished in 1953, leaving only its name to the beach which had attracted the world's nobility.

Biarritz Casino

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Set on the beachfront, looking out over the lighthouse and the Bellevue, the Municipal Casino opens out to the ocean waves. The gala dinners and prestige receptions are unforgettable, further enhanced by the spectacular waves and sunsets. Renovated in 1994 by François Lombard, this superb Art Deco building is a perfect illustration of the architectural heritage of the town. Apart from the magnificent Salle des Ambassadeurs, a theatre-auditorium with 730 seats and conference rooms make the place a perfect site for meetings and congresses for up to 700 people. For a conference or a cocktail, try the original Winter Garden, a glass prism which brings the whole bay of Biarritz to you.
In keeping with the 20th century seaside resort tradition, the Casino Barrière de Biarritz has become a Mecca for French art de vivre and elegant leisure.

This major venue for Biarritz festivals and events also offers a selection of four restaurants:
- Le Café de la Grande Plage, a traditional French brasserie,
- Le Baccara, the panoramic games room restaurant,
- Le Quiniéla Café in the heart of the slot machines serving food from midday to 3am non-stop,
- and the BL Discothèque.
Together with two magnificently decorated rooms which host 220 slot machines, Europe's best Table Games Room and an integrated car park, the Casino Barrière de Biarritz is a venue to be visited.

touristic routes

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Biarritz is a real feature of the Basque country, a region whose history has been preserved by its own people, with deeply rooted traditions and a lively language, the “Euzkara”, the origin of which is not well known. Biarritz also has a regional culture that has combined the richness of outside influences without ever denying its own identity. The Basque region has kept its own originality throughout the centuries and encompasses seven provinces, both in France and Spain. When approaching Biarritz, one can see the foothills of the Pyrenees. Cheerful white houses with red or green shutters which are squeezed around steeples, contrast against the Pyrenees’ bluish hills. Here, amongst dozing wildlife, people can enjoy going for walks or any form of outdoor activity. The sight of children playing pelota against the village walls, a flock of sheep contrasted against green meadows, the pottocks (Basque donkeys) running away at the unexpected approach of an intruder, the “toros de fuego” running into a crowd and the sound of txistu (flutes) or tambourines at the villages’ fiestas should all be experienced.
Singing and dancing are an integral part of such festivities, just like pelota or the festivals where Basques compete to be the strongest man. On the markets, one can admire with delight cherries from Itxassou, chili from Espelette, which is used to give a bit of colour to the French Basque dish piperade (a kind of ratatouille), or bottles of Izarra, from which either the green or yellow colour stands out from the red of the hams. One can also find a great selection of cheese from the Pyrenees that should be eaten with some wine from Irouleguy, an internationally renowned village. The Basque country goes all the way to Spain, near the town of San Sebastian with its elegant bay and picturesque streets. The local plazas have their tremendous ferias in Bilbao or Pampelona that compete with the French town of Bayonne. The Basque country is a truly natural region. It would take too long to mention all the wonders of the region. Here are a selected few :
• Bayonne : “entrance door” to the Basque country. Places to visit are the cathedral, the cloisters and the Vauban city walls.
• Anglet : located very near Biarritz, has a beach named “the lovers’ room” and the huge forest of Chiberta which stretches along the coast.
• Saint Jean de Luz : a tuna fishing port where Louis XIV married Marie-Thérèse, the “Infanta”. It is interesting to wander around the old port, along the pier and to visit the old church, the Infanta’s house and Louis XIV’s residence.
• Hendaye : a 4 kms long beach with fine sand.
• Arcangues : a town with half-timbered red and green houses, where it is recommended to stop to visit the town’s 13th century church. Singer Luis Mariano is burried in Arcangues’ old cemetery where there are some very old and beautiful tombstones.
• Cambo les Bains : a spa town where Edmond Rostand had a residence built, the famous “Arnaga”.
• Espelette : a village to visit in October for the Chili Festival, the Pottocks’ Fair held in February and the village itself which is charming all year round.
• Ainhoa : a walled town found on the way to the pilgrim town of Saint Jacques de Compostelle, Ainhoa has some very beautiful 18th century local houses.
• The Ibardin road : a road where, if you are lucky, the pottocks (small pre-historic horses that are semi wild) can be seen.
• The Rhune : a mountain that offers a breathtaking view of the ocean, the Landes Forest, the Pyrenees and the Bidassoa valley. Beware of the “Betisoak”, wild cows !
• Saint Jean Pied de Port : its citadels and the Vauban city walls should be visited.
• The Spanish Basque country : San Sebastian, set in a cove, amongst the mountains has three large beaches and an old town.

events

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accommodation

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partner links

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leisure

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Welcome to Biarritz

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With its huge beaches, powerful waves and mild climate all year round, Biarritz was the natural choice in 1957 to welcome the first surfers on the European continent and to become Europe's historical surfing capital.
Biarritz is one of the most posh beach resorts of the French west Coast. Biarritz came to fame in the mid 19th Century, when Empress Eugenie (the wife of Napoleon III) fell in love with this part of the Basque country and built a Palace on the beach at Biarritz (which is now the world class Hotel du Palais) and a centre with natural springs at Eugenie les Bains in the Landes. Eugenie invited foreign royalty to stay with their entourages and courtiers; Queen Victoria of Britain, who came regularly over a period of 30 years, and sundry Spanish, Swedish, Dutch, German, Russian nobility. The Russians built their own magnificent Orthodox Church next to the Palace.
Biarritz is located in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département, in the Aquitaine région. It is adjacent to Bayonne and Anglet and 11 miles (18 kilometres) from the border with Spain. It is in the traditional province of the French Basque Country, Labourd.

Biarritz has a lot more than beautiful buildings to offer today. It's a vibrant cosmopolitan town with magnificent beaches, golf courses and numerous sporting facilities, not forgetting the surf. Surfing started in France here in Biarritz and surfers come from all over the world to ride the waves. The Biarritz Surf Festival brings together surfers from Hawaii, California and Australia every year to celebrate the birth of surfing in Biarritz.
The accent is, of course, put on business tourism with seminars and congresses.Biarritz also comes top of the list with sports such as golf and surfing; fitness, with seawater therapy; a rich tradition of fine cuisine and prestigious hotels, and the casino. Today,it is moved to the renovated “Municipal” Casino.