Biarritz
Belle ÉPoque Resort On The Basque Coast, Made Fashionable By Empress EugéNie, And The Birthplace Of European Surfing · Biarritz, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Biarritz was a whaling and fishing village on the French Basque coast until the 1850s, when Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, fell for it and had a summer villa built on the beach. Royalty and high society followed, and the villa became the Hôtel du Palais, still the grandest building on the Grande Plage. The town kept its Belle Époque villas, its casino and its elegant seafront, then gained a second identity in the late 1950s when surfing arrived from California at the Côte des Basques beach, making Biarritz the starting point of European surf culture. Today it mixes both: surf schools and board shops beside luxury hotels and thalassotherapy spas. The coast is rocky and wild between the beaches, with the Rocher de la Vierge reached by a footbridge over the waves. The Atlantic here is powerful, with big swells and strong currents, so swimming is safest between the lifeguard flags. Bayonne, Saint-Jean-de-Luz and the Spanish city of San Sebastián are all close, and summer brings heavy crowds.
Grande Plage and the Rocher de la Vierge, Biarritz, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Biarritz, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
The beaches, the seafront promenades and the Rocher de la Vierge footbridge are open all year, though the footbridge can be closed in storms and big swells for safety. Lifeguards watch the main beaches in summer, roughly June to September, and on some spring and autumn weekends; outside those periods there is no supervision at all, so confirm the dates for each beach. The Aquarium and the Cité de l'Océan open most of the year with long hours in summer and shorter hours, plus a closing day or a winter break, in the low season; confirm before going, and note a combined ticket is usually sold. The lighthouse is open to climb on a seasonal schedule. Les Halles covered market runs in the mornings every day in summer and most days the rest of the year. Surf schools run all year, with most lessons in summer; book ahead in July and August. Parking in the centre is scarce and paid, and in summer the car parks fill by mid-morning, so use park-and-ride shuttles or the local buses. Restaurants book up on summer evenings, and some close for a week or two in winter.