Saint-Jean-de-Luz

Basque Fishing Port With A Sheltered Sandy Bay, Where Louis XIV Married The Infanta Maria Theresa In 1660 · Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Nouvelle-Aquitaine

Saint-Jean-de-Luz is a Basque fishing port and beach town on the French side of the Spanish border, between Biarritz and Hendaye. Its bay is enclosed by three sea walls built in the nineteenth century, so the long Grande Plage has calm water and fine sand while the Atlantic breaks outside, making it one of the gentlest family beaches on this wild coast. The town itself is where Louis XIV married the Spanish Infanta Maria Theresa in 1660, sealing a peace treaty. The wedding took place in the Church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste, whose plain exterior hides a gilded altarpiece and three tiers of dark wooden galleries in the Basque manner. The king stayed in the Maison Louis XIV, still furnished and open for visits, and the Infanta in the Maison de l'Infante by the port. Behind the beach, the pedestrian Rue Gambetta is lined with shops selling gâteau basque, macarons and linen. The port still lands fish, Ciboure lies across the harbour, and the rack railway up La Rhune starts half an hour away.

Grande Plage and the port, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France

The beach, the seafront promenade, the port and the town streets are open at all hours all year. Lifeguards watch the Grande Plage in the summer season, typically from around June to September with the longest cover in July and August, and some weekends in late spring; confirm dates and hours. The Church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste is open daily outside services, with visits paused during Mass and weddings. The Maison Louis XIV is seasonal, open on guided visits from spring to autumn with the most tours in summer and closed in winter; confirm the calendar and language options. The covered market hall runs most mornings, busiest on market days, confirm. The La Rhune rack railway from the Col de Saint-Ignace generally runs from spring to early November and closes in winter, with booking strongly advised in summer and trains stopping in bad weather; confirm. Many shops stay open on Sunday in summer. Beach restaurants and some hotels close from November to March, and parking in town is very tight in July and August.

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