Start from 31 curated places around Biarritz, FR, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
Chez Albert
The best seafood restaurant at the Port des Pêcheurs (fishermen's harbour) in Biarritz, and the one that has earned that status rather than just holding the most conspicuous terrace. The kitchen handles Atlantic turbot, sole meunière and plateau de fruits de mer without gimmickry — this is fish from the boats at the dock below you, cooked simply. Lunch in summer with the sun on the harbour is the version of this meal to aim for.
Bar Jean
A pintxos and tapas bar just opposite the covered market at Les Halles, with one of the longest-running pintxos counters in the French Basque country. The anchovy toasts, the gildas (olive-anchovy-pepper skewer) and the pimientos de padrón are the things to order before anything else. It is narrow, standing-room-heavy and thrumming by 7:30pm, which is precisely the point — no reservations, no fuss, just wine and pintxos.
Trails & outdoors
Sentier du Littoral — Biarritz to Bidart
The coastal path that runs along the cliff tops south from Biarritz's Côte des Basques beach through the village of Bidart and onward toward Guéthary — 8 kilometres of some of the most dramatic Atlantic coastline in France. The path hugs the edge of eroding red sandstone cliffs with open sea to the west and the Pyrenees to the southeast. The section from the Côte des Basques parking lot to Bidart village takes about two hours at a relaxed pace and can be returned on the Chronoplus bus back to Biarritz.
La Rhune Railway and Summit Walk
La Rhune (905m) is the sacred peak of the Basque people, visible from all of the coast, and the 1924 rack railway that climbs it from the Col de Saint-Ignace is one of the great slow-travel experiences of southwest France. The 35-minute train ride through fern moorland and over bridges puts you on the summit where Spanish and French Basque country both spread below you — and a herd of Pottok ponies graze free on the summit plateau. You can walk the descent through the ferns to the col in about 90 minutes.
Things to do
Surf Schools at Côte des Basques
Biarritz has been the surfing capital of Europe since the late 1950s, and the cluster of surf schools at the Côte des Basques beach is where you access that history with proper instruction. Schools like Roxy Surf Camp and Billabong Surf School operate on the beach from May through September, with a full range of lessons from first-timers to intermediate progression. The instructors are locals who have surfed these breaks their whole lives — the knowledge in a morning group lesson goes well beyond standing up on a board.
Marché Les Halles de Biarritz
The covered market at the heart of town, operating every morning, where the food of the Basque country is gathered in one hall: salt-dried anchovies from Hendaye, Ossau-Iraty sheep's cheese from the mountains, Espelette pepper in every form, foie gras from the Périgord, and farmhouse Basque charcuterie that makes Parisian charcuterie look underambitious. The cheese and charcuterie section is the reason people visit; the fish counter is secondary only because Chez Albert and the port are so close. It is a genuinely functioning market, not a tourist experience dressed as one.
Landmarks & sights
Grande Plage
The grand casino-flanked beach that put Biarritz on the European map when Napoleon III brought Empress Eugénie here in the 1850s. Two kilometres of creamy sand bookended by the Hôtel du Palais on one end and the casino on the other — it is the postcard of Biarritz. The waves are big enough to watch but not as punishing as Côte des Basques, so families and stylish bathers co-exist. Walk the sea terrace at dusk when the casino lights up.
Rocher de la Vierge
A jagged sea rock 200 metres offshore, linked to the cliffs by a wrought-iron footbridge engineered by Gustave Eiffel, topped with a white statue of the Virgin Mary that fishermen erected for protection. The walk across the bridge is the most dramatic short experience in Biarritz — the swell crashes through sea caves below and the views stretch to the Spanish Pyrenees on a clear day. Napoleon III had the causeway tunnelled to make it accessible; Napoléon III-level scenery for free.