Biarritz, the region - Ilbarritz

The town of Biarritz is located next to Bidart. It grew from a little 11th-century whale-fishing village, and has been famous since the 19th century.
In the beginning, the village was made up of two settlements: one around the church of Saint Martin, and the other at the fishing port (Port-Vieux), defended by the Belay or Ferragus chateau. At the beginning of the 1960s, the people of Biarritz tried surfing (imported from the USA), and started a craze which has lasted, thanks to the quality of the waves on the Atlantic coast. Today, the town has become one of the major centres in Europe and the world for this board sport.

The little la Rhune train
From its height of 905 metres, La Rhune, sacred mountain of the Basque Country, offers one of the best panoramas imaginable. This summit is accessible using a little rack railway.

the Kakuetta gorges
It may look like the Amazon jungle, but we are still in the temperate latitudes of the heart of the Basque mountain: the Kakuetta gorges are a natural heritage not to be missed.

"La Force basque" (Basque rural sports), inspired by ancient rural practices: villages compete against each other. The main events are: tug of war, stone lifting, the ox cart game, sack carrying, bale tossing, wood chopping, and churn carrying.

Basque pelota, famous as far as the Americas, includes several specialities: Bare-handed, pala, cesta punta, rebot, joko garbi – each community has a pelota wall or trinquet (court) where young and old alike can play their favourite sport.