In short
Biarritz was a whaling village turned imperial resort: the stays of Eugénie and Napoleon III from 1854 made its fortune and its architecture. Surfing came much later, in the 1950s, and made the town the European birthplace of the sport.
La Grande Plage is in the centre, below the casino. La Côte des Basques, to the south, is the historic surfing beach, long and exposed. Le Port-Vieux is a small sheltered cove. The Saint-Charles quarter and the market hall hold everyday life.
Arriving and getting around
Biarritz-Pays Basque airport is three kilometres from the centre. The station is on the Paris–Hendaye line.
The town is compact and walkable, but the beaches are separated by cliffs and staircases.
Bayonne and Saint-Jean-de-Luz are under thirty minutes away by train or bus, and together with Biarritz form an ensemble best treated as a whole. The Spanish border and San Sebastián are an hour away.
What it really costs
Biarritz is expensive in summer, with accommodation prices bearing no relation to the rest of the year. Bayonne, ten minutes away, is markedly more affordable and better connected.
Surf schools are numerous; rates are uniform and demand is strong in August.
When to come
May–June and September–October. The water is warmest in September, and the autumn swell is the best for surfing.
It rains: the Basque coast is one of the wettest regions in France, summer included. A beach holiday without a fallback plan is a gamble.
What nobody tells you
La Côte des Basques disappears at high tide. The beach backs onto a cliff and the water covers it almost entirely: checking the tide table before settling in avoids a hurried retreat.
The Rocher de la Vierge, linked by a footbridge attributed to the Eiffel workshops, closes in heavy weather and the waves break over it.
The Côte des Basques cliff is unstable and is the subject of regular stabilisation works; some accesses close depending on the episode.
The Fêtes de Bayonne, in late July, draw several hundred thousand people ten minutes away: accommodation across the whole region is taken.
