Hendaye and Basque Coast

Hendaye, situated at the mouth of the Bidasoa River on the Spanish border in Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Nouvelle Aquitaine, is France's southernmost Atlantic resort and possesses the longest and safest beach on the entire Basque coast—a broad, gently-shelving 3.5-kilometre arc of sheltered sand protected from the Atlantic's dominant swells by the peninsula of Pointe Sainte-Anne. The beach is divided into three sections by timber breakwaters, with lifeguards from June to September and supervised swimming zones. Hendaye Plage (the resort quarter) and Hendaye Ville (the historic town) are connected by a seafront promenade that looks directly across the Bidasoa estuary to the medieval fortified town of Hondarribia in Spain—one of the most picturesque cross-border views in Europe. A footbridge and regular ferry boats (txalupa) cross the estuary in minutes. The broader Basque coast drive north from Hendaye to Biarritz along the Corniche Basque (D912) passes through Ciboure—the birthplace of Maurice Ravel—and the tuna-fishing port of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, whose crescent bay is the most sheltered and family-friendly beach on the northern Basque coast. Between Socoa and Biarritz, the coast takes on a dramatic character with high clifftop roads, surging sea stacks, and the iconic Rocher de la Vierge at Biarritz. The GR10 long-distance walking trail starts in Hendaye and traverses the Pyrenees all the way to the Mediterranean, and the first day's walk through the Basque foothills to Biriatou is a superb introduction to the region.