#1 of 24 Things To Do in Biarritz
Asiatica Museum
Anglet
~0.29 miles from Biarritz city center
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#2 of 24 Things To Do in Biarritz
Grand Plage
Anglet
~0.56 miles from Biarritz city center
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#3 of 24 Things To Do in Biarritz
Biarritz Casino
Anglet
~0.56 miles from Biarritz city center
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Biarritz (French pronunciation: [bja'?its]; Gascon Occitan: Biàrritz; Basque: Biarritz or Miarritze) is a city which lies on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast, in south-western France. It is a luxurious seaside town and is popular with tourists and surfers.
The town lies in Basque territory, and Basque flags and symbols are prevalent throughout Biarritz.
Biarritz is located in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Aquitaine region. It is adjacent to Bayonne and Anglet and 11 miles (18 kilometres) from the border with Spain. It is in the traditional province of Labourd in the French Basque Country.
Vikings who invaded Gascony in 840 settled in Biarritz, which later participated in the whaling trade. Biarritz is a Basque name with locative suffix -itz (cp. Isturitz) attested Bearriz in 1170, Bearids in 1186, Bearritz in 1249. The Scandinavians settled in the area above the Gardague Beach. It has been suggested (disputedly) that the remaining Vikings became "Agots," a social group in Gascony not allowed to mix with the population at large. Segregation among these communities—there were many in Gascony and Navarra— disappeared only in the early 20th century.
Biarritz has long made its fortune from the sea: as a whaling settlement from the twelfth century onwards, in the 18th century doctors recommended that the ocean at Biarritz had therapeutic properties, inspiring patients to make pilgrimages to the beach for alleged cures for their ailments.
Biarritz became more renowned in 1854 when Empress Eugenie (the wife of Napoleon III) built a palace on the beach (now the Hôtel du Palais). The British royal family regularly took vacations in Biarritz: European royalty such as Queen Victoria, Edward VII, and Alfonso XIII of Spain were frequent visitors.
Biarritz's casino (opened 10 August 1901) and beaches make the town a notable tourist centre for Europeans.
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#4 of 24 Things To Do in Biarritz
Stade d'Aguilera
Anglet
~0.62 miles from Biarritz city center
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#5 of 24 Things To Do in Biarritz
City Centre Biarritz
Anglet
~0.64 miles from Biarritz city center
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#6 of 24 Things To Do in Biarritz
Cote des Basques
Anglet
~0.89 miles from Biarritz city center
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The Côte des Basques (Basque Coast), the continuation of the Côte d'Argent, runs southwest for some 35km/22mi from Biarritz to Hendaye. Beyond the Spanish frontier it extends as far as San Sebastián. The two principal resorts on this stretch of coast are Biarritz and St-Jean-de-Luz, which, like the inland towns and villages though to a lesser degree, show distinctively Basque traditions, reflected both in place-names and in the local way of life.
The Basques, who call themselves Euskaldunak in their own very distinctive language, live on both sides of the Pyrenees, some 200,000 of them in France and just under two million in Spain. Although the Spanish Basques have long fought stubbornly for self-government, it is only in the 1980s that unrest has begun to make itself felt on the French side, though on a much smaller scale than in Spain.
All over the Basque territory there is now a rapidly increasing interest in Basque culture and cultural activities. Basque dramatic and musical groups, language schools and pelota schools are springing up all over the place, and the number of local festivals has increased: a great and growing concern with Basque traditions is evident everywhere.
The Basque national sport is pelota or its variant, cesta punta. There are different ways of playing, but the essence of the game is to strike the ball against the pelota wall (fronton) with the bare hand or a special kind of curved bat and catch it on its return.
Euskadi is the land of the Euskaldunak (the Basque-speakers), and it is their language that binds the Basques together. There probably never was a separate Basque state. The origins of the Basques are the subject of controversy. It is supposed that the French Basques came from beyond the Pyrenees and that those who settled in the plain became assimilated with the local inhabitants, while the mountain Basques clung to their cultural heritage. The origin of the Basque language, which is non-Indo-European, is also uncertain.
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#7 of 24 Things To Do in Biarritz
Musee de la Mer
Anglet
~0.90 miles from Biarritz city center
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#8 of 24 Things To Do in Biarritz
Musee du Chocolat
Anglet
~0.93 miles from Biarritz city center
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#9 of 24 Things To Do in Biarritz
Biarritz Lighthouse
Anglet
~0.95 miles from Biarritz city center
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With its absolutely gorgeous setting, Biarritz inspires you to spend some time outdoors. Include a visit to the Biarritz Lighthouse, dating back to 1831, which towers 73 meters above the sea and (after a climb of 248 steps) offers an exceptional view of the town and Basque coastline. From the lighthouse follow the headland to the Côte des Basque beach with its dramatic offshore rocks of the Basta, the Madonna, and the Atalaye Plateau and most definitely include a walk along the Port des Pêcheurs, the old fishing village now referred to as the Port Vieux or Old Port. This is an enchanting path to walk at sunset: taking you from the beach around the old harbor, along its breakwater, which protects its active fishing fleet and intimate seafood restaurants, to a picturesque point and then wrapping around the other side of Biarritz below an exclusive residential district. It was from the old harbor where whaling ships used to sail out to the Bay of Biscaye.
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#10 of 24 Things To Do in Biarritz
Anglet Beach
Anglet
~1.11 miles from Biarritz city center
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#11 of 24 Things To Do in Biarritz
City Centre Anglet
Anglet
~1.73 miles from Biarritz city center
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#12 of 24 Things To Do in Biarritz
Main Harbour
Anglet
~3.61 miles from Biarritz city center
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#13 of 24 Things To Do in Biarritz
City Centre Bayonne
Anglet
~3.70 miles from Biarritz city center
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#14 of 24 Things To Do in Biarritz
City Centre Saint Jean de Luz
St.-Jean-de-Luz
~8.47 miles from Biarritz city center
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#15 of 24 Things To Do in Biarritz
City Centre Ainhoa
Ainhoa
~12.23 miles from Biarritz city center
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#16 of 24 Things To Do in Biarritz
City Centre Capbreton
Cote Landaise
~12.59 miles from Biarritz city center
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#17 of 24 Things To Do in Biarritz
City Centre Hendaye
Irun
~13.98 miles from Biarritz city center
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#18 of 24 Things To Do in Biarritz
City Centre Hondarribia
Hondarribia
~14.51 miles from Biarritz city center
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#19 of 24 Things To Do in Biarritz
City Centre Irun
Irun
~15.54 miles from Biarritz city center
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#20 of 24 Things To Do in Biarritz
City Centre Etxalar
Pyrenees (Navarra)
~17.59 miles from Biarritz city center
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#21 of 24 Things To Do in Biarritz
City Centre Bidarray
Bidarray
~17.95 miles from Biarritz city center
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#22 of 24 Things To Do in Biarritz
City Centre San Sebastion
San Sebastian
~24.34 miles from Biarritz city center
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#23 of 24 Things To Do in Biarritz
City Centre Moliets et Maa
Cote Landaise
~27.38 miles from Biarritz city center
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#24 of 24 Things To Do in Biarritz
City Centre Dax
Cote Landaise
~29.54 miles from Biarritz city center
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