This calm Basque seaside town draws surfers to its rocky coastline. Local restaurants serve fresh fish stew and Bayonne ham along narrow streets lined with colored houses.
Saint-Jean-de-Luz sits in a bay between two headlands on France's Basque coast, four kilometers from the Spanish border. You can swim at the crescent-shaped Grande Plage, protected by three massive seawalls, or walk through streets lined with red-shuttered mansions built by 17th-century ship-owners. At the Saint-Jean-Baptiste church, you can see the door that was sealed after Louis XIV's marriage to Maria Theresa in 1660. The morning fish market at Les Halles sells just-caught tuna and hake, while Maison Adam bakes Basque macarons using a recipe from 1660.
Swimming and Beach Life
The Grande Plage curves along the town center, where three seawalls - Fort de Socoa, Artha, and Sainte Barbe - create calm swimming conditions. Four beaches stretch north of town in the Acotz area: Mayarco, Senix, Lafitenia, and Erromardie, popular with both surfers and families. At Plage de Senix, you can order drinks from converted London double-decker buses. The BiBam snack bar at Plage Mayarkoenia schedules live music events during summer evenings.
Food Markets and Local Specialties
Les Halles, the covered market in the town center, opens daily from 7 AM to 1 PM. Fishmongers sell the morning's catch of whiting and shrimp, while other vendors stock Kintoa ham from rare Basque pigs and cherry-filled gateau Basque. On Tuesday and Friday mornings, additional stalls fill the streets with produce, flowers, and local crafts. At Maison Adam, you can buy their original Basque macarons, made without preservatives and good for up to 10 days.
Architecture Along Rue Gambetta
The Saint-Jean-Baptiste church, built between the 15th and 17th centuries, stands at the center of Rue Gambetta, the main pedestrian street. Red-shuttered mansions line Quai de L'Infante, built by ship-owners in the 17th and 18th centuries. You can visit the Maison Louis XIV from 10 AM to 6 PM daily, where the Sun King stayed during his wedding. The Maison Joanoenia, dating from 1640, was home to corsair Joannot de Haraneder and shows the prosperity of the town's maritime trade.
The Working Port
Fishermen sell 10,000 tons of fish annually at France's sixth-largest fish market. Local boats first sailed to Newfoundland in the 1520s, and today you can watch fishing vessels unload their catch at the harbor throughout the day. Fishermen often spread their nets for repairs along the walkways. Three stone fortifications, built in 1854 under Napoleon III's orders, protect the harbor - each wall contains 8,000 blocks weighing up to 50 tonnes.
