Things to do in Biarritz
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Biarritz
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Winter storm watching, thalasso and value. January and February are worst for a first beach trip but best for a spa and food trip.
Spring build up, superb golf, flowering coastal path and consistent surf. May and early June are among the best value good weather windows.
Summer, everything on and everything full. August is the busiest, most expensive and hardest parking fortnight of the year.
Autumn is best overall and prime surf season, with the warmest sea in September, fewer crowds and lower prices.
What's on
- Hotdogger vintage longboard surf festival Usually late May
Vintage longboard surf festival scene around the Lighthouse and Grande Plage.
- Wheels and Waves typically mid-June, 4 days
Motorcycle, surf, skate and art gathering founded in Biarritz in 2012. Book accommodation early.
- Roxy women's surf competition early July in past calendars
Heritage women's surf events in early July in past calendars. Check current WSL and FFS listings.
- Fête du Thon July
Tuna festival in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, listed among July events on this coast.
- Fêtes de Bayonne typically 5 days in mid-to-late July, 9-13 July in 2025
France's largest festival, 1.3 to 1.5 million participants, white and red dress, 10 minutes away in Bayonne.
- Biarritz America Latina festival late September
Film and cultural festival in late September in past years. Check current edition dates.
Best things to do in Biarritz
Côte des Basques
The historic beginner and longboard break where European surfing began, best at low tide under the cliffs.
Rocher de la Vierge
The panoramic climax of the free coastal walk from the fishing port, with views to the Pyrenees on clear days.
Grande Plage
The town postcard beach by the Casino and Hotel du Palais, with supervised swimming and an easy sandy break.
Les Halles de Biarritz
The covered market is the culinary heart of town, for oysters, pintxos, ham, cheese and takeaway bistronomy.
Phare de Biarritz
Climb 248 steps of the 1834 lighthouse for the clearest reading of the coast, from Anglet to Spain.
Plage du Port Vieux
A small sheltered cove protected from swell, and the calm swim locals use instead of Grande Plage.
Aquarium de Biarritz
Art Deco aquarium with Bay of Biscay tanks, seals, turtles and a large shark tank, best as a rainy day fixture.
Sofitel Biarritz Le Miramar Thalassa Sea & Spa
The flagship thalassotherapy address, with seawater pools, hammam, sauna and direct Miramar beach access.
Where to stay in Biarritz
Grande Plage / Centre
first trip, all-round base
Flat and walkable to beaches, Les Halles, the Rocher and restaurants, with the widest hotel choice at every tier.
Les Halles / Port Vieux
food-led trips and couples
Wrapped around the market and the calm Port Vieux cove, you eat better and swim calmer here than at Grande Plage.
Côte des Basques / Bibi-Beaurivage
surfers and families staying a week
Residential, leafy and surf first, with morning surf checks on foot and Etxola sunsets, but hills on every beach return.
Miramar / Saint-Charles / Phare
luxury, quiet, golf and thalasso
Palace scale hotels, sea view rooms and thalasso on site in a residential calm the centre cannot offer.
Milady / Ilbarritz and Anglet
budget and space
Apartment hotels, hostels and easier parking at lower rates, at the cost of commuting into Biarritz centre.
Think twice about
- La Négresse
Isolated and car dependent around the station and airport fringe, with few restaurants and a ride to every beach and dinner.
- Les Halles bar streets and Place Clemenceau in peak season
Not unsafe, but noisy until about 1:30am in summer. Light sleepers should ask for a courtyard or high floor room.
- Petit Bayonne and Saint-Esprit station fringe, Bayonne
Scruffier at night than anything in Biarritz and the commute eats the saving unless you specifically want Bayonne nightlife.
Best restaurants in Biarritz
La Table d'Aurélien Largeau
One star, contemporary and seafood led on Basque ingredients, with a praised serious vegetarian menu.
L'Impertinent
One star in a small room, precise product led cooking that is strong value for a star in western Europe.
Gaztelur
A renovated estate outside Biarritz that is restaurant, shop and gardens, a destination meal needing a car.
Le Saleya
Refined cuisine at a great price point, and the safest mid tier recommendation for a couple's best non starred dinner.
Chéri Bibi
A neighbourhood natural wine bar restaurant in Bibi with easy dishes, no reservations, so arrive early or queue.
Le Clos Basque
Acclaimed modern Basque French cooking, a durable local favourite especially for Sunday lunch.
Chez Albert
The classic harbour seafood house, for whole John Dory to share, shellfish platters and oysters.
Casa Juan Pedro
The slightly simpler fisherman port choice a few doors from Chez Albert, for a swim then seafood lunch day.
Outdoor things to do in Biarritz
Golf de Biarritz Le Phare
Founded in 1888, a short technical parkland 18 by the lighthouse whose 70 bunkers punish careless shots.
Golf de Chiberta
A Tom Simpson links through pine forest and seaside holes, the connoisseur choice for one serious round.
Golf de Chantaco
Harry Colt origins and Lacoste heritage, hilly and tight with small greens demanding precision over length.
Golf de la Nivelle
A short course approaching its centenary where par is extremely tough, with Atlantic and Pyrenees views.
Golf d'Arcangues
A friendlier Ronald Fream course around the village and chateau, with oak, meadow and Pyrenees views.
Ilbarritz International Training Centre
A 9 hole ocean facing course plus a major practice complex, the honest budget golf tier in Biarritz.
Anglet
Anglet has 4.5 km of punchier, more spacious beaches where contests run and locals escape August crowds.
Plage Marbella
The in town step up from Côte des Basques, more exposed and powerful, best at 1 to 2 metres on a dropping tide.
Best hotels in Biarritz
Hôtel du Palais Biarritz
The 1854 imperial palace itself on the headland, with pools and spa, the splurge that is actually a sight.
Hôtel Le Café de Paris
Design forward rooms directly above Place Bellevue facing Grande Plage, smaller and more contemporary than the Palais.
Le Garage Biarritz
A converted garage boutique hotel toward the Phare, the mid tier pick local sources return to most.
Hotel de Silhouette
Part of the well located centre and Halles mid tier cluster, small with a pool or terrace depending on the property.
Hôtel Roc Seven
A small, well located mid tier hotel in the centre and Halles cluster recommended for Biarritz stays.
Hôtel de la Plage
A small, well located mid tier hotel in the centre cluster, close to beaches, market and restaurants.
Le Petit Hôtel
An honest cheap centre option, a small hotel with small rooms where parking costs extra.
Hôtel Le Windsor
A small 2 to 3 star Grande Plage hotel in the honest cheap centre tier that sells out first for summer.
Is Biarritz expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | €140 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | €210 a person |
| Splurge | €450 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Côte des Basques: a few days ahead
- Aquarium de Biarritz: a few days ahead
- Sofitel Biarritz Le Miramar Thalassa Sea & Spa: a few days ahead
- Cité de l'Océan: a few days ahead
- Golf de Biarritz Le Phare: weeks ahead
- Golf de Chiberta: weeks ahead
- Golf de Chantaco: weeks ahead
- Golf de la Nivelle: weeks ahead
- August and Fêtes de Bayonne accommodation books months ahead, and the cheap centre tier goes first.
- Largeau and L'Impertinent need weeks ahead in summer. Saleya, Clos Basque and Gaztelur need days to weeks.
- Book Train de La Rhune online in season and early in your stay, in case summit weather curtails services.
- Book surf lessons by tide table with a named school 2 to 3 days ahead in July and August.
- Golf tee times and thalasso slots on rainy weekends are the plans that most reliably fail without booking.
- TGVs to Paris and San Sebastián lunches fill in peak season. A missed last return from San Sebastián is an expensive taxi.
Is Biarritz safe?
- The ocean is the main danger. Swim only in lifeguarded flagged zones and never at Côte des Basques at high tide.
- Watch for beach bag theft and car break ins. Leave nothing visible in cars and take turns watching bags.
- In August festival crowds around Les Halles, keep phones and bags front facing against pickpocketing.
- Cliffs and rocks are slippery and cut off by tides. Check tide times before rock and platform walks.
- Summer sun burns faster than the breeze suggests. EU visitors should carry an EHIC or GHIC card.
Biarritz travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Cité de l'Océan as a headline attraction. It suits teenagers on a wet day but is over sold as a must do.
- Grande Plage at 1pm in August. Port Vieux, Milady, Bidart or Anglet give a better beach day.
- Seafront tourist menus on the Grande Plage promenade. Walk one block to Les Halles or Rue Gambetta for local prices.
- Casino Municipal as an evening plan. Bar Jean, Petit Bayonne and a pelota evening are all better nights.
- Expecting a cheap Spanish style beach holiday. Biarritz is priced like a French palace resort with a surf scene.
- Day tripping to Bilbao and San Sebastián and Saint-Jean in one day. Pick one.
Getting around Biarritz: public transport and more
- Walk the centre. Beaches, Les Halles, Port Vieux, the Rocher and Côte des Basques are within a 25 minute walk.
- Use Txik Txak buses for the station and airport, Anglet beaches, and the Bidart to Saint-Jean corridor.
- Biarritz station is in La Négresse, about 3 km south of centre. Budget the bus or taxi transfer into arrivals.
- Biarritz airport is tiny and about 10 minutes from centre. San Sebastián and Bilbao airports are backups.
- Central parking is scarce and expensive in season. Park peripherally and walk or bus in, and rent cars only for golf or village days.
- Cycle north to Anglet and the Adour. The southern coastal walking path is not a cycle route in its cliff sections.
Who Biarritz suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Biarritz your trip
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