Biarritz

Biarritz 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 easily accessible from Paris by France's high-speed train, the TGV, which departs from Gare Montparnasse. Furthermore, as of April 2008 a 'discothèque' night train runs this route. Biarritz has an airport Aéroport de Biarritz-Anglet-Bayonne located about 4 kilometres away from the city in the inland. It's very near at N10 road towards Anglet, it is joined airport with Anglet and Bayonne.

Biarritz is very pedestrianised, and it is easy to get around the town centre, to the beaches, and to the best spots for surfing or shopping. This means whatever your holiday needs is a short and pleasant walking distance away. However, it can be quite hilly in places.

Biarritz is famous for its coast and the rocks in the sea. There is the church of Sainte Eugenie, a Russian Orthodox church, the Museum of the Sea (entrance about €6) with a lot of interesting animals like different kinds of fish, anemones, sharks and seals in aquariums and other topics like fishing in the last centuries, birds, catching whales. Then there is a Museum of Asian Art and a lighthouse (entrance €2).

The beaches are excellent and this is a major surf resort. The main beach, Grand Plage, gets very crowded, but there is also a long surfers' beach on the Boulevard du Prince de Galles, called Cote de Basque, that has almost no sand at high tide, but is superb at low tide. The surf beaches at Anglet are easily accessible by bus, and surfboards that aren't too big are allowed on the local buses in the summer at least. There is a small beach by the Esplanade du Porte Vieux that is good for swimming when the surfer's beach is closed.

There are several places to go clubbing in Biarritz. One example is a great club called Le Copa located in the centre of the town. At the same place you can find many bars, as a pub crawl night is a must if you visit Biarritz. Another good club is the one under the Casino, and the best thing of all is that it is for free and does not close at two or three o'clock like the bars do.