Loop from Saint-Jean-de-Luz

01 Museum

Château d'Abbadia

Look out for these neo-Gothic towers overlooking the ocean at Hendaye, where Antoine d'Abbadie, astronomer and explorer of Ethiopia, wanted a château combined with an observatory. Viollet-le-Duc and his pupil Edmond Duthoit drew up the plans between 1864 and 1879. Inside, Orientalist décor, souvenirs of Abyssinia and the original collections preserve the world of a 19th-century scholar.

02 Castle

Castillo de Carlos V

Recorded as early as 1200, the fortress of Hondarribia owes its present façade to Charles V, who added a large artillery platform. In 1660, the Spanish royal family stayed here during the betrothal of the infanta to the future Louis XIV. Look up at its dressed-stone walls, those of a parador since 1968.

03 Church

Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe

Head up the slopes of Jaizkibel to this sandstone sanctuary topped by a Neo-Gothic tower built in 1868. Juan Sebastián Elcano bequeathed it six gold ducats in 1526, the earliest known mention of the place. Every 8 September, the town climbs here in procession in memory of the siege of 1638, and maritime votive offerings adorn the interior.

04 Mountain

Urgull

Monte Urgull

This 123-metre hill closes off La Concha to the east, and its fortified slopes have become a public park. At the top, the Castillo de la Mota bears the Sagrado Corazón, a 12.5-metre Christ sculpted in 1950 by Federico Coullaut. On its flanks lies the English Cemetery, where British soldiers who died in 1813 are buried.

05 Beach  · Family

Beach of La Concha

Kontxa hondartza

Stroll along the white balustrade that follows the golden sandy curve of La Concha for some 1,350 metres. Isabella II came to bathe here in 1845, then the Spanish court spent its summers here, drawing the European nobility. Sheltered from the swell, the calm water of the bay stretches out to Santa Clara island.

06 Village

Lesaka

Lesaca

The Onín stream divides Lesaca in two, and every 7 July the sword dancers perform the Zubigainekoa on its parapets, in memory of a peace made between the quarters in the 15th century. Further on, the church of San Martín de Tours has the dimensions of a cathedral. Look out too for the Zabaleta tower, rebuilt around 1450.

07 Cave

Cuevas de Zugarramurdi

Walk through a 120-metre natural tunnel, carved by water in the limestone up to 12 metres high. In 1610, the Inquisition of Logroño prosecuted 40 women for witchcraft, and 11 were sent to the stake. A panel set up in front of the cave recalls their names, where legend placed the sabbaths of the sorginak.

08 Village

Ainhoa, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

Ainhoa

Ainhoa lines up along a single main street its white Labourd houses, with half-timbering and red or green shutters, whose carved lintels bear a name and a date. Set on the border with Navarre, the village keeps a church with wooden galleries. Take your time reading these inscriptions, door after door.

09 Village

Sare, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

Sare

Backing onto the Rhune, Sare occupies a small basin closed off like an amphitheatre by the mountains, against Navarre. Its Labourd houses, some dating in part from the 15th century, embody the Basque house, and Pierre Loti made it the Etchezar of Ramuntcho. Here you walk a stone's throw from Spain, which borders the commune for twenty-five kilometres.

10 Mountain

Larrún

The French-Spanish border runs along the Larrun massif, between Labourd and Navarre, and ventas there once served as staging posts for smugglers. Pottoks and Manech sheep graze its slopes, among cromlechs and dolmens left by the first inhabitants. From the summit, take in the Basque coast, from San Sebastián to the Landes.