Surf, belle époque villas and Basque flavour
Biarritz became fashionable when Empress Eugénie built a summer palace here in the 1850s, and the resort still has a belle époque grace. It is also the birthplace of European surfing, with the Grande Plage and the Côte des Basques drawing boards year-round. The Rocher de la Vierge, reached by a footbridge, is the town's emblem. Basque culture runs deep: try gâteau basque and Espelette pepper, visit the harbour town of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, or cross the border to San Sebastián.