Bayonne is an historic French-Basque town right next to Biarritz and just a short distance from the Atlantic Ocean. It may lack the sophisticated appeal and stunning natural coastal setting of its better-known neighbour, but it has a charm and authenticity that certainly merits a visit.

The town is set at the meeting point of two rivers, the Nive and the much larger Adour. As it enters the Adour the River Nive separates two areas of the town known as Grand Bayonne (west of the Nive) and Petit Bayonne (east). This is a lovely area of the town, with Petit Bayonne in particular regarded as a typical traditional area, with its narrow streets and Basque-style houses overlooking the river.

One of the main appeals of Bayonne is indeed the charm of its streets and the historic feel of the town centre. It also boasts a fine Gothic cathedral, the Sainte-Marie cathedral, which in 1998 was named as a world heritage site. This was built in the 13th and 14th centuries and has one of the largest cloisters in France.

The cathedral is in Grand Bayonne but walk over the Pont Marengo into Petit Bayonne and you immediately come to the Basque Museum, which is also well worth a visit (See images at TripAdvisor). The musée is located within a 16th century townhouse set on the River Nive and helps explain Bayonne’s rich history as a (river) port town. As a town it is used to taking in refugees from Spain; Jews during the heyday of the Spanish Inquisition at the end of the 15th century and then in the 20th century it was the turn of Spanish Basques fleeing the Franco regime. It’s fair to say that Bayonne feels a noticeably more Basque town than its neighbour Biarritz.

Did you know?

The English word ‘bayonet’ has its origins in the town. Bayonet is from the French baïonnette, which itself took its name from Bayonne, as it was here that the first bayonets were first made in the 17th century. The possibly apocryphal story is that Basque peasants ran short of powder and shot for their muskets and so tied their long hunting knives on the end to use them as makeshift spears.

Food

Bayonne is also noted for its food, in particular ham. The famous Bayonne ham is celebrated with a ham tour and with a ham fair – the Foire du jambon – that takes place each year at Easter. It starts on the Thursday before Good Friday and runs until Easter Sunday.

If you have a sweet tooth you’ll be pleased to know that Bayonne is famed for its chocolates, too – Jewish refugees brought with them their chocolate-making skills – so you’ll find plenty of wonderful things to eat in the local shops. There also a chocolate workshop www.atelierduchocolat.fr where you can learn about the history of the stuff, discover the secrets of making it and, yes, taste chocolate from around the world. Children can also decorate chocolate fish to take away with them. But Bayonne is in love with all food, not just chocolate and ham: find out by visiting the bustling town market open every morning at Les Halles.

Bayonne Festival

One of the most colourful events in this part of the world – or indeed anywhere in France – is the annual Bayonne Festival (Fêtes de Bayonne) which takes place in the middle of summer and which features bull running and wonderfully colourful processions.

Rather more controversial are the annual bullfights that are still held in the town at the purpose-built arena. Though many are opposed to the bullfights, the town is collectively proud of its tradition of bullfighting. The main bullfights take place in August.

Bayonne Tourist Office:
Place des Basques
64108 Bayonne
Tel: +33 820 42 64 64

Getting to Bayonne

There are regular flights to and from nearby Biarritz Airport, officially sometimes known as Biarritz – Anglet – Bayonne Airport. Here there are regular flights from Biarritz Airport to Paris Charles de Gaulle (easyJet) and Paris Orly (Air France), London Gatwick (easyJet) and London Stansted (Ryanair) as well as Geneva, Stockholm, Helsinki, Brussels and Copenhagen.

Photo 1, Photo 2, Photo 3 and Photo 4 by thierry llansades / CC BY 2.0 images cropped