Beaches

Sunday 23rd November 2025 – St Jean de Luz….

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A bit of a grey one today but not as cold and although it was wet overnight it stayed dry all day. Our next and penultimate hop on this journey south was a few mile further south in St Jean de Luz a bustling coastal town.

We did plan to spend a couple of nights here but when we arrived at the Aire the vans were packed in like sardines (I mean around 50cm between vans!) and the Aire itself is sandwiched between a main road and railway station – we parked up in an available space and set out for a walk around the coastline of the town – heading first northwards through the narrow streets….

To the main beach – Grande Plage….

No dogs allowed so we walked along the promenade to the small beach at the far end of the – Plage de St Barbe…..

Retracing our steps we crossed over the river to the quieter side of town and walking southwards along the shoreline passing Plage du Carre….

Across Plage de Socoa…..

And Plage de Deriveurs…..

To Fort de Socoa….

And it’s pretty little sandy beach – Plage de Fort Socoa….

At the end of the jetty beyond the Fort we were afforded beautiful views across the sheltered bay to the main town of St Jean de Luz and also along the coast to Spain….

A lovely walk – the beaches here are similar to those of Biarritz, more golden and with coarser sand than those of the Côte d’Argent

On returning to the van, I decided that I really wasn’t comfortable being so closely packed in between neighbouring vans and that having seen all the beaches here and had a wander through town, we would move on to our next and final bit of coastline – the much smaller resort of Hendaye.

Thoughts of the day:

  • The Aire in St Jean de Luz is the worst I have encountered on this journey and it really was too close for comfort – it pays to have a back up plan.
  • We just have one more day left on this coastline – unless of course the weather is exceptionally nice tomorrow and we decide to stay. We are a little ahead of schedule but no matter that just means we can take the inland journey back up to Caen a bit slower.

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 16
  • Miles walked – 7
  • Beaches – 6
  • Aire – £13.25 no electric

Saturday 22nd November 2025 – Bidart to Guethary….

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Another beautiful sun shiny day but boy was it cold first thing, my fingers were frozen by the time we got back from our morning walk! Mindyou it was worth it as we managed to notch up another beach as the tide was low by walking along Plage de Ilbarritz and onto Plage du Pavillion Royal, still not quite in reach of the morning sun…..

We left the Aire and drove a few miles to the next village along – Bidart – a collection of almost Swiss style chalets with the Pyrenees as a stunning back drop….

Parking the van, we wandered down to Plage du Centre…

Walking along the beach northwards, we were just able to make it over the rocks to Plage d’Erretegia and back before the incoming tide stepped in our way…..

As we walked back up into the village we were afforded spectacular views along the coastline to Guethary village (our next stop) and its beaches backed by the Pyrenees. Continuing through Bidart we reached Plage des Embruns and across the river Plage de l’Uhabia….

After returning to the van we drove to Guethary and found parking outside a closed for the season holiday park and walked along the lanes and footpaths to the 3 beaches here – firstly – Plage de Cenitz….

Plage de Mayarco….

And Plage de Lafitenia….

At this point, we decided to call it a day and headed back towards Biarritz to our Aire for the night – the options on this little section were not very appealing.

Thoughts of the day:

  • All these beaches today have been a surfers paradise with literally hundreds of them out on the water enjoying the waves – I have seen more surfers than people walking in the last couple of weeks.
  • You can definitely tell we are getting close to the mountains as we seem to be forever climbing up and down to reach these beaches and we are just not used to it!

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 12
  • Miles walked – 8
  • Beaches – 8
  • Aire – £14.79

Friday 21st November 2025 – Biarritz….

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After all that rain yesterday afternoon and through the night, we woke to an absolute stunner of a day today and though cold, as in feeling icy cold especially in the shade, it stayed with us until about 4pm, when it clouded over and started to rain but hey we were done by then. I apologise in advance that this blog is a little photo heavy but there was so much to see and capture – starting with snow fall overnight on the Pyrenees, captured as we took our early morning walk down to Plage de Ilbarritz….

A little later we set out to walk along the coast into Biarritz and beyond – our first beach being Plage de la Côte des Basques…..

At the northern end of the beach a small headland with an intriguing ridge out to the Rocher de la Vierge (Rock of the Virgin)….

And looking back towards the Pyrenees….

Snuggled in between is the sheltered cove of Plage de Port Vieux…

Next up Eglise St Eugenie, standing tall just above the beach and another islet – Rocher du Basta….

This was the start of the Grande Plage of Biarritz which had clearly had a bit of a groom….

As had Plage de Miramar with a stunning natural arch…..

We then arrived at the headland with Biarritz Lighthouse, marking the end of this very pretty resort….

From the lighthouse we had a spectacular view along the long sandy beach that we had hoped to visit yesterday which is sort of the end point of the long sandy beach that has been running from La Verdon-sur-Mer some 170 miles north and that which we have been following for the last couple of weeks…..

The sun is still shining and after a reviving snack and drink we continue our journey a little further to capture those last beaches – Plage de la Petite Chambre d’Amour….

Plage du Club….

Plage des Sables d’Or….

And just beyond – Plage de Marinella….

At this point a bit of a relax and off lead play time for Tilly before our long walk back, partly through the town centre of Biarritz….

A great day and fabulous walk.

Thoughts of the day:

  • 170 miles of continuous beach only broken by estuaries – that will take some beating.
  • Biarritz feels like we are in the south of France a bit more cosmopolitan than anywhere else that we have been on this journey.

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 0
  • Miles walked – 10
  • Beaches – 10
  • Aire – £14.79

Thursday 20th November 2025 – Tarnos to Biarritz….

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Not a great day for us today with only a fairly brief small window of dry weather around lunchtime – still we made it count…

Moving on from the Aire at Labenne and before arriving in Biarritz we visited the beach at Tarnos for a bit of a walk along the orange sands….

At this point we were still hoping to be able to walk along the beaches on the north side of Biarritz but the weather looks like it has other plans so we made the decision to drive straight to our Aire for the night on the south side of Biarritz as it is close to a beach.

The area we drove through wasn’t quite what the beautiful pine forests we have become accustomed to, it was very industrial around the port of Bayonne, but I guess even the French have got to work somewhere!

The Sat Nav took us for a wander around residential Biarritz, a mix of chalet style properties, whether lived in or second homes I’m not sure, until we arrived down at the seafront and our aire for the next couple of nights whilst we discover Biarritz.

As the sun was making a bit of a debut we headed straight down to Plage de Milady which was fast disappearing under the rising tides….

It looks like it might get a daily grooming! From here we continued south to the next more rugged and natural looking beach – Plage de Ilbarritz….

With the Pyrenees just about visible, though somewhat shrouded in cloud, in the distance – this beach was dog friendly so Tilly had the opportunity for a bit of a runaround.

As we had run out of footpath we headed back the way we came and just beyond the Aire to Plage de Marbella which was mostly lost to the tides and where access was closed off for some reason….

Though it did also look freshly groomed – maybe there is another access point – no matter it has started to rain again so I’m afraid we are going to retreat to the warmth and comfort of the van and take the rest of the afternoon off.

Thoughts of the day:

  • Dark grey stormy clouds, and nice fluffy white ones and clouds in general make for great photos and vibrant colours but grey skies make everything look dull and flat.

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 19
  • Miles walked – 4
  • Beaches – 4
  • Aire – £14.78

Wednesday 19th November 2025 – Capbreton to Labenne….

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Well the forecast was dodgy for all day today but we got away with it but cutting our day a bit shorter than planned and enjoyed some sunshine and blue skies whilst watching the heavy black clouds accumulate over the Pyrenees.

After a bit of grocery shopping we headed straight down to the coast at Capbreton and took a walk along the golden beaches starting with Plage de la Piste and its collection of old WWII bunkers….

And stunning sands looking south….

Heading towards Capbreton we walked across Plage de Santocha….

And then along the promenade to Plage du Prevent….

And finally Plage de Capbreton….

Beyond the jetty is the entrance to Port Capbreton which separates Capbreton from Hossegor with Plage de Notre Dame (we didn’t get this far yesterday) being the final beach in Hossegor….

A little further down the coast southwards is Plage des Océanides with some rather heavy weight clouds almost obscuring the Pyrenees….

We make a bit of a dash for Labenne and having decided to stay for the night in the Aire there, we were originally planning to park up and then walk the mile or so to the beach but I don’t think those clouds are going to hold off for much longer so we drove down to Plage de Labenne…

And took a quick walk along the waters edge to Plage de Ondres….

Before hurrying back to the van and getting settled on our Aire just as the rain came.

Thoughts of the day:

  • It has definitely cooled down here especially in the morning and evenings but I wonder if it can just continue being kind to us for another couple of weeks?
  • There are miles and miles of holiday parks along this coast – it almost makes me shiver to think of all those people.

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 13
  • Miles walked – 4
  • Beaches – 8
  • Aire – £12.68
  • Groceries – £20.86