My sister and I will be arriving 2 days early in Bayonne, France for the 8 day tour of Basque country. RS suggests touring the two towns nearby if you arrive early. Looks easy to take the bus to Biarritz and St. Jean de Luz, but did not see any suggestions for private tour guides if you wanted to have a more in-depth experience. Any insight from those who've been there would be appreciated. We would have no trouble getting around on our own and wandering the area. Thank you.
Posted by
Michigan
455 posts
Have not done his tours, but Mikel chimes in often with good advice here on the forum, and offers tours if you can put together a group: https://toursbybasques.com/
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thanks so much for the link! Will check it out.
Posted by
Used to be Steilacoom, now it’s Las Vegas
2296 posts
I’ll be following this because I was thinking the same thing. We are on a tour in May and arriving 2 days early following our My Way Spain tour.
Posted by
san ramon, ca, usa
286 posts
Love, love, love Mikel. Worth every penny! We used him as a private guide. It was expensive and we had him all day.
Posted by
Walnut Creek, CA
603 posts
Before our Basque Country tour, we flew in 2 days early also. We flew and You will fly into Biarritz. From there we took a Taxi/uber to Saint Jean de Luz and stayed there for the two days before hiring a private car to take 4 of us to Bayonne on the day the tour started.
We stayed at the Grand Hotel Thalasso and Spa, right on the plage (beach) and each day we walked the promenade or over to the pedestrian Rue Gambetta. There are some sites to visit, none which we felt were must do's.
We found the restaurants opened late for dinner, some not until 8pm. We found some very nice small restaurants. We liked Toki Goxoa for lunch or breakfast (Basque ), pastries at Maison Adam, dinner at Chez Theo.
We did stop in a visit the Eglise Saint-Jean-Baptiste to see it's interior, and we did walk North on the beach to the end and to the top of the bluff for the views looking back at SDL.
We enjoyed the 2 full days we had here to decompress from the jet lag.
I will say the slow beginning gave me time to remember my basic high school French and French customs.
I walked into a grocery store and asked the clerk in French where the bottle water was and she ignored me. It was then, I realized my faux Pas. You have to start your conversation with a greeting- so "bonjour madame", and then the request and she decided to help me.
To answer your questions directly, I don't think you need a guide to experience and see St. jean de Luz.