Please sign in to post.

Basque Country Tour

What is the best/easiest way to get to Bayonne (from US)?

Posted by
3159 posts

If you can fly Air France from your home airport, take a flight to Biarritz (BIQ) and cab or bus to Bayonne.

Posted by
609 posts

I chose to fly into Paris and take the train from CDG. In my case it was significantly cheaper than flying directly to Bayonne.

Posted by
5508 posts

When I took this tour, I flew to Paris and spent a couple of days there before taking the train to Bayonne. This worked well for me and I enjoyed the time in Paris.

The closest airport to Bayonne is Biarritz, but I did not find good flight connection options getting there from Washington, D.C.

Posted by
27062 posts

If Biarritz doesn't work, the next-best options are probably Bilbao (closer, but with a bit more complex rail routing) and Bordeaux.

Posted by
542 posts

Last September, we flew to Paris, and then flew to Biarritz. You can take a taxi to Bayonne. But we spent a few days pre-tour in Saint-Jean-du-luz.

Here is my trip report for the Best of Basque tour, in case your interested:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/rs-best-of-basque-country-tour-september-2022

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/pre-trip-report-rs-best-of-basque-country-october-2022-saint-jean-du-luz

Have fun! Pack a rain coat, just in case.

Posted by
11133 posts

We found that reading “ The Basque History of the World” by Mark Kurlansky before we visited the region to be extremely helpful in understanding their culture. Highly recommend it, very readable.