Where to buy in the French Basque Country: Biarritz, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Hossegor and the villages inland

How is the French Basque Country divided for a buyer?

The French Basque Country, Iparralde in Basque, spans three historic provinces: the Labourd, on the coast, and the more mountainous Lower Navarre and Soule. For anyone looking for a prestige property, almost everything happens in the Labourd and along the coast running north into the Landes: a compact territory where each area has its own properties, prices and rules.

• The urban coast: Biarritz, Anglet and Bayonne, one conurbation with the airport, the railway stations, the secondary schools and the hospital.
• The southern coast: Bidart, Guéthary, Saint-Jean-de-Luz and Ciboure, between cliffs, harbours and beaches.
• The Labourd hinterland: from Arcangues to Sare, farmhouses, village houses and land.
• The southern Landes coast: Hossegor, Seignosse and Capbreton, villas under the pines and big waves.

Value does not rest on the same things everywhere: the view and the beach on foot on the coast, land and the condition of the building in the villages, the floor level and the co-ownership in town. Our buying pages present the search for a house in the French Basque Country or an apartment in the French Basque Country; this guide helps you choose where to look.

Where should you buy in the French Basque Country for your project?

Before prices comes the project: the same coast suits very different lives.

• Living there all year with a family: Anglet, Bayonne, the residential districts of Biarritz, Saint-Jean-de-Luz.
• A second home facing the ocean: the Côte des Basques in Biarritz, Sainte-Barbe in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, the Bidart corniche, Guéthary, where supply is scarcest.
• Surf on the doorstep: Les Cavaliers in Anglet, La Gravière in Hossegor, the beaches of Seignosse, Acotz north of Saint-Jean-de-Luz.
• Space and countryside: Arcangues, Arbonne or Ahetze, a quarter of an hour from the beaches; Espelette, Sare or Ainhoa for a farmhouse and its meadows.
• Town life on foot: Grand Bayonne, Petit Bayonne and central Biarritz, for a characterful apartment.

Biarritz, Anglet, Bayonne: where to buy on the urban coast?

Biarritz, the most sought-after address

Biarritz holds the most sought-after addresses: the grand villas of the Impératrice quarter, around the Hôtel du Palais and the lighthouse; the Art deco apartments of Saint-Charles and Les Halles, within walking distance of everything; the views of the Côte des Basques and Beaurivage; the houses with gardens of Le Braou and Aguiléra, more residential. The median stands at €6,900/m² for apartments and €7,900/m² for houses, one in ten of which sold above €13,300/m². See buying a villa in Biarritz and an apartment in Biarritz.

Anglet, between the sea and the forest

Anglet lines up eleven beaches between Biarritz and the Adour and keeps the Chiberta forest, with its lakes and golf course, in the middle of town: villas under the pines at Chiberta, apartments facing the waves at the Chambre d’Amour and Les Cavaliers, the town centre at Cinq Cantons. More residential than Biarritz, it is lived in all year: €6,600/m² as a median for houses, from €4,100/m² at the first decile to €11,300/m² at the last, and €5,200/m² for apartments.

Bayonne, the historic capital

Where the Nive meets the Adour, Bayonne keeps its Sainte-Marie cathedral, a World Heritage site as part of the routes to Santiago de Compostela, and its quays lined with half-timbered houses. Grand Bayonne and Petit Bayonne mostly sell period apartments; the Arènes and the southern districts, handsome family houses with gardens. The city remains more affordable than the seafront: €4,000/m² as a median for apartments, €4,500/m² for houses.

From Bidart to Saint-Jean-de-Luz: where to buy facing the ocean?

Bidart and Guéthary, the cliff-top villages

Bidart runs down from the hills to the cliffs: Labourd houses around the fronton, the pelota wall, beaches below the corniche and, to the north, Ilbarritz, with its château and golf course. The house median reaches €7,000/m², but one sale in ten closed below €3,400/m² and one in ten above €12,200/m²: a house on the heights without a view and a villa on the corniche are not the same market. Next door, Guéthary, a former whaling village perched on its cliff, is the smallest seaside resort of the Basque coast: a harbour, the Parlementia wave, white and red villas. With 45 sales over twelve months, its market is too thin for a reliable median.

Saint-Jean-de-Luz and Ciboure, around the bay

Around its bay, closed off by sea walls, Saint-Jean-de-Luz is a family market: shipowners’ houses in the centre and around the harbour, where Louis XIV married in 1660, villas at Sainte-Barbe facing the ocean, surf addresses at Acotz to the north. Ciboure and Socoa extend the bay across the Nivelle; Urrugne and Ascain open onto La Rhune. Owners sell little, often directly: €5,400/m² as a median for houses, €5,800/m² for apartments. See buying a house in Saint-Jean-de-Luz.

Should you buy inland in the Basque hills?

Ten or twenty minutes from the beaches, the Labourd hinterland offers what the coast no longer has: land and peace. Arcangues, on its hill facing the Pyrenees, Arbonne and Ahetze are much sought after, for country living without moving away from the schools on the coast. Further inland, Espelette and its chilli pepper, Sare, at the foot of La Rhune, and Ainhoa, both listed among the most beautiful villages of France, draw buyers who want a farmhouse and its meadows.

Here you buy Labourd farmhouses, often to restore, village houses and more recent neo-Basque houses on large plots. We publish no median for these villages, which are too dissimilar: each house is valued against comparable sales, as explained in our dossier on valuing a property without comparables.

What changes away from the coast

• Drainage: many isolated houses have their own septic system, whose inspection by the public service (SPANC) is attached to the sale; any upgrade is costed before the offer.
• Farmland: a farmhouse sold with its meadows may attract the SAFER, the rural land agency, and its right of pre-emption over agricultural land.
• The building and daily life: thick walls, timber framing and old roof structures call for a technical eye; a car is essential, but these villages are lived in all year.

Hossegor and Seignosse: should you look at the Landes coast?

North of the Adour, the southern Landes coast extends the Basque market into another landscape of dunes, pine forest and lakes. Hossegor, between its marine lake joined to the ocean and La Gravière, one of the most famous waves in Europe, hides 1930s Basque-Landes villas under the pines. It is one of the most expensive house markets in the region: €12,000/m² as a median, one sale in ten above €19,600/m², and €7,300/m² for apartments. See buying a villa in Hossegor.

Further north, Seignosse divides its life between Seignosse-le-Penon and its surf beaches, and the village centre in the forest, with its golf course, lakes and villas on large plots: €6,500/m² as a median for houses, €5,400/m² for apartments. To the south, Capbreton and its marina, then Labenne, are searched on a tailor-made basis. The Landes department as a whole remains far cheaper, at €2,500/m² for houses: the coast is the exception.

What to know under the pines

• Fire: in forest towns, clearing vegetation around buildings can be a legal duty of the owner; check the state of the plot before the offer.
• The dune: on the seafront, erosion pushes the coastline back; the risk report flags it when the town is concerned.
• The season: Hossegor and Seignosse are very busy in summer; for year-round living, the centre of Hossegor and Capbreton stay the liveliest.