Biarritz 2k7! :)

[apothecary]

Hi guys,

I'll start off by introducing myself, I'm a 23 year old teacher of ICT for a primary school in Kettering, Northants. Hello!

I'm embarking on my first foreign camping trip, we (a fellow teacher and I) shall be flying into Biarritz this time next week and we shall be setting ourselves in a hotel for a couple of nights before pushing out towards the Pyrenees and finding some lovely routes along the way. Anybody been to that area and recommend anything, or have any websites to hand with any details (pref. in English as I'm rubbish at French). We'll be around there for around 14 days before heading back to Biarritz for the flight home.
Many Thanks in advance
Steve

:You_Rock_

 

[Ogri the trog]

Steve,
no idea about the area you are travelling to. Just to say, have a great time and welcome to the forum.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[torc]

Biarritz is nice but accom. is difficult to find and very expensive during the summer months.
Biarritz, Anglet and Bayonne are three independent towns but for all practical purposes form one large conurbation referred to as BAB. A lot of people who travel to Biarritz stay in Bayonne. The three towns are serviced by the same bus system and the airport bus takes you to both Biarritz and Bayonne on the same route number.
Biarritz was and is still known as an exclusive resort for the rich and famous in France,(even the bus stop is outside a Hermes boutique!). It is also getting popular with the surfing set and with one look at the waves you will see why. There is a nice aquarium and a very interesting oriental museum but apart from the dramatic seascapes and "The Bookstore" on Place Clemenceau the town had nothing much else to offer me.
On the other hand Bayonne is a regular working town with some nice old buildings and churches, a good atmosphere and a lot of very good chocolate shops. Bayonne also has some very well preserved examples of Sebastian Vauban's magnificent earthen work defences.
Accom. and food in Bayonne is much less expensive than Biarritz. I stayed at the "Hotel Paris Madrid" next to the train station for about E35 a night last February.It's family owned, very friendly, very clean and they speak good English.
BAB is very well placed for forays into the western Pyrenees and Pays Basque with good bus and rail links.
I only use BAB (along with Carcassonne) as an airport to reach Toulouse in winter months from Ireland so my knowledge of the hinterland is not too great.
The only mountain towns I know well are St. Jean Pied de Port (traditional start of the Camino Frances) and Lourdes which are easy to reach by rail from Bayonne.
Bayonne has a good tourist office (as do most French towns) and a large outdoors shop across the road from the huge BAB2 shopping centre so getting your hands on maps and guide books should not present any problems.

HOTEL PARIS MADRID,
PLACE DE LA GARE,
BAYONNE.
TEL.(int.acc.)+05 59 55 13 98.

Happy Trails.....torc.

 

[Mountain Man]

Steve,
Pity you are not going north as there are extensive forests on the dunes between Leon and Mimizan. A must-do on a first trip to the western end of the Pyrenees is la Rhune. a 900m summit on the frontier ridge that is easily accessible from the Col de St Ignace on the road between Ascain and Sare. It is a relatively isolated summit with great views, not unlike Snowdon with its own mountain railway.
Hope your trip goes well,
Alan