Biarritz, France

Free of the summer crowds, France's ritzy Atlantic resort becomes the ideal setting for a stylish and stimulating winter break

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Why go now?

France's last big resort before the Spanish border is ideal for a winter break. Biarritz has welcomed th397989e rich and glamorous for a couple of centuries, and possesses a civic sense of style. Yet it has other dimensions, as a historic fishing port and the place where Basque culture meets Gascon chic.

Between November and Easter, you can have the place almost to yourself, and benefit from what the locals call un climat privilégié: gentle weather even in the depths of winter.

Touch down

By rail, Biarritz is an easy ride from London on Eurostar (08705 186 186), in under nine hours via Lille or Paris (the latter requires a change of stations). Through fares are available from £109 return. The present-day railway station (1) is inconveniently located 3km south-east of the city centre; bus 2 or 9 covers the ground for €1.20 (85p). The lovely old Gare du Midi (2) used to be the terminus, but the rails were ripped up and now an auditorium lurks behind the handsome façade.

By air, Ryanair (0871 246 0000) flies daily from Stansted. The airport (3) (00 33 5 59 43 83 83) is no further from the centre of Biarritz than the train station; if a half-hour walk does not appeal, bus 6 (or C on Sundays) runs approximately hourly to the town centre (€1.20/ 85p). A taxi will cost an excessive €20 (£14).

The airport has a handy tourist office, which opens to meet arrivals and provides a good selection of maps and other literature. Biarritz's main tourist office (4) occupies a peach-coloured mansion adjacent to an ugly car park at Square d'Ixelles, in the middle of town (00 33 5 59 41 59 41; open 9am-6pm from Monday to Friday, 10am-5pm at weekends).

Get your bearings

Biarritz decorates a serrated sweep of the Côte des Basques of south-west France. The north-east end is marked by the lighthouse known as the Phare de Biarritz (5); the south-west extreme is punctuated by the Rocher de la Vierge (6), an outlying rock linked by footbridge to the mainland, and supporting a statue of the Virgin Mary. Most places of interest are located a short way inland from this stretch of shoreline, with Place Clémenceau (7) constituting the hub of the town.

Check in

The Hôtel du Palais (8) occupies a prime tract of seafront real estate at 1 Avenue de l'Impératrice (00 33 5 59 41 64 00). It is more than merely one of France's finest hotels; it is also a location with a fascinating history. Napoléon III built a villa on the site for his much-revered wife, Empress Eugénie. It burned down in 1903, and after rebuilding, reopened as a hotel de grand luxe. The price of a double room reflects the four-star quality: a minimum of €430 (£307), excluding breakfast.

Several notches down, but with a good, central location, the two-star Hôtel Bellevue (9) at 5 Avenue Edouard VII (00 33 5 59 24 17 07) offers double rooms for as little as €50 (£35); the catch is that they are above a bar, and can get noisy. More tranquil quarters are on offer for €65 (£46), excluding breakfast.

Biarritz's smart and comfortable youth hostel (10) has a lakeside location at 8 rue Chiquito de Cambo, close to the railway station (00 33 5 59 41 76 00). A bed in a dorm costs €16.70 (£12), including breakfast.

Take a view

Walk north along Avenue de l'Impératrice, admiring the indulgent villas on both sides of the road. At Mirasol (11), note the startling stained-glass façade on a maritime theme, and bear left along the Sentier des Vagues ( "path of the waves"), passing the castellations of a house called La Roche Ronde along the way. The path leads to a flight of steps (12), and halfway down you round a bend to get a tremendous view of the bay and the rocks scattered in the water – notably the hollowed-out Roche Ronde, resembling the head of a whale emerging from the waves.

Take a hike

Descend to the foot of the steps (12) and walk along the Allée Winston Churchill. It runs beside the Grande Plage (formerly Plage de l'Impératrice, until the Second Empire collapsed).

Thread beneath the terrace of the Hôtel du Palais (8), then turn to admire the expansive grounds. Continue along the promenade, past the towering Casino (13) and a scattering of offshore rocks.

Wander through the tiered gardens, planted with the city's characteristic fluffy-looking tamarisk trees, and you soon reach the Port des Pêcheurs (14), a tiny fishing village crammed with cute crampottes (fishermen's huts).

Climb up and around the next headland and cross the footbridge to the Rocher de la Vierge (6), where artists paint, and then sell for around ¿15 (£11), miniature oils of the impressive views back across the bay.

Lunch on the run

Carrying on along the shore just a little further leads to a small horseshoe-shaped beach, le Port-Vieux. The main street heading inland from here, rue Port-Vieux, is crammed with cafés and restaurants offering anything from pizza to Mexican. For French cuisine, opt for the brasserie right at the start: Le Caritz (15) (00 33 5 59 24 41 84). It was founded by the former French rugby star and local hero, Serge Blanco, and has a sophisticated interior and menu, with seafood a strong suit. Window shopping

Much of Biarritz is given over to retail indulgence. There's a long, meandering thoroughfare of shops, stretching along rue Mazagran via Place Sainte-Eugénie (16) to Place Clémenceau (7), conveniently the venue for the Galeries Lafayette (00 33 5 59 22 72 72) department store. It opens 9.30am-7pm daily except Sunday. For something more unusual away from the main retail strip, seek out crafts from the nations of French West Africa at Le Caméléon Couleur d'Afrique (17) at 3bis rue Port-Vieux (00 33 5 59 22 02 27), open 11am-1pm and 2-7.30pm daily except Sunday; porcelain at Laurence Castel (18) on rue Broquedis (00 33 6 78 19 67 38), open 3-6.30pm daily except Monday; or Basque chocolate at Daranatz (19) on Avenue du Maréchal-Foch, open 10am-12.30pm and 2.30-7.30pm daily except Sunday. Across the street from this shop, a kilometre stone marks "Route Impériale No. 10", of which this street used to be an official embranchement. Close by is the Halles Centrales (20), the municipal market, which offers a refreshing taste of normal life.

Saturday afternoon: go to church

The Musée Historique de Biarritz (21) on rue Broquedis (00 33 5 59 24 86 28) occupies a former Anglican church, St Andrews, built by the British in 1876. It has been transformed into an exhibition space telling the story of the town. The porch alone is a masterpiece, constructed to commemorate the men who fell in south-west France in 1813 and 1814, during the Napoleonic Wars. Inside, it feels like a shrine to Empress Eugénie, though our Royal Family enjoys a strong showing, with an account of Queen Victoria's visit to Biarritz in 1889. It opens 10am-12.30pm and 2-6.30pm from Tuesday to Saturday, admission €3 (£2.20).

At the other end of town, Saturday afternoon (3-6pm, to be precise) is the only time non-worshippers are welcomed into the Russian Orthodox Church of Alexander Nevsky and the Protection of the Mother of God (22) at 8 Avenue de l'Impératrice (00 33 5 59 24 16 74). The crypt of the otherwise unremarkable Sainte-Eugénie church, at Place Sainte-Eugénie (16), often hosts high-profile temporary art exhibitions; usually open afternoons only.

An aperitif

The Café de la Grande Plage (13) is actually the beach-level floor of the Casino, and offers a grand sunset prospect. The café (00 33 5 59 22 77 77) serves a half-dozen oysters for €11-€15 (£8-£11), with a glass of house white at €3.60 (£2.50) or a range of champagnes at considerably more. Sex on the Beach (the vodka-and-peach-liqueur cocktail, not the experience) costs €7.10 (£5). If you don't feel like moving far for dinner, stay here and try the Découverte menu for €28 (£20), which includes carpaccio of beef and roast duck.

Dining with the locals

Two alluring seafood options can be found at the Port des Pêcheurs (14): Le Corsaire (00 33 5 59 24 63 72), which this summer celebrated its 40th birthday, and Chez Albert (00 33 5 59 24 43 84), where the €40 (£28) dégustation menu starts with tarte cèpes et gambas. Book ahead at these (and other leading restaurants) for a table on weekend evenings.

Sunday morning: a walk in the park

Close to Biarritz railway station and adjacent to the youth hostel (10), an entirely different dimension of the town is revealed. Lac Mouriscot is an oval lake wrapped in woodland, and the location of some discreet residences of members of Biarritz high society.

Out to brunch

Among the thin pickings on a Sunday morning, the welcoming Café O (23) (entry from 7 boulevard du Gé*éral de Gaulle; 00 33 5 59 22 04 32) serves excellent coffee, croissants, or whatever else you need to restore your strength for the day ahead. Bring a laptop and you can take advantage of the free Wi-Fi to read the British Sunday papers online.

Take a ride

For a different perspective on the Côte des Basques, make a side-trip to the pretty fishing port of St-Jean-de-Luz, an enchanting antithesis to the razzmatazz of Biarritz, with a pleasant central square ideal for a leisurely Sunday lunch. Half an hour south by bus 26-2 from close to the tourist office (4), or no more than 15 minutes by train, but check schedules with the tourist office because services are sporadic.

Cultural afternoon

The Art Deco Musée de la Mer (24), on Plateau de L'Atalaye (00 33 5 59 22 75 40), houses an interesting combination of maritime museum and aquarium, complete with some benign sharks. Wander in to find out more (in French only, unless you get the English-language audio guide) about the role of Basque fishermen in exploiting the North Atlantic, from Spitzbergen to Newfoundland, and the transformation of Biarritz to glamorous resort. Visit before 15 November, and you can catch the exhibition celebrating half a century of surfing in Biarritz. The museum opens 9.30am-12.30pm and 2-6pm daily except Mondays (longer hours between April and October), and closes in the second and third weeks of January, admission €7.50 (£5.30). If you are there at 10.30am or 5pm, you may see the seals being fed.

Write a postcard

The main post office (25) at 17 rue de la Poste is design poetry outside, but just a prosaic bureau inside. From a souvenir shop on Place Clémenceau (7), buy a card that celebrates Basque heritage, and write it at one of the outdoor cafés.

Icing on the cake

Since the Sixties, Biarritz has been one of France's leading centres for thalassotherapy – or seawater treatment. French health and beauty experts insist that November is the time to be pummelled, massaged and soaked into submission before the winter sets in. Several of the top hotels offer treatments to guests and non-residents alike.