Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
To feel the urban pulse of French Basque Country, visit Bayonne—modestly but honestly
nicknamed “your anchor in the Basque Country” by its tourist board. With frequent, fast
train and bus connections with St-Jean-de-Luz, Bayonne makes an easy half-day side-trip.
Come here to browse through Bayonne's atmospheric and well-worn-yet-lively Old
Town, and to admire its impressive Museum of Basque Culture. Known for establishing
Europe's first whaling industry and for inventing the bayonet, Bayonne is more famous
today for its ham
(jambon de Bayonne)
and chocolate.
Get lost in Bayonne's Old Town. In pretty Grand Bayonne, tall, slender buildings,
decorated in Basque fashion with green-and-red shutters, climb above cobbled streets. Be
suretostrollthestreetsaroundthecathedralandalongthebanksofthesmallerNiveRiver,
where you'll find the market (Les Halles).
