Real estate trends

In an attractive department where family tradition remains strong and sales are limited, Parisian and foreign demand continues to keep the market on the rise. Outlays can be substantial, but resale is easy.
In Biarritz, apartments go for around 6,000 € per m^², to which you can add 30% if you want an ocean view. Belle-Epoque properties run well over a million euros. Saint-Jean-de-Luz's unique village atmosphere also sells for very steep prices: starting at 7,500 € per m² for an ocean view. Anglet and Bidard remain more affordable.
Inland, Bayonne has 19th Century homes starting at 800,000 €, and prices are considerably lower in Béarn country. You can find spacious village houses with grounds at around 250,000 €, restored farms starting at 400,000 €, and even castles for around a million euros.

Traditional housing

Far from the Belle-Epoque residences displaying their splendors on the heights of Biarritz, traditional Basque houses, or "Etxe" (pronounced "Echay"), are massive buildings with whitewashed cob walls and facades adorned with red or green half-timbering.
In Béarn, they used to build with river rocks, under four-sided flat tile roofs which often enveloped the houses.

Location

In the Aquitaine south, along the Atlantic Ocean and separated from Spain by the Bidassoa, the Pyrenées-Atlantiques is the southernmost French department. Several airlines, both classical and low cost, stop there. Bayonne and Pau are five and half hours from Paris by TGV.

Scenery and activities

The Basque Coast offers a contrasting series of beaches: dunes and golden sand at Anglet; rocks and cliffs at Biarritz, a surfers' paradise; and a sheltered, peaceful cove at Hendaye…
As for sports, there's rugby and pelota, as well the "courses landaises" or cow races, and bullfighting, especially in the famous arenas of Bayonne.
Heading towards the Pyrenees, first comes Basse-Navarre, with its rural settlements scattered among fields and meadows, with the mountains looming behind; then the more wooded Soule.
Next comes the Béarn, land of Henri IV and the Three Musketeers. Around Pau and its royal castle, the local lords have papered the landscape with keeps and other noble dwellings. This is white water country – those famous mountain streams –, with fishing and canyoning. It is also hiker heaven, where you can take off along the paths of the Pyrenees National Park or the routes of Santiago de Compostela.

Weather

Due to the temperate maritime climate, freezing temperatures only occur at the higher altitudes. This can be seen in the mild winter temperatures recorded in Biarritz… and the omnipresent palm trees lining the streets of Pau.

In town

• Pau: the department prefecture, ancient royal capital of Béarn and Navarre, is a "garden city" with multiple green spaces, opening onto the nearby peaks. The castle and museums attest to a long and splendid history. The metropolitan area, focused on the future, has 140,000 inhabitants.
• Bayonne: famed throughout the world for its arenas and ham, this subprefecture is also a dynamic university town. The Bayonne-Biarritz-Anglet metropolitan area has about 100,000 inhabitants.

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