Saint-Jean-de-Luz Old Town and Harbour

What it is

Saint-Jean-de-Luz is the fishing port of the Basque Coast and the setting of the wedding that sealed the Peace of the Pyrenees: here Louis XIV married the Infanta Maria Theresa of Austria on 9 June 1660. The old town is small and mostly pedestrian, between the bay and the harbour, and can be walked in a morning. Allow two or three hours if you go into the church and the Maison Louis XIV, and a bit more if you cross to Ciboure.

The stroll, step by step

1. Place Louis XIV. It is the centre of the pedestrian zone, with the bandstand, the town hall and the Lohobiague house, where the king slept. In summer it fills with painters exhibiting.
2. Maison Louis XIV. The shipowner's house that Joannis de Lohobiague built in 1643 and where Louis XIV spent about forty days in 1660. It is still lived in by his descendants and is a historic monument. You visit inside, almost always with a guide (below, hours and prices).
3. Maison de l'Infante. Very close, the Joanoenia house, where the Infanta stayed.
4. Rue Gambetta. The pedestrian shopping street linking the seafront promenade with the square. Halfway along is the church.
5. Church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste. From outside it is plain; inside, the wooden galleries that surround the nave on three sides, in the Basque manner, rebuilt identically in 1857, and the great gilded 17th-century altarpiece by Martin de Bidache, installed in 1669, are striking. Look at the votive ship with wheels hanging from the ceiling, brought from Newfoundland and donated in 1865, and at the organ, built in 1659 for the royal wedding. The door the bride and groom left by was bricked up soon afterwards so that nobody else would pass through it: look for it on the facade. It is a church in use; respect the masses.
6. Rue de la République. Here is the Maison Ezkerrenea, from the 16th century, the oldest house in the centre.
7. The harbour and Ciboure. Return to the square and go down to the fishing harbour, the one that made the town rich with cod and the whales of Newfoundland from the 15th century. Cross the bridge over the Nivelle and you are in Ciboure, the village opposite, which grew with the same port.

If you have the legs, continue along the beach promenade, below the La Pergola casino, to the breakwaters that close the bay, the only sheltered anchorage on the coast between Arcachon and Spain. In the distance you see Fort Socoa, which Henri IV had built.

Maison Louis XIV: hours and prices

It opens from Easter to All Saints and is closed on Tuesdays and all winter. The 2026 season ended on 1 November; 2027 runs from 3 April to 7 November. Outside summer there are guided tours at fixed times (11:30, 15:00 and 16:00, and also 17:00 in June and September). From 12 July to 29 August, there are guided tours in the morning from 10:30 to 12:30 and in the afternoon it is self-guided, with guides in the rooms, from 14:30 to 18:00. In May it opens only at weekends and bank-holiday weekends.

The guided visit lasts 40–45 minutes and costs €8 (€7 for the summer self-guided one); €4 for ages 10 to 18 and students up to 26; free for under-10s. Tours are in French, with texts in other languages. Book on its website; paid tickets are not refunded, but can be changed to another day. There is no lift: the floor you visit is on the second storey, by the main staircase. Large bags and pushchairs are left downstairs, and there are no toilets for the public.

Getting there and where to park

The Saint-Jean-de-Luz-Ciboure station, on the coast train, is a short walk from the centre; the Txik Txak buses also stop nearby. By car, the paid car parks at the Port and Cœur de Ville are about five minutes' walk from the square.

Where to eat and when to go

The Les Halles market is liveliest on Tuesday and Friday mornings: a good time to start the stroll. For lunch, Chez Pablo, behind the market, and for dessert the macarons at Maison Adam, on the same square. If you arrive on foot along the coastal path from Bidart, you end up right here.

In July and August rue Gambetta is packed in mid-afternoon; go in the morning. With children, the stroll is flat and short, and the bay beach, with calm water, is at the end of every street.