A wide variety of nature between moutains and ocean

This is one of the few departments in France to offer all the most varied, bucolic, breathtaking elements that nature could possibly put into one place.

From the Basque coast where whale fishermen used to set off to the Pic du Midi d’Ossau in Béarn, there is a succession of remarkable landscapes and sites.

In the Basque Country: the Corniche Basque de Socoa in Hendaye, the banks of the River Adour, La Rhune, the Iparla ridges in Bidarray, the canyons of the Soule, Kakouetta and Holçarté, Iraty, the biggest beech forest in Europe.
 
In Béarn: the valleys of the Gaves and the Jurançon, the Cirque de Lescun and the Aiguilles d’Ansabère, the Pic du Midi d’Ossau… As well as this range of natural beauties, there are caves –Sare, Isturitz-Oxocelhaya, Bétharram- and protected sites (Pyrenees National Park, Hendaye Coastal Conservatory).

Last, let us not forget the highly renowned urban panoramas such as the Lighthouse Esplanade and the Virgin Mary on the rock in à Biarritz, or the Boulevard des Pyrénées in Pau to mention only the most famous. 

 

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10 good reasons to come to the Pyrénées Atlantiques