Hendaye (Hendaïa)
France > Pyrénées > Pays Basque > Côte Basque > Hendaye

Abadie's castle © Gerald Reman

HENDAYE, 16km south of St-Jean-de-Luz, is the last town in France before the Spanish frontier. Neither the town itself, Hendaye-Ville, nor the seaside quarter, Hendaye-Plage, is of any great interest, though the latter has a fine, safe beach and modern tourist amenities.

the town, served by both the Paris–Bordeaux–Irún and Toulouse–Irún train lines, lies on the estuary of the River Bidassoa, which forms the border with Spain at this point. Just upstream, a tiny wooded island known as the Île des Faisans was once used as a meeting place for the monarchs of the two countries. François I, taken prisoner at the battle of Pavia in 1525, was ransomed here. In 1659 it was the scene of the signature of the Treaty of the Pyrenees and in the following year of the marriage contract between Louis XIV and Maria Teresa, when the painter Velázquez, responsible for the decor of the negotiations chamber, caught the cold which resulted in his death. Another interesting encounter was the meeting between Hitler and Franco at Hendaye station on October 23, 1940, when Hitler refused to commit himself to supporting Franco's colonial claims on Morocco, resulting in Franco's refusal to join the ranks of the Axis. In typical Spanish style Franco had arrived late, keeping the furious Führer waiting.

The main sight in the town itself is the Château d'Abbadie, home of the nineteenth-century Dublin-born explorer Antoine d'Abbadie, on the headland overlooking Hendaye Plage, just off the Route de la Corniche (guided visits in afternoon: Feb–May Mon–Fri 10am–noon & 3–4pm; June to mid-Sept 10am–2pm & 3–5.30pm, Sun 2–6pm no guide; €6). After expeditions in Ethiopia and Egypt, d'Abbadie had the Château built between 1860 and 1870; the architect was Viollet-le-Duc, and the result is a bizarre Scottish Gothic folly, with Arabian boudoirs, Ethiopian frescoes and inscriptions over the doors and lintels inside in Irish, Basque, Arabic and Ethiopian. It's also filled with objects collected by d'Abbadie on his travels. He became president of the Académie des Sciences in 1891, to which he donated the Château on his death in 1897.

Hendaye's tourist office is at 12 rue des Aubépines in Hendaye-Plage (June & Sept Mon–Fri 9am–12.30pm & 2–6.30pm, Sat 9am–12.30pm; July & Aug Mon–Sat 9am–7.30pm, Sun 10am–1pm; Oct–May Mon–Fri 9am–12.30pm & 2–6pm, Sat 9am–12.30pm; tel 05.59.20.00.34, www.hendaye.com). Hotel prices are cheaper in Hendaye-Ville, where accommodation clusters around the gare SNCF, but Hendaye-Plage is more pleasant. Worth a try is the Hôtel de la Gare, 1 rue des Déportés (tel 05.59.20.81.90, fax 05.59.48.18.28; €30–40), in a converted mansion behind the east end of boulevard de la Mer, with a pool and garden. The campsites are mainly grouped around Hendaye-Plage; Le Moulin, off the D658 (between the N10 and coastal D912), is one of the cheaper options.