Biarritz

Biarritz needs 2 days: the Grande Plage, the main sandy beach facing the Belle Époque casino, on one day, and the Rocher de la Vierge, a rock outcrop with a statue of the Virgin linked to shore by an iron bridge designed with Gustave Eiffel's help, on the other. June-September is best for the sea. It's expensive by French standards. It became an aristocratic seaside resort in the mid-19th century thanks to Empress Eugénie de Montijo's fondness for it, and in 1957 an American filmmaker passing through introduced surfing to its beaches, giving rise to European surf culture.