Buon Biarritz

(Our hostel)

Well my blog title has certainly lived up to its name upon arrival to Biarritz, on the south west coast of France, with Jonno and I getting ourselves suitably lost on our way to our hostel...

Thinking we would be economical (and because the lady at the airport said it was only 2kms away) we decided to walk to our hostel...only by using the bus route map...which proceeded to lead us in the wrong direction...

One and a half hours and about 4kms later, we had finally located the Alberge de Jeunese, our accommodation for the next 3 nights, and boy was it impressive!

Located a little out of town, but next to an amazing lake, the hostel was clean, had a good breakfast, was well organised and had a great setup. Definite point on for the table tennis tables! The photos really speak for themselves...as do the ones of Biarritz itself.

Points off only for distance to town and the fact that you can’t check in until 6pm...they were also quite strict with alcohol and food... 8.5/10

(crazy French soccer supporter)

Walking into town was somewhat confusing (yes we got lost again), but it was definitely not to our detriment- what an impressive coastline! Its mix of French chalet-style buildings with castle-like mansions had us constantly gasping in awe as we made our way into the centre of town.

Biarritz is very much a summer town, with most activities centring on the beach or eating- surfing is very popular, along with kayaking and bike riding. And while things could get expensive here, if you’re happy just relaxing and soaking in the sun (and buying food from the supermarket) it doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg. Pastries here get an A+ and are a super cheap indulgence.

I can just imagine the crowds here come peak summer season...nuts!!

Have had a great time pretending to be French (wearing my stripy tee of course)...though I felt much more like an outsider when a group of school-aged girls rocked up at hostel and proceeded to smoke pack after pack of cigarettes... with their teachers! How very liberal French! Guess i’ll just have to work on my croissant eating skills ;)