The Beach House, Bidart, nr. Biarritz

Situated above the beach, with panoramic views of the sea and the Pyrenees and in the heart of the historic village of Bidart, this six bedroom villa is the most luxurious and well situated on the Basque coast. With direct access to Bidart’s main beach, yet just a stroll to the lovely market and restaurants of the village and the nearby seaside town of Biarritz, you truly are based in one of the most picturesque regions in France with its very traditional heritage.

The distinctive and classic Neo-Basque house has well arranged accommodation consisting of six en suite bedrooms, a beautiful heated infinity pool and deck, huge state of the art kitchen, media room and salons, one of which has a typical Basque fireplace. There are wonderful panoramic views from every room over the mountains and the sea.

The interior perfectly blends the practical with the contemporary. There is a kitchen any chef would be happy to cook in, a state of the art media room and luxurious Egyptian cotton sheets and Frette towels in the bedroom suites. Every detail has been considered, but pales into insignificance when you stand on the pool terrace or at one of the bedroom windows absorbing the view and listening to the sea enticing you down to the sandy beach below.

At certain times of the year the area comes alive with serious surfers who descend on this part of the coast to “catch the wave”. You are in the perfect position here either to join in (there is a direct path from the garden to the beach) or just sit back and appreciate their antics from your terrace or the tranquil waters of the swimming pool.

Apart from beautiful beaches, surfing and golf, the other big attraction of this area is gastronomy. Don’t try to pronounce the local menus, which offer hearty traditional Basque dishes.   For the foodies, San Sebastian is a thirty minute drive away, the epicentre of the pintxos (tapas), and is one of the top 10 eating experiences in the world. The old town in San Sebastian is packed with hundreds of small pintxos bars where you can eat tortillas, baby squid, delicious black pudding toasts and an outrageous range of these little delicacies, accompanied by local ciders, sherry, or for something a bit different, a glass of sparkling Txakoli.