Saint-Jean-de-Luz - Basque fishing village with royal history

Known for its architecture, great weather, sandy bay, and excellent cuisine Saint-Jean-de-Luz is one of France’s most charming and picturesque beach towns.  It is located in the heart of Basque country in southwestern France near the Spanish border and is a quiet seaside community.  Saint-Jean-de-Luz is close to the western end of the Pyrenees so both hills and beaches are close which makes this a popular place to visit.

Saint-Jean-de-Luz is a small but active fishing port where you can watch fishermen pull in large catches of sardines, anchovies, and tuna.  It is also known for its great shopping area,

What you may not know about Saint-Jean-de-Luz is that it was here that 22 year old Louis XIV married Spanish princess Maria Theresa on June 9th, 1660.  after moving his entire court from Versailles to reside in Saint-Jean-de-Luz for over a month,. The event consolidated the Treaty of the Pyrenees, signed a year earlier between French and Spanish leaders to end war between the countries. In return for hosting the wedding, Saint-Jean-de-Luz was supposedly provided tax reductions for three decades.

You may assume that the town name comes from “Luz”, which means “light” in Spanish, which is actually not correct “Luz” is a mutation of “Lohitz” in this case, which means “dirty place, marsh”. The name refers to a time when the settlement was flooded and was nothing more than a marsh for centuries. 

If you would like to visit Saint-Jean-de-Luz please I can help!   Contact me at lene@perfectlyplannedjourneys.com or 703-927-0588.