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Ainhoa
Ainhoa ('most beautiful villages of France') is deep in Basque country on the Spanish border, 20km south-east of St Jean de Luz.
Tourist Information and places to visit
Ainhoa, like Sare, is a lovely Basque village, in the Labourd province, with loads of charm and examples of the local architecture. Little more than a main street and a large church, but perfectly charming and in a lovely setting in the shadow of the Rhune.
Perhaps the most curious feature of Ainhoa is that the buildings on one side of the street appear to be more decorative, and have more balconies, than those on the other side of the street. In fact this is because local tradition is to build houses with their backs to the sea, for protection against the wind and rain. So on one side of Ainhoa main street you are seeing the backs of the houses. Personally I found the slightly more austere backs as attractive as the more decorative fronts.
Ainhoa was an important stop on the pilgrim path to Santiago de Compostella, where many of the routes from France converged. The original village was destroyed by the Spanish in 1629 and the village you now see was built in the 17/18th centuries.
Ainhoa church
Interesting to see, Ainhoa church features the usual 'rows of balconies' found in Basque churches. And of course, being a Basque village, it has a "fronton" wall where old and young play Pelota, the local sport.
The village also contains a couple of expensive 'art' shops (we found the village to be expensive, for things like postcards, even compared with nearby Sare) and cafes.
It is the starting point for several walks in the region.
Nearby
The neighbouring village of Sare, also a 'most beautiful villages of France' is also very pretty and well worth a visit.
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Places to visit - Ainhoa
Explore places within about 70 kilometres on a map at Visit Ainhoa.
Some of the closer places are listed below (distances from Ainhoa are approximate and direct - as the crow flies. Only places listed on the france this way site are shown!)
- Bayonne Important town at 21 km
- Ciboure Atlantic town and resort at 21 km
- La Bastide-Clairence Most beautiful village at 30 km
- La Rhune Basque mountain at 15 km
- Sare Most beautiful village at 9 km
- Saint Jean de Luz Coastal town and resort at 20 km
- Biarritz Atlantic resort and surf capital at 20 km
Information and photos
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