Audio Guided Walking Tour of Bayonne, France (1h20)

On your right is the Basque Museum and the History of Bayonne. It is located in an old port house built in the 17th century, the Maison Dagourette.

Housed in an early 20th century building specially built for the occasion, the Bonnat-Helleu Museum houses collections of paintings, drawings, sculptures, art and archaeological objects.

Here you are on the Place du Réduit, where the two rivers of Bayonne, the Adour and the Nive, meet. The imposing statue that stands in front of you represents Charles Lavigerie, one of the city's great characters.

On the right, along the Nive, you have the Place de la Liberté, where you will not have failed to notice the Michel Portal theater. It serves both as a theater and as a City Hall.

Here you enter Port Neuf Street, one of Bayonne's shopping streets. In the distance you can see the spires of the cathedral, which rise between the two rows of typical Basque houses that line the street, characterized by their colorful shutters.

If there is one thing that comes to mind when we talk about Bayonne, it is its Feasts expected every year by thousands of people.

Here you are in the Léon Bonnat Public Garden, named after this painter from Bayonne, to whom we owe more than 200 portraits of the most famous personalities of his time, such as Victor Hugo, Louis Pasteur or even Jules Ferry.

The René Cassin garden, unlike its neighbor the Léon Bonnat garden, displays a beautiful English style, with flower beds arranged around the curves of the garden.

While we cross the Place des Basques, which you are on right now, let's talk a bit about the history of this magnificent region.

Facing you, leaning against the ramparts, stands the Bayonne War Memorial, which pays tribute to the Bayonnais who died for France. It was inaugurated in 1924, to honor the victims of the First World War.

You are here in front of the entrance to the Bayonne Botanical Garden. This high-rise park is in fact located on a bastion of the Vauban fortifications, on the site where the former shelter of cows grazed in the moat once stood.

Here you are in front of a door that was pierced into the ramparts in the 19th century, to replace the one that was there once, and which led to Château-Vieux.

Already in the 1st century, the Roman castrum was found here, a fortified enclosure designed to protect the camp from the troops, based in the city they called Lapurdum.

The first stone of this sumptuous cathedral was laid in the 13th century, on the very site where an ancient Romanesque church stood before being ravaged by the flames.

Here we are in front of a beautiful testimony of the history of the city! The Spanish Gate has been part of the fortifications of Bayonne since the 18th century, at least in its current state, completely redesigned by Vauban.

Here, it's impossible not to look up at the top of the houses! Half-timbering and colorful shutters invite themselves into this street typical of Bayonne architecture!

Aaah the halls of Bayonne, how not to fall in love? While Bayonne is known for its celebration and for its history, it is also its tasty gastronomy that attracts many of its visitors!

We are on the banks of the Nive, from where there is a superb view of the half-timbered houses in bright colors.

Here you are on the right bank of the Nive, the longest river in the Basque Country. This district is called Petit Bayonne, in opposition to Grand Bayonne located on the other side.

The history of this castle is closely linked to that of the city. You should know that in 1152, Aquitaine, a region in which Bayonne is located, became English, through the marriage of the Duchess of Aquitaine with King Henry II of Plantagenêt.

This beautiful church in the shape of a Latin cross was built in the 19th century during the reign of Napoleon III.

Each year, in the heart of summer, Bayonne hosts its most anticipated event, and one of the most important in France: the Bayonne Festivals, or Baionako Bestak, in Basque.