Signature experience — Bayonne
Gourmet Bayonne: chocolate and ham
Duration
Half day
Price
From €380
Mercedes
Dedicated vehicle & chauffeur
In 1609, some sixty Sephardic chocolate-making families settled in Bayonne after being expelled from Portugal and brought cocoa paste techniques to the city—decades before Paris caught on. The legacy still lines rue Port-Neuf with Cazenave (1854) and Daranatz (1890). Down by the Nive, market stalls open from 7 a.m., and Bayonne ham—cured between the Adour plain and Pyrenean foothills—tells another story of air, salt and time. You’ll taste, certainly, but also trace the craft: Basque-style conching, then dryers tuned to the foehn wind.
Collected from your hotel in Biarritz or Petit Bayonne, you ride in a Mercedes E-Class with your dedicated driver; car on standby, flexible stops, and timed holds. Walk a compact 1.2 km loop through Grand Bayonne while parking and bookings are handled, then continue 8 km up the Adour to an AOP ham cellar to see salting, the Lauburu brand, and knife-thin slicing. You sample and tour; he drives and waits, reshuffling the order if rain rolls in so your timing stays intact.
Your itinerary
- I
09:15 Pick-up at your hotel (Biarritz, Anglet, or central Bayonne) and drive to Grand Bayonne with reserved parking by the cathedral.
- II
09:30 Rue Port-Neuf chocolatiers: foamy hot chocolate at Cazenave, then single-origin bars at Daranatz (45 min).
- III
10:30 Stroll through Les Halles de Bayonne for cacao stalls and Basque pastries, with a cocoa–spice counter stop (30–40 min).
- IV
11:30 Drive to a Bayonne AOP ham curer on the Adour’s left bank, guided visit and tasting (1 hr), then a 10-min return.
What’s included
- ✓ Dedicated Mercedes driver
- ✓ Hotel pick-up
- ✓ Chocolatier/ham bookings
- ✓ Waiting time and flexible returns
Your chauffeur’s tip
Hit Les Halles before 10 a.m. to dodge the crowds, and at Cazenave ask for the lighter foamy bowl version—less sweet and ideal before the savory ham tasting.
Book this experience
Confirmed within 30 minutes · Fixed price quoted in advance