Camping Etche Zahar

You'll get a taste of the local architecture while strolling around Urt, but for a proper look at Basque-style buildings you'll want to head to La Bastide-Clairence (10 minutes' drive), a 14th-century town with traditional timbered houses, historic churches and a centuries-old Jewish cemetery. Older still are the Isturitz and Oxocelhaya caves (25 minutes), an important Paleolithic site that's best surveyed on an hour-long guided tour. In the same neck of the woods is Cambo-les-Bains (30 minutes), a town in the foothills of the Pyrenees with a chocolate museum and fruit farm where you can pick your own. Looking to break through the cloud barrier? Jump aboard the Train de la Rhune, a hill railway where you can make out mountains and coast on both sides of the France-Spain border. In terms of local shopping opportunities, it's hard to beat Bayonne (20 minutes), a sizeable city that’s also home to impressive ramparts and a 13th-century cathedral. For beach time, head to the swanky sands of Biarritz (30 minutes) or to one of the quieter bays north or south of the city.