Espelette

Visit Espelette, Aquitaine

Espelette is a delightful village situated in the foothills of the Pyrenees to the east of Saint-Jean-de-Luz. Espelette is famous for its chilli peppers, those grown in this region even have an ‘appellation controlee’ to vouch for their authenticity. After the harvest the houses are strung with strings of the ‘piments’ and the effect is wonderfully colourful.

Exploring Espelette

It is a pleasure to explore Espelette, with most of the houses in the village built in the traditional Basque style with white houses and red or occasionally green shutters.

The church at Espelette has the typical Basque interior with three levels of wooden  galleries going round the walls and a very decorative altarpiece. It is a very attractive style for a church interior so make sure you wander inside some of the churches in this region.

Another interesting building is the 16th century castle that is now the village mairie, the tourist office and has various exhibitions - including an exhibition related to piments...

Espelette chilli peppers

The village of Espelette is very much dedicated to red chilli peppers! Walking round the village many of the shops are dedicated to the Espelette piments and you can buy the strings to take home for cooking or buy olive oil which has piment and garlic inside. Perfect to pour on pizza (French restaurants always have a bottle of spicy oil to pour on pizzas) or to spice up your salads and they make great presents. There are many other products too. In a neighbouring village they even had macaroons with piments in, quite tasty too!

Visiting in September or October you see the strings of bright red chilli peppers hung to dry on the house fronts. Visit later in the year and some are still there (many are sold) but turn a deeper shade of red as they dry.

If you can, visit Espelette during the ‘Fete aux piments’ in October.

Attractions nearby

The surrounding countryside of low mountains is perfect for exploring by car, walking or cycling - or by taking the small train that climbs the mountain at La Rhune.

There are several other villages nearby which also have the same basque architecture as Espelette, including Sare and Ainhoa which are both listed among the most beautiful villages in France and you are also close to the Atlantic beaches for example at Biarritz and Saint-Jean-de-Luz

Photos of Espelette (click any picture to start the gallery)

Suggested places to visit near Espelette, France

Distances shown are direct, driving distances will be greater.

More suggestions: La Rhune 16km; Anglet 17km; Bayonne 17km; Biarritz 18km; Saint Jean de Luz 18km; La Bastide-Clairence 18km; Ciboure 18km; Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port 26km; Hendaye 27km; Hondarribia 28km; Capbreton 34km; Hossegor 35km; Sauveterre-de-Bearn 42km; Salies-de-Bearn 45km; Dax 52km; Moliets 57km;

See these places and more on a map at places near Espelette

Espelette tourism: sights and attractions nearby

Jardins de la villa Arnaga - remarkable garden (4km) : Vallée des Aldudes - site of natural beauty (27km) : Marais d'Orx - site of natural beauty (29km) : Parc du Sarrat - remarkable garden (51km) : Gorges d'Holzarté - site of natural beauty (57km) :

French version: see Espelette (Francais)