Sare in 30 seconds
Around 2,760 inhabitants (2,763 in 2023, according to Insee, France’s national statistics institute) spread over 51.34 km², about ten kilometres as the crow flies from the bay of Saint-Jean-de-Luz (Donibane Lohizune). A border village at the foot of the first Pyrenean foothills: the municipality shares 34 km of border with Navarre. It has around ten districts, including Plaza, the historic core, and San Inazio (Saint-Ignace). Twinned with Ataun (Gipuzkoa) and Santa-Maria-Poggio (Corsica).
Listed as one of the Most Beautiful Villages of France (Les Plus Beaux Villages de France) — one of four in the Basque Country, along with Ainhoa, La Bastide-Clairence and Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port.
A little history
Upper Palaeolithic: hunter-gatherers take shelter in the municipality’s caves.
1693: the inhabitants drive off bandoleros (bandits); Louis XIV grants the village a coat of arms.
February 1794: during the Terror, the population is deported en masse; the survivors return only eight months later.
1813: fierce fighting in the Napoleonic Wars leaves some 11,000 dead; Marshal Soult’s redoubts still survive within the municipality.
19th century: Napoleon III and Queen Natalie of Serbia visit the caves and the mountain.
What to see
The main square and the fronton
The heart of the village. The Church of Saint-Martin, raised in height in the 17th century (in 1641) under the parish priest Axular, with its five-storey tower and three wooden galleries with turned balusters. Its sundial bears a Basque inscription that the municipality translates into French as: ‘Every hour wounds man, the last sends him to the grave’. A Basque pelota fronton (court wall) stands on the square.
The oratories
The village has fourteen oratories (wayside shrines), most of them built in the 17th century by sailors; five of them line the old medieval road, the Galtzada, near the village centre.
The caves of Sare
The Lezea cave, in the protected limestone massif of Atxuria, was probably occupied as early as the Aurignacian. A guided sound-and-light tour (in French, Basque, Spanish or English) covers the geology, the prehistory and the mythology of the Basques, drawing on the work of the anthropologist José Miguel de Barandiaran. On site: a museum and a megalithic park. A constant temperature of 14°C; animals, pushchairs and photography are not allowed in the cave. Open all year round.
The Ortillopitz museum and estate
A Labourdin house (maison labourdine) built in 1660, with its original furniture, its vines, apple trees and crops: a glimpse of domestic and farming life in the 17th century. Visits last about an hour, from April to the end of September.
The La Rhune train (Col de Saint-Ignace)
It departs from the Col de Saint-Ignace (Saint-Ignace pass), in the municipality of Sare (San Inazio district). This little rack railway, in service since 1924, climbs to Labourd’s emblematic summit, La Rhune (Larrun), at 905 m. Allow about 2 hrs 30 mins for the return trip, including 1 hr 20 mins at the top; in 2026 it runs daily from 28 March to 1 November. See our complete guide to La Rhune.
The Lizarrieta pass
A border pass (441 m) into neighbouring Navarre, and a starting point for hikes.
The communal forest
1,250 hectares managed by the ONF (France’s national forestry office, Office national des forêts). More than 150 streams feed the Nivelle.
Festivals
The September festivities, held since 1837: Basque pelota, Basque strength contests and the old ahate jokoa, a game in which riders had to grab a suspended duck (these days killed beforehand).
What to taste
- Piperade and axoa — great Basque classics
- Black cherry jam with sheep’s cheese
- Espelette pepper
Getting there
- Car: from Saint-Jean-de-Luz or Bayonne (Baiona)
- Train: no station in Sare; the nearest is Saint-Jean-de-Luz-Ciboure
Ideal 1-day itinerary
- Morning: the village square, church and fronton, then the caves of Sare
- Midday: lunch in the village
- Afternoon: Ortillopitz, then the Col de Saint-Ignace and the La Rhune train
- Evening: back to the village for an aperitif on the square
My favourite photo
The village from the slopes of La Rhune at dawn, when a sea of clouds covers the plain.
Sources
- Insee — territorial comparison tool, Sare (2023 population, in French)
- Sare town hall — Getting to know the village (in French)
- La Rhune train — official website
- Caves of Sare — official website
- Pays Basque tourist office — Ortillopitz
- Sare — Wikipedia (in French)
Ongi jin Saran — Welcome to Sare.