An Epicurean Journey Through Spain and France

From the forested hills right down to the golden, half-moon beaches, San Sebastián is Basque’s big-hitter. Museums, parks and a funicular railway keep visitors entertained, but it’s the irresistible world-class cuisine that draws a discerning crowd: innovative chefs push the boundaries of gastronomy in chic, minimalist kitchens, while in the Old Town, historical bars dole out plates of pintxos (the region’s answer to tapas) and glasses of txakoli wine long after the sun has set over the Bay of La Concha. 

There’s a raffish beauty to old Biarritz, an elegant city on France’s southwest coast. The town – a favorite among monarchs like Napoleon III – is all grand, belle-epoque villas and art deco casinos; long, languid lunches by the sea. The golden beaches are seductive, but the town is also the gateway to the French Basque Country. Hike the craggy foothills of the Pyrenees or make for beautiful Bayonne where the largest festival in France takes place each summer, the raucous, red-and-white-clad Fêtes de Bayonne. 

Not all Bordeaux’s pleasures come by the glass: a deal with a Chartrons antique dealer, the taste of a rum-sweet canelé, the 18th-century grandeur of the Place de la Bourse. But Bordeaux’s rich, full-bodied heritage is hard to resist, be it on a bar’s cobbled terrace or at La Cité du Vin, a slick museum charting the long, lofty history of wine here. But vineyards beckon: Saint-Émilion, perhaps, Pauillac or Médoc – these appellations are revered the world over.