FRANCE A LA CARTE
Bidarrai - whitewater centre

Biarritz - the details

25 minutes from Biarritz airport.

PRICE: from €275 - per person (base 4 participants)

Price includes:
• 3 overnights with full board in hostel on site
• 3 white water activities

• qualified instructor/guide
• rafting/canyoning equipment provided
• hire car (type VW Golf or similar, unlimited mileage) for 3 days from local airport

This activity can be adapted for Stag Parties who are looking for a sporting activity to round out their weekend.

BOOKING ENQUIRIES

RAFTING near BIARRITZ

WHITE WATER ADVENTURE in the BASQUE COUNTRY

3 night / 4 day break, from Friday evening to Monday morning

The Basque country is a landscape of contrasts: from the Ocean's edge to the Pyrenean peaks there are endless natural pursuits possible. In the heart of the Nive valley, the village of Bidarrai is a centre for a number of outdoor activities.

A group of professionals is based here, experts in the organisation and management of all these activities from their conception to their execution. Transfers are available from Bidarrai to the different sites used.

Accommodation:

Hostel

The hostel is in the centre of Bidarri. It can accommodate up to 50 people, in rooms of 3, 4, 5 or 6 persons.
Each room comprises single beds and a bathroom. Full board is provided, lunch and dinner being delivered by an outside caterer. Breakfast is served each morning from 7am to 10 am.
Hotel accommodation can be provided in the vicinity for those who wish.
The facilities are based in 6 acres of grounds with car park, changing rooms and showers, picnic area and barbecue.

The Programme
(Equipment hire included in price)

FRIDAY
Arrival at Biarritz or Pau airport.
Pick up hire car and drive over to Bidarrai (35minutes from Biarritz / 1h30 from Pau)
Settle into the hostel.
Dinner and overnight at hostel.

SATURDAY
morning:
Breakfast at the hostel.
Departure for a morning's rafting.
Transfer to the river's edge.
Rafting: Going down a river in an unsinkable inflatable craft. Sounds pretty boring but this is an exceptional way to discover a hidden world aboard a most exciting boat. It's an activity which demands teamwork and co-ordination above all. Not particularly dangerous as you are fully equipped with lifejacket and helmet but you're certainly going to get wet! According to the level of the group you can opt for an 'introductory' or a 'sporting' session.
Return to the hostel for lunch or picnic.

Afternoon:
Departure for an afternoon of 'hydrospeed'
Transfer to site included.

Hydrospeed: Hydrospeed or 'whitewater swimming', is the best way to discover the force and the subtlety of the river. Unlike rafting or kayaking, you are at the heart of the fluid in which you must learn to move, surf, slide and ... have fun! Using a lightweight float and flippers you will spend an astonishing afternoon playing with the currents, counter-currents, whitewater rapids and blue-green depths of the river.
Return to hostel for dinner and overnight.

SUNDAY
morning:
Breakfast at hostel.
Departure for a morning's canyoning on the other side of the Spanish border.
You will take your car – as the afternoon is free – and follow the instructors.
Canyoning: Following the water-course of a ravine, gorge or canyon with or without the use of rock-climbing material. It's much more fun than it sounds as the trip is punctuated with rock slides, jumps and 'rappels' that will amuse and exhilarate. Again, teamwork is essential and a certain head for heights called for.
Return to the hostel for lunch or picnic on site.

Afternoon:
Free afternoon.
Cheap shopping in Spain ... or do some serious hiking in the Spanish Basque Country,

Why not explore the fortified village of Saint Jean Pied de Port?

Only 20kms from Bidarrai, St-Jean-Pied-de-Port, is protected by ramparts restored in the XVIIIth and XIXth centuries. Apart from the fortifications you can admire the brightly painted houses which line the river Nive.

Or Bayonne?

35 minutes from Bidarrai, Bayonne is divided in 3 historic quarters linked by bridges. The oldest, “Grand Bayonne”, dates back to Roman times, “Petit Bayonne” from the Middle Ages. . The most recent quarter, known as the Saint Esprit (or Holy Ghost ), became a jewish sector when the Jews were admitted at the end of the 17th Century. The Cathedral and the Vieux Chateau dominate the town from their hill in the 'Grand Bayonne'

... and of course Biarritz.

Perched on rocky cliff tops or bordering the most fabulous sandy beaches Biarritz is a hotch-potch of architectural styles and urban planning. There are chateaux and follies at every street corner, unusual art deco palaces beside humdrum Victorian facades, but everywhere there is the smell and sound of the ocean as it pounds on the shore and covers the city in a radiant sparkle.
Visit the excellent aquarium, the old port with its tiny restaurants and ancient Basque fishermen, watch the young surfers defy the rollers on the Grand Plage or just settle in front of a cold drink at a café on the promenade and wish yourself back in time to when the crowned heads of Europe jostled to be seen right where you are sitting.

Dinner and overnight at the hostel.

MONDAY
breakfast at hostel
Departure for airport

NOTE arrival: after 4pm - departure: before 10am

EQUIPMENT

to bring:
bathing costume
a pair of stout trainers

provided:
float, life-jacket, helmet,
wet suit, flippers,
climbing ropes and belts,
rafts ... and paddles!