Espelette: Holiday Apartments and Holiday Homes

The Château des barons d’Ezpeleta was built around the year 1000 and has been listed in the inventory of historic monuments since 1993.

Anyone considering Espelette as a travel destination may wish to rent a holiday apartment for their stay.

Culture

The Château des barons d’Ezpeleta houses the town hall, library, tourist office and exhibition rooms, including a permanent exhibition about Piment d’Espelette. Another exhibition at the château presents the production of Piment d’Espelette, from seed to powder.

The Église Saint-Étienne has the appearance of a fortress and a massive bell tower rising above the portal. Inside, it has three levels with wooden galleries, as well as a recently restored gilded Baroque altarpiece with twisted columns dating from the 17th century.

The cemetery surrounding the Église Saint-Étienne features Basque disc-shaped grave steles and the Art Deco mausoleum of Agnès Souret.

From the end of summer onwards, garlands of red peppers adorn Espelette’s white façades; the Fête du piment takes place on the last weekend of October.

Nature

The Mondarrain rises 750 metres above Espelette and has peat bogs on its slopes.

Rare carnivorous plants, Pottoks, Betizu and griffon vultures can be seen in the Mondarrain massif; the massif is part of the Natura 2000 network.

Cuisine

Etxea is a 100 m² interpretation centre in the centre of Espelette dedicated to the history, terroir, production and culinary uses of Piment d’Espelette. It includes a film and a tasting.

The Centre d’interprétation de l’AOP Ossau-Iraty presents the daily life of shepherds, the sheep’s cycle, and the production and maturing of the cheese, and includes a tasting.

Ferme Kukulu offers tastings of several raw-milk cheeses, including sheep’s cheese with Piment d’Espelette.

The route through various farms allows visitors to buy Piment d’Espelette or sheep’s cheese directly from the farm producer.

Walking routes

The “Randonnée au clair de lune” is a guided night hike along the ridges of Espelette, offering views of the sunset over the Basque coast, as well as explanations about the mountain’s history and pastoral farming.

Further destinations: Lestelle-Bétharram, Sallespisse, Uzos, Bénéjacq, Bassillon-Vauzé, Loubieng, Biriatou, Mendive

To the higher-level travel overview: Pyrenees-Atlantiques.