Around Sare

From Saint-Jean-de-Luz (exit 3 from the A63), follow the D918 towards Ascain and Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle. On the Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle bypass, follow the road to Sare (D3). After Amotz, at the Cherchebruit crossroads, keep right (D4). Go around Sare on the right (towards Ascain) for 800 m, then turn left into the village towards "Sare-bourg" and "commerces". Large car park 100 m before the church (Rue Nagusia).

Signposting: Yellow

(S/E) From the car park in Sare, head towards the church and, just before the central square (bar "Sare & Thé"), turn right down a dead-end street. At the bottom, continue straight ahead on the paved path, which crosses a small bridge and climbs back up towards the D4.

(1) Cross carefully, then continue straight ahead on this medieval path (a galtzada) which crosses a cemetery. Go straight ahead. After the houses, at the intersection (oratory and cross), follow the street opposite in the no-entry lane until the end.

(2) Follow a road to the left, on its right-hand side (the widest side). Pass an old wash house and continue along the side of the road (be careful) until you reach a crossroads.

(3) At the Ihitia crossroads, walk straight ahead towards the guest houses (dead end). At the end of the tarmac, continue straight ahead on the forest path that climbs up a damp valley. This pastoral path, used by sheep in the summer, eventually winds around three bends to ease the slope and leads to a road (house).

(4) Continue climbing, following the road to the left. At the end of the tarmac road (viewpoint), walk straight ahead on the wide stony track (ignoring two marked paths on the left) until you reach the Col de Suhalmendi (Basque pig farm).

(5) At the pass, leave the track and climb left on a straight path. With a view of the ocean, go right to reach the summit (301 m) and its redoubt ruins.

(6) Return the way you came. From the hut (antenna), the route goes around the summit on the right and then descends to the right along a balcony. At the bottom, you will reach a T-junction (plot no. 41).

(7) Take the second path on the left (the highest), which then descends steeply towards a wooded pass. Go straight up under the trees, following the steep marked path, then the signposts indicate to move to the left into the open. Pass by the summit of Ermite Baita (redoubt).

(8) Descend facing the Rhune, then turn right at the corner of a fence. In front of a plantation, descend the grassy ridge on the left.

(9) On the ridge of the redoubts, at the intersection of three paths, turn left to descend facing La Rhune, then head left under the edge of the chestnut trees. At a gate (on the right), be sure to follow a discreet path opposite. After a chicane, cut across a track and come out onto a road below.

(10) Follow it on the right and turn left onto a new, very steep path, which descends and then climbs. Once on the D4, follow it to the left, then take the first road on the right, then left along the fence (private road). Reach the small square in a hamlet.

(11) Climb up to the right along a property, via a steep grassy path. Pass a gate higher up and continue along the path under the cover of a hedge. When you reach the top of the fences, turn left onto the horizontal path which then descends steadily, offering a beautiful view of Sare. From a restored barn, continue straight ahead on the right path to reach a small pass.

(12) Opposite a property, descend onto the second path on the right. At the bottom, after the cattle grid (Aldunberria intersection), follow the road opposite that descends into the Basaburua neighbourhood until you reach the Sare bypass (D406).

(13) Cross carefully towards the sorting point, follow the caravan park on your left and then find a footpath that climbs up to the right towards the town centre. Walk past the swimming pool and pelota court, then turn left and then right to return to the central square in Sare. At the square, turn left and then right towards the car park (S/E).

Facilities and services: food outlets (grocery store, restaurants), toilets, water point.

The Helbarrun wash house (1 km):

At the exit of the Helbarrun district, near the Mendiondoa house, and named "Mendiondoko iturria". Restored by the municipality, it is still fed by the stream of the same name. This magnificent wash house has retained its traditional features: stone pillars, wooden framework and, above all, a roof made of thick slabs from the Rhune. It is located in a bucolic setting.

(3) Panorama, view of the Sare valley (2.6 km):

At the foot of the Suhalmendi mountain, located at a low altitude. Its main attraction is the exceptional 360° view of the Rhune, the village of Ascain, the Nivelle valley, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, the Basque coast and the Sare valley. The village of Sare shares a 36 km border with its neighbours in the southern Basque Country. For several years, the village developed thanks to "Gauazko lana": night work. Sare was a major centre for smuggling.

(9) The Napoleonic redoubts (3.6 km):

On the heights of Ascain, Sare and Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle, the hills are dotted with the remains of military fortifications. Here you can see the geometric outline of a ring ditch. These are the remains of a redoubt (early 19th^century ), a former defence post on the French-Spanish border against the British army.