Hendaye

Hendaye is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department of southwestern France, at the mouth of the Bidasoa river on the Atlantic coast. It shares an international border with Irun across the river, and the two towns are connected by a bridge that has served as a major Franco-Spanish crossing for centuries.

The town has a dual identity: a Belle Époque seafront resort facing the Atlantic, and a functional border crossing with rail and road connections to Spain. The beach, one of the longest on the Basque coast, stretches south from the town centre toward the Pointe Sainte-Anne headland.

For pilgrims beginning the Camino del Norte in France, Hendaye is the conventional starting point before crossing the Bidasoa into Irun and Spain.