Sporting Activities:-

The region is famous for its sporting achievements and is the home of France's best basketball team, Pau-Orthez commonly known as the 'Elan Bearnais' which competes in the European league as well as the national championship.

South West France is also renowned for its abundance of rugby teams both professional and amature and the local inhabitants are very passionate about the sport.  Pelote is also a very popular sport played only in the Basque and Bearn regions and makes entertaining viewing.

Some of the best salmon fishing in France can be found in the Pyrenees Atlantiques on the Gave d'Oloron river some 60km east of Biarritz.  The towns of Oloron St Marie, Sauveterre de Bearn and Navarrenx are good places to start.  The season tends to be June through to August because of the melting snow in the earlier months.

There are 28 golf courses in and around the region and the greens and fairways are always permanently green due to the soil conditions and stay moist throughout the year, unlike Provence, which can be dry and arid.  Most of the courses are adjacent to large rivers which flow through the departments.

Many courses have electric buggies and are playable 52 weeks of the year due to the mild climate.  There are courses for beginners and more challenging courses for the experienced golfer.  Green fees are very reasonable, however most courses can charge slightly more at weekends and during the tourist season.  The South West of France has a long tradition of playing golf and the course of Pau-Billere is the oldest club in continental Europe, created by the British Army in 1856.

Serious walkers can follow the old pilgrim route of Saint Jacques de Compostelle from Quercy to Santiago de Compostelle, which takes you through Aquitaine.

This is also excellent cycling country and the Tour de France often has a start and finish stage in Pau sometime in July.

And of course the Pyrenees mountains are home to some wonderful activities from hiking, climbing during the summer months to skiing and snowboarding during the winter.  The ski stations have received massive investment over recent years.