Plan your visit
Espelette is one of France’s prettiest villages — perfect for a slow stroll and a long lunch. Locate it on the map, book a room nearby in a click, or add it to your travel list to build your itinerary.
About Espelette
In the green hills of the French Basque Country, Espelette is a charming and world-famous village, celebrated for the fiery red peppers that bear its name. In late summer and autumn, strings of these crimson peppers hang drying on the white façades of the traditional Basque houses, their timbers painted the characteristic ox-blood red, creating one of the most colourful and iconic sights in the region. The gentle spice of the piment d'Espelette, protected by its own appellation, flavours much of Basque cuisine and is celebrated in a lively autumn festival. Around its church and old streets, the village gathers craft shops and restaurants amid rolling green countryside. Colourful, welcoming and steeped in Basque culture and gastronomy, Espelette is a delightful village that captures the flavours, colours and character of the Pays Basque in a single glance.