Musée Basque

Amazingly done museum. Definitely worth visiting. They have a book guide in English, and I honestly liked it better than reading the walls. Great order of exhibits, was never boring. I love Basque culture, and this was a great place to learn. Free for under 26.

Very informative place. I highly recommend visiting the museum if you come to Bayonne. You learn how the city was constructed and how people cultivated the culture throughout the exhibition. The former city scale model was impressive. Though the explanation isn’t written in English (French, Spanish and Basque only, I believe), the staff will give you English guide book that explains all exhibitions. Japanese one was also available but it covers partially. It took 1.5 hours for me to check all works. The locker is available too. You may leave your luggage and come back before the museum closes so that you can explore the city.

A great museum with a little bit of everything:- Basque geography, history, culture and society displayed through art, objects, furniture... Very clearly laid out over 3 floors and lovely staff. If you are an English speaker, there is a guide booklet you can borrow from the desk to walk around with and also QR codes on certain objects which link to webpages in French, Spanish, Basque and English. Video and audio exhibits and interactive/ tactile/ sensory stations for children. Plus a costume dress up area on the ground floor. I learnt so much about Basque culture from giant wooden wine presses to how they made clogs and espadrilles and 'makhila' (a wooden walking stick with a hidden spike) and the game of pelota (hard to describe but like a mixture of squash, rackets, hand ball and hurling!). When I visited there was a great temporary photography exhibition of early 20th century colourised photographs of the region (on until January 2024). Bayonne is a great little city and this museum right on the side of the river, close to the indoor Market (Les Halles) and near lots of lovely cafes, bistros and restaurants is a great place to visit. Highly recommended. Cost 8 euros (adults). Also free lockers for bags, umbrella 'lockers' and clean toilets.

Great museum! It's much bigger and diversified than in Guernika. And very friendly staff.

Very extensive collection of artifacts from the Basque region. But there is nothing a about politics nor any history about that. And DON'T ASK QUESTIONS about it. It's apparently a very delicate subject.

Fantastic museum with so much to see and learn about the wonderful Basque culture. Recommended

There's a lot to see, but not a lot of information on what you're looking at and it's not very coherent. It's the kind of museum where they have a lot of stuff to look at and it's up to you to figure out why it's there. For me that's not why I go to a museum, I'd like to understand what I'm looking at, how it relates to the area, history, developments in society, etc.

I learned a lot about Basque culture by visiting this museum. People on the reception were super friendly.

We were entertaining a family member from out of town and wanted something to do in Bayonne. Le Musee Basque et de L'Histoire de Bayonne is well worth your time and a visit. The museum is house in a lovely old building in the heart of Petit Bayonne, that appears to have many original old features like colombage walls, wide plank flooring, and multiple exposed beams. The railings that are on the interior stairwell, while newer than some other building features, are lovely examples of old iron work. Museum guides are available in multiple languages. The rooms in the museum are arranged thematically like religious life, home life, fishing, etc. We also appreciated that there was a room that had artifacts and photos from the Jewish community that lived there in the 1800s. The pieces of furniture and pottery were also lovely. Because it is an old building, the layout is slightly unusual but still intuitive. It would have been preferable to have some more explanatory plaques in some of the rooms. One very nice feature are the lockers in the lobby so you can place coats, bags, etc. Parking is available a couple of blocks away.

It's 6,50€ for entry into this museum, which is chock-full of great artifacts and history of the region. Can accommodate a quick 1-2 hour visit, or longer if you have the time/inclination. Well worth your time.

A very interesting Museum, right in the middle of the 'Petit Bayonne' in a old traditional timber-framed building overlooking the river Nives. It is a combination of two museums, one for the basque culture, and the other for the history of the town of Bayonne; it could have been awkward, but it woks due to a clever floor plan on two levels. The basque side offers an insight of the 'agro & shepherd' culture, with the best rooms dedicated to rites & games. The Bayonne side navigates through the recent (16th to 20th centuries) history of the City, its British character, the amazing Jewish haven and the various sieges. Note that Bayonne will commemorate soon (in April 2014) the bicentennial of the 1814 siege at the end of the Napoleon-era Peninsula War.