Hiking La Rhune - the best and the worst of it

La Rhune is one of the most famous mountains of the French Basque Country. It’s also one of the most popular tourist attractions on the Basque coast. For this final episode of my Basque Country hiking mini-series, I decided to approach La Rhune from the village of Sare, taking the less-travelled side of the mountain to avoid the crowds as much as possible. The hike is 15 km with around 900 metres of elevation gain. The weather is perfect, the views are magnificent, and the trail offers spectacular panoramas across the Basque Country and towards Saint-Jean-de-Luz. But the higher I get, the more I start thinking about the relationship between hiking and tourism. At Les 3 Fontaines, I film the little train climbing La Rhune and talk about the problems that come with turning a magnificent mountain into a major tourist attraction. Once I reach the plateau, the contrast becomes impossible to ignore: restaurants, a large telecommunications tower, and hundreds of visitors around the train station. I then take the more direct trail back down towards Les 3 Fontaines, showing just how crowded — and surprisingly difficult — that route can be, especially for people who are not used to hiking or who are poorly equipped. This is a hiking vlog, but also a personal reflection on what happens when a mountain becomes a tourist destination. The views are spectacular. The hike is tough. And the summit raises a question: *how do we enjoy magnificent natural places without turning them into something else entirely?* 📍 Sare → La Rhune → Les 3 Fontaines → Sare 🥾 15 km ⛰️ Around 900 m elevation gain ☀️ Early August 🇫🇷 French Basque Country This is the third and final video of my Basque Country hiking mini-series.