Whatever your desires, Arnaga offers
Tours to suit all tastes!
Our tips for enjoying your visit in complete relaxation 
- To avoid the wait, buy your tickets in advance by clicking here .
- Free indoor and outdoor parking. The villa’s parking lots are very busy during the season. You can take the bus (line 57) from downtown to get there. NB: indoor parking is reserved for visitors who have reserved in advance, and for people with reduced mobility (with proof).
- Expect to be on site for at least 1h30.
- Stop ticketing 1 hour before closing time, and vacate site 1/4 hour before closing time. We therefore advise you to arrive at least 2 hours before closing time, so you can take your time and enjoy the Arnaga estate to the full!
- The gardens are not open to the public, but are part of the entrance fee.
- If you have booked a guided tour, we advise you to arrive 20 minutes before the start of the tour, as it will take you around 10 minutes to cross the gardens and get to the meeting point.
- Strollers are not allowed on waxed floors. Don’t forget your baby carrier.
- The garden paths have been resurfaced to make them more accessible to people with reduced mobility. For the time being, however, the Villa remains inaccessible to wheelchair users.
A free tour of Villa Arnaga
You are free to visit the Villa. The average visit lasts 1h30. We therefore advise you to arrive preferably 2 hours before closing time, so you can take your time and enjoy the Arnaga estate to the full!
You’ll find explanations of the rooms and their contents in the room cards, available in the various parts of Villa Arnaga, which are offered in 4 languages (French, English, Spanish, Basque). But you can also enjoy one of the many themed tours on offer (below).
Visits to Villa Arnaga 2024
We strongly recommend booking guided tours, especially during the summer months. Reservations can only be made online by clicking here .
NB: Please arrive 20 minutes before departure, at the ticket office.
- March 24 to April 30: 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
- May1 to June 30: 2.10, 3.10 and 3.50 p.m.
- July1 to August 31: 10:40 a.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.
- September1 to 30: 2.10, 3.10 and 3.50 p.m.
- October1 to November 3 : 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
An additional €1 to attend a guided tour in French.
In small groups, every Monday morning throughout the summer, a guide offers an unusual 2-hour tour of Villa Arnaga, its gardens and the restored kitchens, which are only open on this occasion.
Visits organized on
Monday mornings
from July 08 to August 28, 2024 –
On reservation
by clicking here
.
Prices 13€ for adults / 7€ for children aged 12 to 18 and students, disabled people and accompanying adults, unemployed people – 4€ for children aged 7 to 11 – free for children under 7.
Open to all, this 40-minute theatrical walk in the gardens of Villa Arnaga highlights well-known and little-known plays by Edmond Rostand, such as Cyrano de Bergerac and Chantecler. An original way to discover the literary heritage of this illustrious author.
Chantecler on Tuesday mornings
from 16/07 to 27/08
Cyrano on Friday mornings
From July 19 to August 30
Prices :
€15/person – €12 for children aged 12 to 18, students, disabled people and accompanying adults, unemployed – €4 for children aged 7 to 11 – free for children under 7. By reservation by clicking here.
At 10:30 am and 11:30 am – presentation at the box office 30 minutes before.
Accompanied by a game master, children of all ages wander through the estate’s gardens on a mission to find a lost ancestral object, armed with a strange secret code. A breathtaking treasure hunt in which you have to solve the riddles to win.
Running time 1h15. For reservations
by clicking here
.
Price : €15/person – €12 for children aged 12 to 18 and students, disabled people and accompanying adults, unemployed – €4 for children aged 7 to 11 – free for children under 7.
Visit to Villa Arnaga included in the entrance fee.
Practical information for groups
Are you a group? Our group service offers you personalized days to discover Cambo-les-Bains.
Just want to visit the Arnaga villa? Contact them on +33 (0)5 59 29 83 92 or reservations@arnaga.fr
Our favorites
Rosemonde’s boudoir
In the boudoir of Edmond Rostand’s wife, Rosemonde Gérard, you’ll see a strange clock! Legend has it that freeloaders took advantage of the poet’s generosity by inviting themselves in at lunchtime, and that this 14-hour clock was given to him to put an end to it. When the poet wanted to get rid of his guests, the undesirables were led into the boudoir and told that it was not noon but 2 p.m.!
A magical setting
Recommended by the architect Tournaire, Jean Veber (1868-1928) designed the enchanting décor for Rosemonde’s boudoir. Fairy tales remain his favorite subject. Here you can admire Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Puss in Boots and Cinderella…
The library
Edmond Rostand’s library (first floor of the villa) is now dedicated to the theatrical success of Cyrano de Bergerac. When Edmond Rostand died, it contained over 15,000 volumes.
The room is decorated with two paintings by Clémentine-Hélène Dufau.
Many unusual objects are stored here:
- The chair and desk where Edmond Rostand wrote his famous play.
- The César for “Best Actor” of 1991, awarded to Gérard Depardieu for his
interpretation of Cyrano de Bergerac in Jean-Paul Rappeneau’s film, which the actor
bequeathed to Villa Arnaga. - The “Roxane” dress designed by Christian Lacroix for Françoise Gillard, member of the Comédie Française in Denis Podalydes’ Cyrano, donated by the Comédie Française.
Did you know?
Cyrano may have been written before Villa Arnaga was built, but the universally acclaimed play “Chantecler” was written in Cambo-les-Bains. It was born here, from the author’s walks and, more particularly, from his observation of the farmyard of a Basque farm that fascinated Edmond Rostand.
The Great Hall
After admiring the vestibule and its monumental staircase, you enter the great hall. In English style, this is the Villa’s reception room.
You won’t be able to resist the theatricality of the place. A balcony, directly connected to Edmond Rostand’s bedroom, overlooks the room. A frieze painted by Gaston La Touche above the wood panelling illustrates Victor Hugo’s poem “La fête chez Thérèse”.
The bay windows open onto the two gardens, bringing light and nature into the house.
Bay windows at La Rostand
The poet and his architect, Joseph-Albert Tournaire, borrowed decorative elements from the neighboring Basque provinces and turned them to their advantage. The bay windows in the Great Hall, for example, echo the rounded shape of Navarrese doors, as do the three arched windows in the boudoir on the second floor of the west façade.
This model would be widely reproduced on a number of neo-Basque houses built a little later for the summer visitors to the coast.
Mr. Rostand was an inspiration both in literature and in his taste for architecture.
