2 Best Restaurants in The Basque Country, Gascony, and Hautes-Pyrenees, France

With its legendary views of the Cirque de Gavarnie, this spot, which opened at the head of the valley in 1848, is well worth the one-hour hike up from the village. Despite its name, the hôtel is a restaurant, but not just any old one: the garbure here is as delicious as the view is grand; the eighth-generation owner claims his recipe, using water from the Cirque and cocos de Tarbes, or haricots tarbais (Tarbes broad beans), is unique.

A former stagecoach inn on the route to Santiago de Compostela now houses the best restaurant in the Pyrénées. Created by renowned master chef Firmin Arrambide, it is now run by his son and daughter, Philippe and Sandrine, and the haute cuisine is still characterized by refined interpretations of Pays Basque cooking with a focus on Pyrenean delicacies. For dessert, the elder Arrambide's recipe for gâteau Basque has circled the world. After dining, you can bed down in one of the inn's 14 rooms and four suites; needless to say, you'll want to invest in one of the board plans.