The Imperial Quarter · Saint-Charles, Biarritz's historic address
Around the Hôtel du Palais, the summer palace Napoleon III built for Eugénie, the Imperial Quarter · Saint-Charles unfolds the most prestigious seafront of the Basque coast: Belle Époque villas on Avenue de l'Impératrice, premium buildings on Avenue de la Reine Victoria, and quiet streets running down to the Grande Plage and the Pointe Saint-Martin lighthouse.
This is where Biarritz was born as an imperial resort, and the property market still carries the imprint: rare properties, often generous in size, a French and international clientele in search of ocean views, and prices that have little in common with the rest of the city. The neighbourhood does not stop at the seafront: set back from it, the Saint-Charles area extends it towards the golf course, with a more residential fabric of town houses and small apartment blocks.
1,271 apartment sales analysed in the neighbourhood between 2019 and 2025.
Prices year by year
| Year | Average apartment price |
|---|---|
| 2019 | €6,592/m² |
| 2020 | €7,293/m² |
| 2021 | €7,995/m² |
| 2022 | €8,679/m² |
| 2023 | €8,933/m² |
| 2024 | €7,972/m² |
| 2025 | €8,442/m² |
The neighbourhood market, beyond the figures
With an average of €8,251/m² for apartments on 2024–2025 sales, the Impérial sits just behind the City Centre on face value, yet it holds the city's absolute records: front-line properties facing the ocean regularly exceed €12,000/m², and some sales on Avenue de l'Impératrice have passed €18,000/m². Between a set-back street and the seafront, prices can double: here more than anywhere, the exact address makes the price.
The +28% rise since 2019 is the strongest of the six neighbourhoods, driven by the growing scarcity of large, high-quality properties. The house market is narrow but spectacular: around thirty recent sales at an average of €12,579/m², mostly heritage villas that rarely change hands. To buy in the Impérial, patience is the first skill: the good deals never last long.
Latest recorded sales
| Address | Type | Size | Price | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42 AV DE LA REINE VICTORIA | Apt T3 | 68 m² | €11,819/m² | Dec 2025 |
| RES VICTORIA SURF | Apt T1 | 24 m² | €8,750/m² | Dec 2025 |
| 21 AV DE L IMPERATRICE | Apt T2 | 42 m² | €18,818/m² | Dec 2025 |
| 15 AV DE LA MARNE | Apt T3 | 114 m² | €8,254/m² | Dec 2025 |
| 50 AV DE LA MARNE | Apt T2 | 45 m² | €6,022/m² | Dec 2025 |
| 26 AV DE LA REINE VICTORIA | Apt T3 | 69 m² | €5,507/m² | Dec 2025 |
| 24 AV DE LA REINE VICTORIA | Apt T4 | 91 m² | €8,606/m² | Dec 2025 |
| 14 RUE DU LYCEE | House 4 rm | 118 m² | €10,682/m² | Dec 2025 |
| 1 RUE DU PRINCE IMPERIAL | Apt T1 | 29 m² | €11,121/m² | Dec 2025 |
| 10 RUE PELLOT | Apt T2 | 44 m² | €8,523/m² | Dec 2025 |
Sale prices recorded by French notaires, published by the French State (DVF database, DGFiP/Cerema, April 2026 release, Open Licence 2.0). Sales below 50% of the neighbourhood average are hidden: sales between relatives, highly atypical properties or data-entry errors.
Everyday life in the neighbourhood
The neighbourhood has 6 bakeries, 4 pharmacies, 6 general practitioners, one primary school and 39 restaurants.
Source: INSEE, Base permanente des équipements 2025, INSEE perimeter of the neighbourhood (grouped IRIS units). Full details and method: Living in Biarritz: what the figures say.
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