Salies-de-Béarn: The Salt Spring and the Salt of Bayonne Ham
Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
Badge Unlock
Salies Salt Floater
Complete this challenge to add this badge to your collection.
225
XP
+100 France
= 325 total
2 days
Salies-de-Béarn: The Salt Spring and the Salt of Bayonne Ham
225 + 100 XP
Salies-de-Béarn grew up round the Houn Salade, the salt fountain on the Place du Bayaà, whose water is ten times saltier than the sea; salt has been drawn from it for more than 3,500 years, in the Bronze Age by evaporating the brine in pottery. Since 1587 the 'neighbours of the salt fountain' have owned the water and the buildings as part-prenants, handing their shares down the generations, and the town's emblem is the boar of the legend, wounded by hunters, found days later in the marsh still preserved by the salt. The coarse salt used to cure Bayonne ham comes only from the saltworks of Salies, whose salt has had its own protected geographical indication since 14 June 2016. Eight kilometres south, the fortified bridge at Sauveterre-de-Béarn, given its final shape by Gaston Fébus in the 14th century, carries the legend of Queen Sancie's trial by ordeal in 1170.
Required Activities
1
of 4
Find the Houn Salade, the salt fountain, on the Place du Bayaà where the town began, and walk the old lanes round it picking out the half-timbered houses with their upper floors jettied out over the street
2
of 4
Work up the three floors of the Musée du Sel — Bronze Age and Gallo-Roman salt-making on the ground floor, the spa years above it, the geology of the salt on the top floor — and find how the 'neighbours of the salt fountain' have shared out the brine between families since 1587
3
of 4
Buy Salies-de-Béarn salt, the only salt used to cure Bayonne ham
4
of 4
Walk out onto the Pont de la Légende at Sauveterre-de-Béarn, the fortified bridge a flood cut in half in 1732, and find the tower, spiral stair and machicolated bretèche Gaston Fébus added to it — this is where Queen Sancie is said to have been thrown bound into the gave in 1170 and reached the far bank alive
Find the Houn Salade, the salt fountain, on the Place du Bayaà where the town began, and walk the old lanes round it picking out the half-timbered houses with their upper floors jettied out over the street
Work up the three floors of the Musée du Sel — Bronze Age and Gallo-Roman salt-making on the ground floor, the spa years above it, the geology of the salt on the top floor — and find how the 'neighbours of the salt fountain' have shared out the brine between families since 1587
Buy Salies-de-Béarn salt, the only salt used to cure Bayonne ham
Walk out onto the Pont de la Légende at Sauveterre-de-Béarn, the fortified bridge a flood cut in half in 1732, and find the tower, spiral stair and machicolated bretèche Gaston Fébus added to it — this is where Queen Sancie is said to have been thrown bound into the gave in 1170 and reached the far bank alive
Before you go
The Musée du Sel is shut for the winter: its 2026 season ran 9 February to 28 November, Monday to Saturday only, afternoons only outside April to October — 2pm to 5pm in February, March and November — and you need to be there 45 minutes before closing. So there is no museum in December or January, and none on a Sunday in any month. The Houn Salade on the Place du Bayaà and the fortified bridge at Sauveterre are open at any time, and the salt itself is on sale in the town all year.
Finding nearby campsites...
About Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Loading region info…
Explore more about Nouvelle-Aquitaine:
Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
225 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
325 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
More challenges nearby
within 100km
Navarrenx: The First Bastioned Town in France and the Salmon of the Gave
France · Nouvelle-Aquitaine
history
easy
1d
21 km away
Dax: The Hot Spring, the Healing Mud and the Roman Crypt
France · Nouvelle-Aquitaine
wellness
easy
2d
29 km away
Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port: The Pilgrims' Gate, the Bishops' Prison and Irouléguy Wine
France · Nouvelle-Aquitaine
food
easy
2d
42 km away
Bayonne: Cathedral, Ham and the Cradle of French Chocolate
France · Nouvelle-Aquitaine
cultural
easy
1d
45 km away
Espelette, Ainhoa and Cambo: Red Peppers, a Labourdine Village and Rostand's Villa
France · Nouvelle-Aquitaine
food
easy
1d
45 km away
Hossegor: The Surf of La Gravière and the Sea Lake
France · Nouvelle-Aquitaine
sports
medium
1d
47 km away