We will be traveling around Europe by car. Planned to visit Great Pyrenees Luz Saint Saveur area and hike Cirque de Garvarnie inJuly. However discovered how crowded this area will be in July when we’re there. Is it worth dealing with the crowds and parking issues?
Could anyone recommend any other scenic areas and hiking trails that are less crowded?
Appreciate any advice and thank you so much!
Posted by
Washington
1093 posts
Hi, I traveled with Mountainbug in 2013. The itinerary listed for the Pyrenees Explorer tour on their website is the same one we did back then. Note: I'm not sure if they're still in business based on the dates on their website.
Either way, it may be worth taking a look at the sample week for alternative ideas. It's all beautiful! Have a good trip!
Posted by
France Southwest - Occitanie
3453 posts
The Pyrenees National Park offers a lot of hiking opportunities. Some trails cross several lakes and waterfalls, but some are considerably more challenging than others. The hike around the Cirque de Gavarnie (with minimal elevation gain) can be considered a long walk compared to others, which explains its popularity.
Once in the region, you'll find plenty of guidebooks and brochures about hikes and scenic walks.
You could also check out the Alltrails website:
https://www.alltrails.com/explore/parks/france/hautes-pyrenees/parc-national-des-pyrenees
I suppose I don't need to remind you, but in the mountains, keep an eye on the weather forecast, even in July. I've been caught off guard before, either by snow or by severe thunderstorms.
Posted by
Everett, WA
1311 posts
I love the Luz Saint Saveur area!. The Cirque de Garvarnie is on a lot of "must do hikes" for this area, but i didn't agree. We were there in early October in 2023 and 2024. We only hiked it in 2023. The parking lot is huge, but probably fills up in the summer. You walk through the town, and then walk out on an unused road until you get to the hotel. From there it is a rocky walk our to the base of the waterfall. It was my least favorite hike that we did in the Pyrenees. (We did 6 total in 3 different areas.)
If you go to this web site:
https://www.luz.org/en/things-to-do/walks-and-hikes/
and scroll down to the bottom where it says hiking leaflet, then click on that and a copy of what they gave us at the TI comes up. It has a magnifying glass that you can click to make it easier to read. There are hikes from easy to hard. The one that we have done is Mt. Viscos. It is one of the harder ones, but is so beautiful on a clear day. We did not do it as a loop. (We couldn't find a trail up), Instead we hiked out on the Conques hut trail (hike number one, easy) and then climbed straight up to the peak. We came back the way we went up.
The town of Gavarnie gave us their leaflet for 1 Euro. It looked like the other one, but had all different hikes that were in that area. Go to this web page:
https://www.valleesdegavarnie.com/en/infos-pratiques/nos-brochures/
Scroll down to the Hiking sectiion. Click on any hike and copy of their leaflet comes up. I have not done any of these hikes. The drive out to Gavarnie is pretty as you go up a very narrow valley.
I hope you find a hike that suits you. I don't know how you are driving in, but crossing the Col de Tourmalet was beautiful. Happy travels!