Hikes in Southern France & Pyrenees in November

If you've found Conques-en-Rouergue, a major stop on one of the St. James routes and a UN World Heritage site, then you know about the system of Grande Randonées. There are dozens of additional hikes out of Conques.

As you said, weather is a wild card but so are the winds. You'd need to stay flexible and stay in a town (Villefranche de Rouergue, Cahors, Rodez, Limoux, Carcassonne) when weather isn't cooperating. Another consideration is that in the south a lot of restaurants and shops close from November 2 until Easter weekend. In small villages, it's already a gamble whether we can find a restaurant, and after November 2, it's even more difficult. Conques and all the towns I've mentioned will not be a problem.

Another good place to stay is Uzès, pop 7,000+, a town with enough of a population that you will still find all you need in November. There are a lot of hikes out of Uzès, some into forest, some through garigue (a sort of dry soil, low growing plant environment). Less than a kilometer on foot and you are well out of town. Look up Vallée de l'Eure for some of the hikes.

Just north of Uzès, Nimes, Montpellier are the Cevennes mountains with tons of hiking.

For a better chance of not having your vacation hampered by wind, rain, snow, hail, you have to go over to the Riviera. Menton has the best weather, and you can find hikes above the Riviera, along the coast, and over the border in Italy. The strong winds are rare as far east as the French/Italian border.

Decades ago we took the train down from Paris during Easter to do a week-long hike in the area you are considering. We got rain, snow, and the third day, hail. That's when we threw in the towel and took a train to Carcassonne for additional days of unpleasant winds. And we had an outdated topographic map that showed forest roads that were now abandoned, leaving trees blocking the way. Always use the most up-to-date topoguide. A couple of years earlier, we had a perfect, sunny week on a Grande Randonèe at Easter in the Cevennes, with an up-to-date guidebooks. it's a gamble.

Hi Bets,

Thank you for sharing your wisdom. This is incredibly helpful. No need to fight nature when the Riviera is easy to access via TGV from Paris to Nice.

Then I can hike throughout that region of Menton, Pielle, Mercantour National Park, La Madone de Fenestre, Verdon Gorge, etc. during the day, and enjoy French food and wine at night.

I would never have known about the winds, etc. without you sharing your experience. So thank you!

I haven't hiked over there because I'm always visiting family, but many here have done day hikes and talked about the buses going up the mountains on the French side. Others can help you with public transportation.

You might want to see if the train from Nice to Tende is going in November. And you may want to check to see if the 4x4 excursions into the Vallée des Merveilleux, to see the prehistoric pictographs, are available/allowed in November. All the sites you mentioned are worth the effort and gastronomic reward in the evening.

Thank you, again, for the great ideas.