Pyrenees & Southern France

Posted by Jeff (Athens, OH, USA) on 02/22/14 05:23 PM

We're spending the month of June mostly in Spain & Portugal, but we're landing in Barcelona and would like to spend time in the Pyrenees on both sides of the border. We are a family of four traveling by car, but prefer trekking when possible (hut to hut or town to town on foot would suit us - we'll be doing some of that on the Rota Vicentina in Portugal later in the trip).

Can anyone recommend trips like this in the region? We also enjoy agritourism stays, too, and will have camping gear with us. Thanks, all!

Posted by Ed

Pensacola

02/22/14 06:10 PM

9110 posts

Pick a chunk of the GR 10 and have at it.

Posted by Marsle

Atlanta

02/22/14 06:33 PM

3250 posts

Not sure if this is quite what you're looking for but we stayed in Saint-Lary Soulan for 2 nights. It's about 4 hours and 15 minutes by car from Barcelona. We bought a book at the local bookstore about the hiking trails nearby and hiked. The scenery was spectacular! The GR 10 footpath passes through Saint-Lary. It's a small, cute town with great restaurants, pastry shops, and a grocery for picnic supplies. It's possible that some of the restaurant may be closed for the season however, because it's mainly a ski resort. We were there in May and stayed at Hotel Les Arches.

Posted by Jeff OP

Athens, OH, USA

03/03/14 10:32 PM

18 posts

Thanks! I think the "small town with day hiking" approach might be good for us at that point on our journey. Later on, we'll be doing 5-6 days walking town-to-town on the Rota Vicentina, so we might want more rural French culture than long days trekking.

Anybody else have advice for this region? Since we're headed from Barcelona, and will head on through (probably) Lourdes to the west before re-entering Spain, are there places in that swath of land we shouldn't miss?

Posted by Rachel

Washington

03/05/14 03:29 AM

919 posts

Jeff,
I did a 5-day center-based hiking trip with Mountainbug in Bareges, France last year. If you contact Rob and Emma they can probably tailor something for you or can address questions. See their website for more info or under Les Cailloux chateau on Trip Advisor. They're a well-organized outfit. The area south of Lourdes is beautiful, but I know there was some flood damage last year due to heavy snow melt and rain.

In Lourdes I recommend visiting the Chateau fort. We visited the grotto around noon on a Wednesday and it was calm and quiet. Granted, it was in May--pre-season for Lourdes.

Have a great trip!