Not much on the Pyrenees

As stated numerous times on here, RS’s travel books don’t cover everywhere in Europe. Try Fodors. Hopefully, someone who has been to this area can also offer you some suggestions.

@Russellcolleen1,

the Pyrenees are rather long, 300+ miles. You talk about visiting Barcelona, so I would guess that you'd want to visit the Catalan Pyrenees. I've never been there, so can't say much.

These posts might help you, they are recent threads about visiting the Pyrenees:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/spain/staying-in-barcelona-car-rental-for-pyrenees-mtns-spanish

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/spain/barcelona-to-pyrenees-in-spain-and-france

We had a similar experience last July in the French Pyrenees. Rick’s book was great elsewhere, but we used the Rough Guide and Lonely Planet guidebooks for ideas in the Pyrenees. Sometimes they recommend guides to hire for outdoor activities. We did a lot of hiking, but ours wasn’t guided. Tourist Information centers were helpful with maps and suggestions, and maybe could’ve set us up with a guide service, too, although we didn’t seek one.

I wonder, how windy was your hike along the cliffs in Northern ireland? We did that on our own back in 2018, and some wind gusts made the hiking very challenging.

There was a rain storm brewing about a mile away the whole hike, but it didn’t rain until the last 15 minutes or so, which probably put a damper on the actual viewing of the Giant’s Causeway formations. The wind wasn’t really bad at all until the rain finally hit it us, but even then it never felt dangerous. There was just one vantage point our guide avoided because he didn’t want us toget to close to the edge. I’d do it again for sure.

That is a spectacular hike. We started on the coast immediately north of Bushmills. Years earlier, I insisted that we not hike out past the Warning signs at the Cliffs of Moher in western Ireland, but this hike had no such signs, and still did have some fairly exposed stretches. Rain and/or blustery wind would make it tougher.

It was satisfying reaching the Causeway, after climbing down to the shore, and realizing that 99.9% of the other people taking selfies on the haxagonal Causeway rocks had arrived there by van, bus, or car.

The Pyrenees hiking, at least in France, often had cattle for company, as many trails, even rocky ones, went through grazing land. Accordingly, there were lots of cow pies to skirt, which we don’t find at home.

The answer will partially be determined by the part of the Pyrenees you intend to visit. Most of the villages are small with fewer lodging options than larger towns. There are few roads traversing the mountains so routes should be fairly easy to select.

A couple hotels to look at are Parador de Artíes, Parador de la Seu d'Urgell, and Parador de Turisme de Vic-Sau. Each would make a nice base to explore the areas they are in provided you have a rental car. There are other hotels, but my wife and I like Paradors.

Check out the app called Wikiloc and zoom in on the map to see gpx tracks for walking trails in the areas you are considering visiting. You will be amazed at how many tracks have been posted by local walkers. Wishing you many good days of exploration in the Pyrenees.

The Pyrenees are very popular with us locals on holiday, not so much for American guide book writers eh? lol!

These authors have written many of the wonderful Cadogan guides, which are not much published anymore.
They are one of the finest guidebook companies who publish in English:

https://www.amazon.com/Spain-France-Catalunya-Barcelona-Pyrénées-Orientales/dp/1804693081/ref=sr_1_5?crid=3LZXJJFE0967Z&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.sxA_9Mi6aApsD9aGjjTYYSdnZYnDrLfm4Ybufl0-bYDjs1DnKmUBhIa_3uD06FHUJ7vAJk2S7y58xaK4vLeynV9-FQVZV6780fcidQCVQMmfOo2QV1nPXG0rhIqkzlNlkTPqsM_o9jBwMWo7eatMZ0AlUHQlueD5pfaW_3sgneo15hb36LHT-vHxSzYEih0ISSWhqKJXh1qWdKIAnqYJ0qDoU4ZRLEfdrdMFNfcNn6E.tVStWThljhru9CzXdqFcOu9MtaoVCsFPXuNLa7Zv0GA&dib_tag=se&keywords=pyrenees+spain&qid=1750663261&sprefix=spain+pyrenees%2Caps%2C189&sr=8-5

These authors have written many of the wonderful Cadogan guides, which are not much published anymore.
They are one of the finest guidebook companies who publish in English:

https://www.amazon.com/Spain-France-Catalunya-Barcelona-Pyrénées-Orientales/dp/1804693081/ref=sr_1_5?crid=3LZXJJFE0967Z&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.sxA_9Mi6aApsD9aGjjTYYSdnZYnDrLfm4Ybufl0-bYDjs1DnKmUBhIa_3uD06FHUJ7vAJk2S7y58xaK4vLeynV9-FQVZV6780fcidQCVQMmfOo2QV1nPXG0rhIqkzlNlkTPqsM_o9jBwMWo7eatMZ0AlUHQlueD5pfaW_3sgneo15hb36LHT-vHxSzYEih0ISSWhqKJXh1qWdKIAnqYJ0qDoU4ZRLEfdrdMFNfcNn6E.tVStWThljhru9CzXdqFcOu9MtaoVCsFPXuNLa7Zv0GA&dib_tag=se&keywords=pyrenees+spain&qid=1750663261&sprefix=spain+pyrenees%2Caps%2C189&sr=8-5

There are several English-language guides about hiking in the Pyrenees that are available on Amazon.

RS is great, but he leaves out many of the most wonderful areas of Spain. Or gives them just a passing mention.

@russellcolleen1

Access is not difficult; towns have adequate accommodations, and they're spectacular.

What's on your mind? What would you be looking to do there? Would you rent a car? Are you intending to dedicate a day? two? three?

Some bits and pieces:

• Welcome to Catalonia
• Catalonia Experience
• Parc Natural d'Aigüestortes
• Cultural Heritage
• Some interesting routes
• More routes
• Map of roads in Catalonia
• Official Guide of Tourism Establishments

Enjoy!

We spent about 5 days in the Pyrenees but on the French side. It was absolutely one of my travel high points, just stunningly beautiful. Stayed in Luz-Saint-Saveur, which was big enough to have everything we needed, even though the population is less than 1000. One of our hikes went into Spain, so you could look for something in that area on the Spanish side. I don't remember where I got all my information to plan with, but I usually go to the Trip Advisor forums if I can't find guidebooks to help.

Russell, our loooooooong TR below may be of some use to you.

https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/pyrennial-a-spanish-pyrenees-tr-1727869/