The Pyrenees
For us these are the star attraction of the area. The walking in the mountains is just breathtaking. There are so many fantastic places to walk it is hard to begin where to start. There are lots of books that can be bought locally but these are mostly in french – however the directions are usually not that hard to follow. I have found a couple of English books which are called The Pyrenees Walking Guide and the Basque Country Walking Guide. Click Below for details of the books.
In addition to the books there are an increasing number of apps that you can use. I think Alltrails are as good as any. In the basic form this is a free app to sign up to and which shows lots of walks with information about how long, elevation and degree of difficulty. The paid version allows you to download the map onto your phone to avoid the worry of losing signal in the mountains.
It is important to be well prepared for hiking in the mountains as the weather can turn very quickly. I speak from personal experience as when we first came here we ended up walking through a torrential hailstorm wearing shorts and tee shirts – not much fun. Therefore, I would always have a good waterproof and an extra layer with me regardless of how sunny it is when I start. You need good walking shoes as the terrain can be very uneven and a good supply of food and drinks as many of the walks are quite long.
There are too many walks to list but I have divided the mountains up by area starting near the Atlantic and moving eastwards to try and give a flavour of the various walks that are available
Bidarray
Bidarray is a village close to the Atlantic Coast and is a great place to start walks from as there are families of Griffin Vultures in this area which are majestic to watch flying overhead. It has also been very heartening to see the flocks increase in number over the last few years.
Larrau
Moving east from Bidarray you end up in the Larrau which is near the Spanish border. This is a truly spectacular part of the Pyrenees with many wonderful walks. One of my favourites is to Otsogorrigagna. The drive up up to Port de Larrau is breathtaking in its own right but then the walk to the top of Otsogorrigagna takes things to another level. The walk takes about 4 hours there and back and is 15km long with 700m of elevation. This walk isn’t in either of the books but click on the button below for details
Another popular walk in this valley is the Holzarte Bridge – the walk to the bridge – which is a majestic suspension bridge over a gorge- can get busy in summer but if you then keep going and do the whole circuit you also get the full splendour of the mountains as well (walk 30 in the Basque Country Book) The whole walk is about 4 and half hours long and is 12km long with 700m of elevation. The walk just to the bridge takes about 45 minutes.
Aspe Valley
Moving further east is the Aspe Valley which is the home of the Cirque de Lescun. Cirques are an amphitheatre-like valley formed by galcial erosion and there are a number in the Pyrenees. There are lots of walks here that centre on Pic D’Anie which dominates the Cirque of Lescun. The walk up to the summit is quite long – 6 hours 30 minutes, 14km long with 1060m of elevation, but walking part of the way is still extremely beautiful (walk 27 in the Pyrenees book)
Ossau Valley
The next valley is the Ossau Valley. A good base to start exploring is from Laruns which is a pretty mountain village. There are lots of walks that can be done in this valley. My favourite is the walk of les Lacs D’Ayous which starts at lac de Bious Artigues. It takes about 6 hours is 15km long with 800m of elevation. It isn’t in the two books I recommended but click on the button for the route
Other Walks
Further east we do not know so well as it about 1.5 to 2 hours from our house. However, we have done a walk from Pont D’Espagne which was great (walk 23 in the Pyrenees book). This is near Cauterets which is a good base to find more walks from.
The eastern limits to our walking has been the Cirque de Gavarnie (walk 20 Pyrenees book). The walk is 10km with about 400m of elevation and takes about 3 hours although there is a simple there and back path which is shorter. The walk is not hugely exciting but the Cirque is a quite spectacular glacier scoured wall of rock and should not be missed if you are in the area. It does get quite busy especially in summer and getting there early is a good idea
