UKC

I believe some UKCers live in the Pyrenees. I#m thinking of going to have a look at the area this summer.

Does anyone know anything about Cauterets, Gavarny and Baneres Luchon? Any good walking in those areas and any UKCers doing accommodation?

Thanks.

In reply to FesteringSore:

Cauterets and Gavarnie certainly have some superlative walking, I have always loved Cauterets when I've spent a few days there!

In reply to FesteringSore:

You can access the Vignemale from Cauterets complete with its small glacier.Hut at the bottom the Oulets de Gaube with the Baysellance hut not too far away on the col a short way from the top of the Petit Vignemale. Gavarnie has the hugely impressive Cirque de Gavarnie and a trip up to the Breche de Roland shouldnt be missed, Gavarnie is a bit touristy. Bagneres is only a short hop over the border from the Maladeta and the highest mountain of the Pyrenees the Pic d'Aneto,although this needs basic mountaineering skills to get to the top, plenty of walking in all three areas . Plenty of accomodation - mountain huts and Gites d'etape for multiday walking trips.

In reply to Laramadness & Jess13:

Thanks, sounds great.

In reply to FesteringSore:

We stayed in Banères de Luchon before moving out to Ariège. I loved the town and the surroundings but there wasn't enough rock to get me really inspired. Looks fantastic for walking though and the skiing is really good too.

In reply to FesteringSore:

Quite a few years ago now, but I have walked from Cauterets - Gavarnie - Bagnere du Luchon, via a few jaunts over to Spain (Bielsa and Benasque) where the weather seemed to be better.

In answer to your question, yes there is fantastic walking in the area, whether you want to go high into the mountains or stay on lower level paths. We had aimed to walk a section of the HRP, taking in some peaks on the way. However, owing to loads of fresh snow (in July) and hut closures, we had to spend the initial part of our trek (Cauterets to Gavarnie roughly, lower than planned).

In reply to Sealwife:


Being close to the Bielsa tunnel is ideal IMO. Very lush green on the french side. Deep rocky canyons on the Spanish side. The wether changes completly and you often get really good weather on the Spanish side when it's raining in France (which I suppose explains why it's lush green ).

In reply to StefanB:

Somewhere I have a few photos taken walking along the ridge forming the frontier with blue skies & bright sun to the south and clouds (with rain) swirling around to the north with occasional wisps of cloud just crossing the frontier by a couple of metres.

The tunnel southwards from the Val d'Aran is also useful to escape the rain on the northern side, but Bielsa is good for access to the impressive canyons of Ordessa & Anisclo

In reply to FesteringSore:

Some great walking in those places. I recommend the Ciccerone walks and climbs in the pyrenees guide book.

There is a decent VF near Gavarnie as well which is worthwhile.

In reply to rich H0001:

Gavarnie and Cauterets are very good bases for walking. Gavarnie in particular has some some of the best walks of the chain not far away (Brèche de Roland, Mont perdu, Oulettes de Gaube among other). The village is a bit crap though compared to Cauterets and Luchon.

Luchon a little bit less intereseting for walking I think, there is plenty to do, but less impressive scenery and the 3000ers are less accessible. Still quite good I would say and the town is nice.

Cauterets somewhere in between.

In reply to FesteringSore:
Better walking, much better weather, easier access to high peaks, much nicer village, cheaper prices, cheap accom., good clean camp site, better + cheaper beer,cheaper food, better gear shops, easy access from Barcelona, and not French. The answer is Benasque.

In reply to L.A.:

I disagree about the better walking, especially in summer, it can be quite hot on the Spanish side. The Spaniards come to the French side.

But having no French is a good point.

In reply to L.A.:
I've spent several days based in Benasque (over a couple of visits) & like the town, but you need a car as most of the walking starts several km away.

And if you have a car, why stay in one place all the time ?

In reply to Doug:
Ive also spent many months based around Benasque over the last 35+ years and find the approaches far easier than most of the French villages mentioned (Gavarnie excluded) Luchon is too far from the hills unless you take the cable car up to start walking or get a taxi up to Port de France, Cauterets I always find to be drizzly and a bit dank and an hours walk down valley from the approaches to the mountains at Pont d Espagne
Benasque is, to me anyway,warmer and more welcoming aside from being less expensive.
Re access to hills in Benasque From 1st July until Sept theres buses every half hour /hour`ish to the road head @ Besurta to head towards the Renclusa/Maladeta/Aneto area, A couple of buses a day run up to the Vallbierna hut, For the Estos + Angel Orus huts the trails start 30mins walk from town. Ive only ever once needed a car there and that was during January
Off now to collect my fee from the Aragon tourist board

In reply to L.A.:
Yes, the Ordessa canyon is stunning. One of the highlights of my trip.

Never seen so many butterflies in my life (both variety and number)

In reply to FesteringSore:

If you are around Luz/Gavernie, the Neouvielle area has fine walking and scenery and is typically a lot quieter.

The "Le Guide Rando" guidebooks are useful (good diagrams etc. even if you can't read French): http://www.editions-sudouest.com/nos-editions/rando-editions/le-guide-rando... and there are quite a lot of websites with walks (Google translate sort of works in most cases!).