Walking in the Pyrenees
Home News Winter Apartments Hotels Booking Travel   MAPS The best map for walking from Bareges is the IGN 'TOP 25' series, 1:25000 'GAVARNIE' which covers all the local area up to the Spanish border. Available from ourselves.	Exploring	The National Park	Minibus drops	A Taste of the Pyrenees Gentle guided walks, natural history, local traditions, Pays Toy cuisine... During these weeks we will take you to our favourite places, often off the beaten the track, where you can savour the dramatic scenery of the Hautes Pyrenees. We shall spend time at the Cirques de Gavarnie, Troumouse and Estaube, World Heritage sites, and Pont d'Espagne, magical places of high peaks, crashing waterfalls and rushing streams - a grandiose landscape carpeted with alpine flowers. All walking will be gentle with plenty of time for observation and photography. Easy road access into the high mountains allows us to spend whole days at high altitudes without any climbing! We will also be looking to cover many aspects of the vibrant, abundant and incredibly diverse fauna and flora to be found locally. We will explain the lifestyle and traditions that accompany mountain sheep-farming and which have so shaped the landscape, there will be an opportunity to meet a local farmer and taste the famous AOC Bareges Gavarnie lamb at Chez Louisette. There will be a visit to the famous Pic du Midi Observatory, at nearly ten thousand feet it offers an unforgettable panorama over the Pyrenees and a fifth of France! It has been a working observatory since the 1850's. There will be time to relax each evening in the wonderful Luzea Spa Baths. In a magnificent C19th neo-classical building Luzea offers saunas, jacuzzis, Roman baths, oriental hamman and a relaxation pool. Dates: 14 - 21 June and 23 - 30 August 2008 Leaders: Jude Lock and Peter Derbyshire Accommodation: ***Hotel Montaigu Luz St Sauveur, all rooms en-suite, garden, terrace. Cost £595: 5 days outings, local transport included, cable car and entry to Pic du Midi, AOC Bareges Gavarnie day with visit with farmer and meal at Chez Louisette, three days guided walks. 7 nights half-board. Single supplements of £110 apply. included- Travel to and from the Pyrenees is not included but we can collect from our local airport of Pau (RyanAir flights from Stansted) or Lourdes railway station (TGV from Paris). Further travel suggestions here. Your holiday base for this week is the historic village of Luz St Sauveur in the Pays Toy, Luz is a lively little village set in an area of great natural beauty. You must visit the C12th fortified church, the C9th castle and weekly market and at the end of each afternoon there will be the opportunity to enjoy the wonderful spa baths. The Hotel Montaigu has a quiet location beneath the castle.
	Self-guided walking holidays Enjoy the fabulous walking of the Pyrenees at your own pace, with a superb footpath network, detailed route guides, transport service, and our 21 years of experience you have all you need for a great walking holiday...  Choose between either hotel or self-catering accommodation- 3 star hotel from £350 / week half-board, apartments from £99 / person. The walking potential from Bareges and Luz St Sauveur is enormous- brilliant walks for all interests and abilities with an extensive and well-signposted footpath network. At lower levels the paths take you through the meadows, mixed woodland and the picturesque villages of the Pays Toy, head to the south of the village to enter the National Park and the superb Neouvielle region with its hundred lakes and 3000m peaks. The GR10 long distance footpath also passes through Bareges and Luz. For your explorations further afield we have route guides, guided walks and transport drops at the classic sites of Gavarnie, Pont d'Espagne at Cauterets, Troumouse, see below. How we help you explore ... On the evening of your arrival we explain the footpath network and provide our route guide which has 20 main walks and as many variants. This guide offers something for all interests, from suggestions for the naturalist to whole day expeditions into the high mountains for the experienced mountain walker. Wherever possible our walks are circuits. The shorter ones through the woods and meadows around the villages could be completed in two hours, the high mountain loops into the Neouvielle region and the National Park can take up to eight hours. ... at the classic sites of the National Park Our route guides includes walks at the Cirque de Gavarnie, the Neouvielle lakes, the Cirque de Troumouse, and cross border walks into Spain. We also organise a weekly programme of transport drops at the most dramatic sites within the Parc National des Pyrenees. The experienced walker will want to see the Vignemale, climb a Pyrenean '3000' or take an unforgettable trip across the frontier into Spain through the Breche de Roland, enjoy our Cirque de Gavarnie circuit, or our 'Three Cirques' traverse. These routes are not technically difficult and are well within the scope of anybody who walks regularly. At each site we choose the routes by taking into account your interests, using as much as possible lesser known trails. Easy road access into the high mountains allows us to programme guided walks where one can appreciate the wildlife, savour the dramatic scenery, and enjoy that wonderfiul feeling of being on top of the world. There is too much to see and enjoy here for head down ascents! For the naturalist we will take you to some of our favourite places well of the beaten track with the walking led at an easy pace. We will seek out the resident wildlife including isard, marmot, the best places for the raptors, the best valleys for the flowers, the high alpines... always taking the time to appreciate the richness and diversity of the Pyrenean flora and fauna. See our wildlife walks on our wildlife pages. Minibus Drops To help you explore the wider area we offer a transport service in our comfortable minibus. We personally explain the options and you will be given our leaflet explaining the walking options at a number of sites within the National Park. Included are some of our favourite places, lesser known and quieter, (particularly useful during August) with sites of particular interest to the naturalist. Return trip €5–€25, depending on location.
	Contact Peter or Jude Tel: 0033 562 926 895 Fax: 0033 562 928 343 e-mail: peter@borderlinehols.com