Winter flights to the Pyrenees

There are several ways to get to the Pyrenees by plane.

Ryanair have now published their winter timetable, flying on Saturdays and Tuesdays from London Stansted to Lourdes and back again. Perfect for long weekend breaks in the snow!

EasyJet fly from Bristol and Gatwick to Toulouse.

There are other airports that service the French Pyrenees and, of course, there are always other options. Many of our guests enjoy catching the train (direct train from Paris to Lourdes), driving to us (an ideal way to carry all that ski gear), or doing a combination of different transport means.

Our Getting Here information pack contains useful information on how to reach us, including good websites to help you plan your journey.


Transfer times:

Lourdes airport to Bareges    45 minutes
Pau to Bareges                      90 minutes
Toulouse to Bareges              2.5 hours
Biarritz to Bareges                 2.5 hours

Walking from France to Spain and back again

Last week our most international walking group yet (Dutch, French, British and Australian, with 4 languages between them), headed off on our three day Gavarnie and Ordesa trek.

The hike began at the Col des Tentes, above the Cirque de Gavarnie, in the French High Pyrenees.

We traversed on the French side above Gavarnie for about 2 hours, crossing a glacier before making the steep ascent to the Breche de Roland - the entry point to Spain.

Lunch time was spent sitting in the Breche, alternating our views back to Gavarnie and across the Spanish Plains.

Now firmly in Spain, we traversed the Mularis Plateau to our destination, Refugio de Goriz, at the head of the dramatic Ordesa Canyon.

After a lively night involving a Japanese film crew, some amateur martial arts, a lot of good rioja and some impromptu star gazing, we set off on Day 2 down the canyon.

In front of the Breche de Roland

Clouds in the Cirque de Gavarnie

Spain, as viewed from the Breche

Mularis Plateau

Refugio de Goriz above the Ordesa Canyon

Day 2. Refugio de Goriz to Refugio Bujaruelo

Today we walked down the Ordesa Canyon. The photos don't do it justice - it is truly spectacular. Although there were a few sore knees after the 1000m descent to the village of Torla.

Looking back to the refuge from the Ordesa Canyon

Day 3. Back to France
From Torla, we went straight up the valley, heading North and over the Col du Bujaruelo. The weather was amazing for our slow steady climb back up in to France and the chalet with its honesty bar, hot showers, and great food.

Our valley hike

Not a bad spot for a photo

Neouvielle Lakes trek

As the Autumn colours start to come through, last week's Discoverer guided walking holiday culminated in the three day trek round the Neouvielle Lakes. This mini-trek involves ascents of over 1000 metres, walking up to 15km a day, a couple of optional peak ascents, 2 nights in different refuges, and an impromptu lake-side fitness class...

We'll let the photos speak for themselves.


Day 1. Weds 13 Sept.

 

































Day 2. Thurs 14 Sept.

Day 3. Friday 15 Sept.

Summer to autumn...the times they are a changing...

Summer 2013 has been a memorable one. We started with the unforgettable Tour de France week cycling holiday, where our cyclists and walkers alike were swept up in the excitement of watching professionals at the top of their game rush past us in a blur of wheels, colour and cheering. For those of you that may have missed it, did we mention there were three Brits on the podium? Just worth mentioning again! At the same time as the Tour whizzed through, our High Pyrenean Route (HRP) trekkers began their ascent in to the mountains, some of them only coming out again to collect more people on what could be a three week epic.

We then began our summer of multi-activity holidays, thrilling, scaring and encouraging all ages as they discovered new skills, new abilities and just how versatile and great the High Pyrenees are (on both the French and Spanish sides).

Thank you to everyone who has joined us this summer for walking, trekking, cycling, and multi-activity holidays. It's been great to meet you all and we hope to welcome you back sometime soon.

Autumn is now slowly creeping in as the leaves are starting to turn but the sun has turned the heat up again. It is exceptionally gorgeous hiking weather and we're pleased to welcome our Discoverer level hikers this week. They are heading out on a three day mini-trek to the Neouvielle Lake District on Wednesday for a three day mini-trek, led by MountainBug guide and Director, Rob Mason.

We've four more weeks of hiking and walking holidays left, and of course accommodation only options, so do get in touch if you want a last minute breath of fresh air in some stunning scenery.

Last week's Multi-Activity guests had loads of fun and we even remembered to take our cameras with us to get some photos.There is a full gallery of them on our Facebook page and some from the week before (last week of August). We are currently compiling a Multi-Activity photo gallery, so please do email us your photos from your time here.

Chlorofil Tree-top park. Wheeeeeeeee!

Family caving...bye bye daylight...

Multi-Activity hike in the stunning Cirque de Troumouse

Last week's guests taking a breather near the Spanish border...

...before carrying on in the high Pyrenean peaks

Follow my leader, or better still, the guide

Via Ferrata...time to face your fear of heights...

Crisp autumn weather - perfect for hiking

We said goodbye to the last of our summer families on Saturday, sending some very tired but happy people on their way home.

After some dramatic thunder and lightning storms (only at night! Our activities were never affected by them.) the weather changed over the weekend and we are now having days that are a mixture of sun and cloud but with a significant temperature drop. "Il fait froid" is a common greeting round the village now, as we start putting our jeans and jumpers back on.

While chilly if you are sat in an office on the pc (!) it is ideal activity weather, as it is pleasant but you aren't getting too hot or too cold. Our last Multi-Activity holiday of the season is underway and began with a cracking hike yesterday. The group drove up to 2200 (metres), a little bit of a cheat, and then walked in to Spain via the Col de Boucharo and took the lost path along the vire (a path notched in to the side of a cliff) to the Pic du Escuzana at 2848m . One guest even managed a bit of scree-running as an aside.

The group has a fun-filled week ahead of them, which we're sure they'll rise to the challenge of.

Soon our autumn hiking season begins in earnest. We still have a few spaces left on various guided walking holidays and expect to get some last-minute bookings while this perfect hiking weather continues.

The weather is also producing some moody, atmospheric sunsets but the local rumour is that summer isn't over yet. The belief is the Pyrenees may give us one final hurrah and put us all back in shorts and t-shirts before the season is over.