Spanish Pyrenees: Which pass? Which mountain? What route?

[hubbike]

Hi,

Planning a summer holiday in the Spanish Pyrenees. Basic plan is to get train to Perpignan (france) then head along coast into spain. Then we'd like to follow close to the pyrenees until the west coast and maybe get a ferry back from Santander.

On the way we'd like to:
-cycle over a biggish pass
-and walk up a mountain.
Can anyone suggest any favourites?

Also, any route advice would be terrific.

 

[bof]

Ordesa National Park and around is fantastic, but unless things have changed there is no cycling in the park itself. You take a bus in from the village of Torla below. I have cycled various bits of the Spanish Pyrenees on family holidays in the past and most of it is good to cycle. The area has a very low population and is not that touristic so roads are fairly empty. The only high passes I can think of are ones that cross into France.

 

[Crankarm]

Get yourself a Michelin Map the Atlas Routier and plan your own route. You will enjoy it so much more. This is what I did when I went down to the Basque and into the Pyrenees in 2004 for 3 weeks cycling. People really don't want to do any research or planning any more. They want some one else to do it for them for free.

 

[Bikerchick]

In June I'm taking the ferry to Santander, cycling to Nice and back again. I was thinking of going more into France on the one route more coastal and hills on the other. Haven't really looked at route yet . When you going?

 

[Bikerchick]

Get yourself a Michelin Map the Atlas Routier and plan your own route. You will enjoy it so much more. This is what I did when I went down to the Basque and into the Pyrenees in 2004 for 3 weeks cycling. People really don't want to do any research or planning any more. They want some one else to do it for them for free.

Quite agree with you. Last year I rode round France and to begin with had very planned route. I felt too much up against it every day and was more enjoyable when I made it up day to day. What's the Atlas Routier?

 

[Crankarm]

Quite agree with you. Last year I rode round France and to begin with had very planned route. I felt too much up against it every day and was more enjoyable when I made it up day to day. What's the Atlas Routier?

The Atlas Routier is the detailed Michelin Road Atlas of France 1:200,000 (1cm = 2km) 318 pages. 17 Euro. I love looking at it. It is the next best thing to our own OS maps which are superieur naturellement.

 

[Bikerchick]

The Atlas Routier is the detailed Michelin Road Atlas of France 1:200,000 (1cm = 2km) 318 pages. 17 Euro. I love looking at it. It is the next best thing to our own OS maps which are superieur naturellement.

I need a good map to get out of Santander and across the border. Michelin don't seem to do the tourists map for Spain that I can see, any suggestions?

 

[rich p]

Get yourself a Michelin Map the Atlas Routier and plan your own route. You will enjoy it so much more. This is what I did when I went down to the Basque and into the Pyrenees in 2004 for 3 weeks cycling. People really don't want to do any research or planning any more. They want some one else to do it for them for free.

You do realise that Hubbike cycled the length of South America, making up the route as he went along!
There's a big difference between asking for a route and suggestions from others' experiences. It's one of the resources I use this section for, and indeed cgoab.

 

[hubbike]

Ordesa National Park and around is fantastic, but unless things have changed there is no cycling in the park itself. You take a bus in from the village of Torla below. I have cycled various bits of the Spanish Pyrenees on family holidays in the past and most of it is good to cycle. The area has a very low population and is not that touristic so roads are fairly empty. The only high passes I can think of are ones that cross into France.

Really useful bof, thanks. Ordesa looks interesting and good news about the quiet roads. As you might recall, rich p, I don't tend to plan much, generally making it up as I go along. but my girlfriend is coming along on this trip and she's more keen to know where to go. She's even bought some great maps!!

So to clarify: please don't plan our route for us, but we're keen to hear about any Pyreneean gems for cycling, hill-walking, wild swimming, etc that anyone can recommend. I've crossed over the Puigcerda-Foix route in the past (in winter!) but if anyone knew of a "can't be missed" pass that'd be cool.

Think we'll be cgoab-ing the trip.

 

[bof]

A nice pass is the Porte de Larrau - there is a big contrast between the landscape either side of the border - it is a good deal dryer on the Spanish side. And that part of the French Pyrenees is pretty remote too.

It is south of the Pyrenees but the Bardenas park is like a little bit of the American West.

I need to stand corrected on Spanish Topos - I have never seen a national series in a shop in Spain, but the french Openrunner site (it has an English version) must have been modified very recently to show the national topo of Spain - it does the French IGN too and you can swap to either from Google maps.

 

[Ticktockmy]

Last time I wanted Spanish Topographical maps when backpacking in the Pyrenees, I brought them from Stanfords bookshop in Long acre, London http://www.stanfords.co.uk/

 

[dellzeqq]

Hi,

Planning a summer holiday in the Spanish Pyrenees. Basic plan is to get train to Perpignan (france) then head along coast into spain. Then we'd like to follow close to the pyrenees until the west coast and maybe get a ferry back from Santander.

On the way we'd like to:
-cycle over a biggish pass
-and walk up a mountain.
Can anyone suggest any favourites?

Also, any route advice would be terrific.

sort of. At 720 metres the pass between La Vajol and Las Illas is not big, but it is very quiet and it is beautiful. Going from France to Spain you will see it at its best - the road on the French side is in a poor state, and not much fun to descend, but the roads on the Spanish side are as smooth as smooth can be. Set off from Perpignan early, before the D900 to Le Boulou gets super busy, and do your climbing before midday. You could easily make Girona in a day, although the N-11 south of Figueres (worth a stop) is very busy with traffic avoiding the parallel motorway, so I'd take a bit of a diversion. Girona is absolutely delightful, and an ideal spot to turn westward to La Seu d'Urgell, another charming town.

Further west Pamplona and Vergara are lovely.