Towns in the French Pyrenees

[sandyrs]

My s.o. and I are taking a trip to the Basque coast this summer (late June/early July). We are spending most of our time in San Sebastian and the surrounding countryside, but we are thinking of taking a couple days to stay in a small town in the French Pyrenees near the Spanish border. Right now we are looking at Cauterets, but we are open to suggestions and looking for feedback from folks who have been to the area.

The idea here would be to find a scenic town that is not dead during the summer to hike, do a bit of road riding (s.o. doesn't ride much and I will have my road bike, but not planning any epic days, mostly just 1-2 hour morning rides), eat some good food and drink some wine. Nothing crazy. And just for reference, we are in our late 20s, but certainly not averse to destinations that attract an older crowd as long as we don't stand out like a sore thumb. Cauterets has a family-friendly reputation; we aren't looking for nightlife out of this particular destination beyond bars/restaurants.

[tv_vt]

Well, that would be a good place. Luz St Saveur is nearby and would be another nice town. Check out the Cirque du Gavarnie - either hiking or biking up to it. Or stay farther east in Luchon, and you get to drive over the Tourmalet, Aspin and Peyresourde to get there. :)

[texbike]

Bagnères-de-Bigorre. This is all you'll need. :) Thermal baths, a casino, great restaurants, great bakeries, white-water kayaking in the middle of town, close proximity to both Lourdes and the Pyrenees National Park, and it has great riding right out the door to many of the famous Pyrenees climbs. We've stayed here a couple of times and really enjoyed it.

Texbike

[Hindmost]

Gavarnie has a big mountain, a little rustic, outdoorsy feel.

[Ozz]

If you are looking for a cool small town on the beach....check out Deba...about 25 miles west of San Sebastian. Hiking, surfing, UNESCO World Heritage Site Cave Drawings, and food!

http://www.deba.eus/en/tourism

BTW - It's the town my grandfather was from.

Cheers!

[basilic]

Why not Argelès-Gazost, it's livelier than Cauterets, a nice market in the old town, better restaurants, and there is easier riding at hand (including an old converted railway if I recall). In Cauterets you go up or down, nothing level. From AG it's easy to ride up Soulor, Spandelles, Hautacam, etc, and lots of rolling hills to the North-East. And if you do a short transfer Gavarnie, Troumouse, Tourmalet if you change your mind about epic days.

But it'll take a while to transfer from San Sebastian. Why not stay in the Basque country? Biarritz has a different feel from SanSeb, a bit of glamour. St-Jean Pied-de-Port is at the foot of the mountain rides (1 hour drive from Biarritz), on the camino de Compostella as well, and the hills of the French Basque country are beautiful. Some easy cols like Izpeguy, in addition to the hard ones.

[rain dogs]

I don't know how far is your travel limit, but Cauterets is about 250km from San Sebastian if I remember correctly.

You could also try Laruns, which is small/cute but a little sleepy and it's at the foot of the Aubusque and Marie Blanque and you can hike the Valle d'Ossau, up to Lagos de Ayous etc.

Other option is if your journeys in the surroundings of San Sebastian take you more west into the Basque country.... Bilbao etc. Keep going cause from Bilbao about 200km (same/less distance) can get you to the Picos de Europa - Sotres, Potes, Lagos de Covadonga. The hiking is maybe better there, and the villages... good different but I could be biased... I live in Asturias. But there are certainly more opportunities for other types of things (design, art, museums etc in Bilbao/Santander than in the Pyrenees)

[basilic]

yay to Asturias!
but that area deserves a couple of weeks at least, not a couple of days.

[sandyrs]

Thanks everyone, this is all really useful. We are trying very hard not to succumb to the tendency to obsess over whether we are going to the absolute most perfect bestest place ever for each leg, because we are pretty much guaranteed to enjoy ourselves at any of these destinations, but this is some good food for thought and I have a feeling we will probably end up staying in one of the towns mentioned here after we do some research and look at hotels.

rain dogs- We are actually already planning to stay in San Sebastian proper before our French excursion but then stay in a different airbnb outside the city (either on the coast or in the mountains) when we return to Spain- we are flying in/out of Bilbao, so maybe we will spend our second leg near closer to there. I think that 200km west of Bilbao may be a bit outside our range, but I expect that this will not be the only trip we take to Spain in our lives (or even the next few years if we really love it) so I appreciate this insight for a future trip. Ozz, we had actually already looked at Deba as a possible destination for that second leg! Thank you for the endorsement :)