Base town for hiking in Pyrenees?
 

Hello,

I'm looking for some help choosing a base town for hiking in the mid Pyrenees for a week in July 2017. I've combed the existing threads already and elsewhere online and have come up with some starting suggestions, but I would appreciate if someone could help narrow it down a bit!

We will be travelling in a group of five - myself, my husband, his parents, and his brother. We are looking for somewhere that we can head out the door and walk to hiking routes without having to drive (we don't always want to do the same things, so walking allows people to go in different directions more easily than needing to share the car). We stayed in Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland a few years ago and this was perfect - if you know that area you will know what I mean. Also similar to Lauterbrunnen, we would like to stay in a small town where there is a small grocery store (we'll stay at a self-catering place) and a few restaurants in walking distance (for when we don't want to cook), but no need for "attractions" within the town itself.

The most promising options I've found so far are Torla or Plan on the Spanish side (prefer Spanish side, but French is good too). These towns appeal because they seem about the right size, as mentioned, and I like that they're high up in the mountains instead of in the foothills (this means better views, and hopefully the out-the-door hiking I mentioned).

Any experiences between these two towns you could share? Or alternate spots to suggest? We're thinking the mid Pyrenees because they're the highest (love those mountain views), but are there other places more suited in the east or west? We will be planning the rest of our trip around this destination, so we could adapt at this stage (probably flying in and out of Barcelona and renting a car, but could fly to San Sebastian).

Towns I've researched:
Torla
Plan
Anísa
Boltaña
Arreau
St-Lary-Soulan
Viscos
St-Savin

One final question - will we need air conditioning in the Pyrenees in July? It seems like most accommodations don't offer it (I've found a few that do), so I wonder if the altitude makes it more pleasant, but when I looked up typical weather reports for the area it still said high 20s (27-29C).

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

St. Savin is at the base of the Pyrénées. If you want to go hiking in the high mountains, try Barèges or Gavarnie.

Here's a hotel near the Cirque de Gavarnie:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...7623717915043/

Luz-Saint-Sauveur might be a better base in that it is at a fork between Gavarnie and the col du Tourmalet. I suspect that there is a local bus service to reach Gavarnie and Barèges (at the base of the Tourmalet).

You might want to consider hiking in the Vall de Boi. I enjoyed staying in Taull, which I loved.
http://www.vallboi.cat/en/hiking

Gavarnie is lovely, the waterfall should be flowing in July but not necessarily cascading. There's a tourist train you can take to within I think 3 km or less walk to the falls, I'm not much of a hiker. There are many approaches. That area is beautiful and reminiscent of Switzerland. We lived an hour from there at 400 m and I think I remember one unpleasant night in 7 summers. We did have fans.

St. Lizier/St Girons, joint village and town a bit further east in the Ariège, was the starting point of one of the main WWII escape routes into Spain. Lots of hiking out of St. Girons also a tiny, interesting museum, le chemin de la liberté.

You'll find excellent trekking/hiking in the Val d'Aran, Panticosa-Valle de Tena, as well as in the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park and Navarra.

http://www.rural-pyrenees-guide.com

We ended up booking in a little village just outside St. Lary Soulan. I'll let you know how it ends up being!

The area of Saint-Lary-Soulan lies northeast of Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park. The slopes tends to be a little steeper (great for skiing) then on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees.

Hi Caralin,

I'm also looking for a "Lauterbrunen of the Pyrenee". How was St. Lary Soulan ? In retrospect, is there a place you would have preferred as a base? I'm heading there in 48 hours so if you see this, please let me know? :)

Cheers,

Norm