We will be covering some new ground next Spring and I am looking for thoughts on can't miss things to see or do as we make our fist trip to this region at the end of April/beginning of May.

We will be staying four nights in Montpelier, followed by three in Tarbes, three in Biarritz, three in Toulouse, and then one in Barcelona before flying back to the US.

We will have a car, no kids. We are late 40's and like art, history, sight-seeing, food, wine, etc.

Any recommendations, and or suggested guidebooks, reading material would be appreciated.

Why Tarbes? My understanding is that it is more of an industrial town. Pau would be more historical. Or if interested in going into the mountains, a town like Argelès-Gazost might be more appropriate for the Hautes-Pyrénées.

Recommendations:

Drive and hike tothe Cirque de Gavarnie.

Drive up to the col du Tourmalet and possibly the Pic du Midi de Bigorre.

Take the cable car and small train to the Lac d'Artouste at the base of the Pic du Midi d'Ossau.

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

You might be interested in my trip report that starts in Bordeaux and covers briefly the area south of that city, including the Basque country. Click on my name to find it.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...163616289/show

From Montpellier you can easily visit the Camargue towns of Aigues-Mortes and les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. Interesting region with cowboys, flamingoes and historic sites.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aigues-Mortes

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...e-camargue.cfm

We also enjoyed St.-Guilhem-le-Désert. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-G...le-D%C3%A9sert

Thanks for the thoughts. I will look at switching Tarbes to Pau or elsewhere.

Wow - you're going to be doing a lot of driving from A to B to C to D.

I assume that you're taking the TGV from Toulouse to Barcelona.

You really only have 3 days in the Montpellier area, 2 1/4 days in the Tarbes region, 3 1/2 in Biarritz, and then 3 days in Toulouse if you take the late TGV to Barcelona and then 0 days in Barcelona - or 2 1/4 days in Toulouse and 1/2 day in Barcelona if you take the early morning TGV.

Both Montpellier and Toulouse are very large cities and take some "doing" to drive in & out. Lots of urban sprawl.

We've vacationed for 10 weeks in the Languedoc region, 2 weeks near Tarbes, and 4 weeks in the Pays Basque.

Do you plan to go into the Pyrenees while in Tarbes??? If so, better check the "typical" snow depth in early May. If you do plan to go into the Pyrenees, I agree with Michael that Argeles-Gazost would be a better choice. We stayed within 15 mins of there when we stayed in that region of the Pyrenees - but it was in July. Cauterets would be a good choice too if there is little/no snow and you wanted to explore the Pyrenees. The area around Tarbes itself isn't that interesting (IMO) until you get farther north into the Gers. We're not fans of Pau - visited it twice.

Do you have my Languedoc/Roussillon 35 page itinerary??? I've sent my various itineraries to over 5,000 people on Fodors. If you would like a copy, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attach one to the reply e-mail. I'll also see what I have about the Biarritz area & send that if you are interested.

Stu Dudley

We stayed in this guesthouse north of Pau and for us was in a great location to visit the surrounding towns. We went on to outside of Boudreaux from this location. www.ardure.com

Richard

We stayed at Maison Ardure last year.

Sorry I couldn't make your B'day in Nice.

Stu Dudley

Stu; You still have time for my 80th as we will be in Nice next year from July 4th until July 11th.

We had a lovely stay at Maison Ardure and the owners were very nice.

Stu,
Thanks for your comments and suggestions. I get the A to B to C math, and we have done dozens of trips like this. It is what works for us. Frankly, I enjoy the drive between the destinations, and using the spiral bound Michelin map to decide if we want to take the autoroute or the local roads. Will send an email, and looking forward to the itinerary.

>>decide if we want to take the autoroute or the local roads<<

If you take the "local" roads, it could take 10-15 hours for you to get from Montpellier to Tarbes, and from Biarritz to Toulouse. The Autoroute is BORING but fast!!!

>>We had a lovely stay at Maison Ardure and the owners were very nice.<<

And she is a great chef too!!.

>>you still have time for my 80th as we will be in Nice next year from July 4th until July 11th.<<

We'll be in the Gorges du Tarn at that time. E-mail me at [email protected] & I'll send you my updated Nice notes.

Still playing basketball??

Stu Dudley

Of these, I've only been to Toulouse. I found 2 full days (plus a day in Albi, which I highly recommend) barely sufficient for my interests. YMMV.

Hope that helps!