Hi,

I'm planning a trip to the Pyrenees from Nov25 to Dec5 with my girlfriend. The very tentative, work-in-progress itinerary I've been working on has us flying into Barcelona, renting a car, and driving to Foix, France the next day. From there we're driving up to Toulouse to meet a friend for two days and then driving Southwest to another TBD small French town before crossing into Spain and going to Torla and possibly Arties or Taull (I figure about 4 days for this stuff. We need to have the car back in Barcelona around Dec1/Dec2 to board flight to Portugal for last leg). I'm really open to suggestions in terms of towns. We, stereotypically enough, favor the storybook villages (Hey, it's a couples trip—what do you expect?)

One of my major hang-ups is driving conditions in the Pyrenees this time of year. I've been reading that they can be quite treacherous, which gives me pause. I'm an experienced driver in the US but definitely not on difficult roads. Is traveling by road in the Pyrenees in late November a poor idea? Should I bump this trip up to the last week of October (which would be a little more complicated because of work)?

Appreciate any and all help.

Sincerely,
Less Naive American in Training

Better in October, otherwise the high passes might be snowy.

These pictures might give you some ideas of what to see:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...717915043/show

My impression is that the picturesque villages are more in the Roussillon and that the Haute Pyrénées and the Ariège are more for the mountains themselves.

If you can switch to Oct., I think doing so would be well worth considering.

I spent 2 nights, about 1.5 days, in Taull, and loved it -- but then, I had a strong pre-existing interest in seeing its Romanesque churches. Very scenic! And IMO, far more scenic and interesting than Torla (though I don't regret my brief stop there).

Toulouse is an absolute delight -- I regretted that I gave it only a couple of nights.

If you haven't already done so, I strongly recommend the <i>Michelin Green Guides</i> for both areas.

Hope that helps!

There's no knowing when the passes might be blocked as we near the end of the year -- sometimes very early, sometimes quite late. I would already start working on a plan B in case you need to stay near the coast and not venture into higher altitudes. Of course, getting to Foix and Toulouse will be no problem.

There will be snow in the higher passes in Aragon by late November so you should consider heading to Toria by way of Viehla. The N-230 heading south should be clear as it is a major route into and out of the Val d'Aran.

In any case, october or november, do request 'winter' tyres.
People mistake winter tyres with snow tyres. Winter tyres are just so much better when temperature drops below 7C.
You'll have a better grip and therefore will stop shorter than with 'summer' tyres. But if temperature rises, you'll burn your gum faster than a 'normal' tyre. Therefore we change our tyres in spring.
Summer tyres are considered 'normal' tyres and are/were used in winter simply because their gum holds better at high temperature. But they are bad during winter. Gum is too hard, so it slips.
And they are awful on snow.

And here I thought most cars come equipped with "all season" tyres nowadays, especially rental cars.

All season tyres is more marketing than technical.

I was given a car with all season 2 years ago and couldn't pass a slope of a few % with ice on it.