French Pyrenees in July
 

Our family will be meeting up for the first time in over 2.5 years this July. We will spend about 2 weeks together before our son and daughter head to Chamonix to hike the Tour de Mont Blanc.

I’d love suggestions for perhaps two bases, close to hiking. Our daughter suggested Gavarnie and Arreau.

Thanks for any tips or other information about the area.

Cauterets is a town with good shopping at the base of the Pont d'Espagne area:

https://flic.kr/p/28VcQMy https://flic.kr/p/2a1H1qx https://flic.kr/p/29WroeE
Or, for more options, but needing a car, stay in the valley, such as in Argelès-Gazost, with access to Pont d' Espagne, Gavarnie, the col du Tourmalet, or just locally the Hautacam
:
https://flic.kr/p/28U2hZw https://flic.kr/p/7U2w2j
https://www.outdooractive.com/en/hik...enees/5997708/

Thanks! We will have a car so don’t need to rely on public transport.

We enjoyed our stay at the Logis Hotel la Breche de Roland. Our room while on the small side was clean, charming and comfortable, it has spacious parking lot, and a restaurant that serves very good authentic local cuisine. We liked the food so much we ate there three nights in a row. We did a couple of moderate hikes, the Cirque de Gavarnie, Pont d’Espagna and Lac de Gaube. Scenery is stunning!

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...9ad845865.jpeg
Pont d’ Espagna
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...0109a6435.jpeg
Trail to Lac de Gaube (l think 🤔)
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...bf8e2f2f9.jpeg
Lac de Gaube
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...72390ea87.jpeg
Start of Cirque de Gavarnie hike
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1acbfcd0f.jpeg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b2aba9f6e.jpeg
At the foot of Cirque de Gavarnie

We stayed in Luz St Sauveur which is in the valley past Argeles. It does mean you have to drive out to get to Cauterets and Lac de Gaube, but is on the way to Gavarnie and also the Cirque de Troumouse as well as the Col de Tourmalet. It is also worth driving past Gavarnie to the Col de Tentes.
I do have a report here so scroll through to the Pyrenees section to see what we did. We are not serious hikers, but did enjoy what we did.
https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...1175898/page2/

My best Pyrénées hiking experience was in the gorges of Kakuetta.

The Gorges of Kakuetta (by kerouac2) | Any Port in a Storm (proboards.com)

That was sublime, the perfect amount of green! Thanks kerouac.

The pictures on this thread are stunning indeed thanks for starting it. All that lush, I might have to add the Pyrenees to my trip too.

The Pyrenees are greenest in the center and the west. The eastern section has a more Mediterranean climate.

Thanks everyone. Loved the photos Kerouac and the trip report, rhon.

I’m also the weak link in terms of hiking—bad knees and very poor vision in one eye, so no depth perception. The kids have already said they want a day to do Breche de Roland on their own!