Hautes Pyrenees or Pays Basques?
 

Hi Everyone,

My husband and I will arrive France early May and our tinerary is almost complete.

After spending 2 weeks visiting Lille, Bruges and the Alsace region we'll spend several days with friends in Carmaux. From there we'd like to spend our final 4 nights near Cauterets seeing Pont d'Espagne and Lac de Gaube and relaxing before dropping our car at Pau and flying home.

Our dilemma: I've been checking weather conditions regularly and reading comments about visiting there in May. It seems snow may still be in the Lac de Gaube area until early June. One comment also indicated that the lifts sometimes don't operate. We also aren't keen on walking around the lake in the snow. (We've done enough of that this year in Canada!) An alternative would be to continue on to the Pays Basques region instead which we also enjoyed very much on a previous visit.

Would anyone have information or opinions regarding access to Lac de Gaube in late May? We have accommodations booked but not paid for. Or should we plan on visiting the Pays Basques area instead?

Any opinions and/or recommendtions will be greatly appreciated! Many thanks!

Yes, you'll probable encounter snow in late May since it's located just northeast of Sallent de Gállego and Formigal, near the highest point in the Pyrenees. Heading a little further west should help.

Robert2533. Thanks for this? Since posting I discovered a FB page for the Hautes Pyrenees which has a snow covered photo of Cauterets taken on April 9. Do you have suggestions of where to go in the Hautes Pyrenees where we won't encounter snow in late May?

I visited Cauterets, Pont d'Espagne and Ax-les-Thermes in early May and there was no snow.

Maybe I should add that even if you got freak snowstorms in the places I just mentioned, you wouldn't have an trouble going someplace else last minute and booking. Late May is really off season for those areas, including the Pays Basque and while you can always get surprised by a wedding or a bike tour or you may not be able to book the most famous rooms-with-views short notice, I wouldn't hesitate to go without reservations into the areas you are talking about. Heresy, I know, on a travel planning site, but booking ahead is only a preference not the kind of necessity it is too often portrayed to be.

The problem of traveling in this region without having some idea of where you would like to stay is that during low season some places will be closed for the season, or have only minimal services. It's different than traveling to a major city without reservations. Having reservations beats spending much of the day trying to find a place to lay your head and possibly paying the rack rate, which is often the case.

Now that there is booking.com and other sites, plus wifi readily available even in rural Europe, it is no longer the case anybody spends any time at all looking for accommodations. When I travel through rural Western Europe -- which I do very frequently -- I book 48 hours in advance or less than 24 hours in advance. It is really not a problem.

I had no trouble finding places to stay in Cauterets in early May. It was buyer's choice. And that was before booking.com and we were just going by the Michelin Red guide plus a cell phone. For that trip we traveled from San Sebastian to Barcelona, frequently crossing both sides of the Pyrenees, and dropping down through Catalan country. The only place we didn't get our first choice for lodgings was in Collioure because it is such a touristy town and we arrived on a Friday as I recall.

We ended up in the Pyrenees precisely because it was a last minute trip and we didn't want to travel in European cities in early May where a combination trade fairs and the beginning of the tourist season would mean a shortage of accommodations.

There are some people who don't like to road trip and they don't feel comfortable unless they book ahead and so they shouldn't. But there isn't much of an objective reason not to around that area. It is easy to get around and there is plenty of accommodation.

If you do book ahead, at least only book places with a very good cancellation policy so you can adjust for weather. I wouldn't want to be locked into hotel reservations and find myself dealing with poor views and poor driving conditions.



Booking.com will show you what is open.

I hit the button too soon. Sorry for the repeat last sentence but I also wanted to add that we pay low prices for last minute bookings. You can comparison shop using booking.com or another website. These ideas that you are at a disadvantage booking last minute are no longer true.

Sorry for the late reply! I've been away from my computer. Thanks Robert and Sandra for your comments and suggestions. Much appreciated! Over the years we've travelled both booking ahead and checking on accommodations last minute. However in recent years I confess I'm getting fussier with where I want to stay hence more planning and less flying by the seat of our pants! :-)

I've found that at this time of year most places we're interested in visiting are flexible and don't require a deposit. In fact the only time we've paid a deposit this time is in Riquewihr where we've booked a gite for a week.

Having given it more thought we think we'll divide our time between both the Pyrenees and Pays Basque and book ahead. We like to choose the villages as well as B&B's or hotels. Driving time isn't long between the places we've chosen. I'm sure things will work out and we'll keep our fingers crossed that we'll be able to visit Pont d'Espagne and Lac de Gaube. Wish me luck! Thanks again for your help.