Unterwegs

Pau: Pau bietet einen atemberaubenden Blick auf die Pyrenäen und ist ein entzückendes Reiseziel mit einer reichen Geschichte und wunderschönen Parks. Der Boulevard des Pyrénées bietet einen einzigartigen Panoramaweg, während das Château de Pau, der Geburtsort von Heinrich IV., Besucher:innen mit in die Geschichte nimmt. Genieße die lokale Küche – vor allem traditionelle Gerichte wie „Garbure“ (eine herzhafte Gemüse- und Fleischsuppe) – und tauche in die atemberaubende Landschaft ein.

Luchon Superbagnères: Ein symbolträchtiger Bergort in den Pyrenäen, der an die Kurstadt Bagnères-de-Luchon in der Haute-Garonne angeschlossen ist. Superbagnères liegt auf 1.800 Metern Höhe und ist direkt von Luchon aus mit der Gondel erreichbar. Es ist mit den vielen Pisten für alle Erfahrungsstufen ein beliebtes Ziel für Skibegeisterte im Winter und für Wanderinnen und Wanderer sowie Mountainbiker:innen auch im Sommer attraktiv. Luchon und Superbagnères bilden zusammen das ideale Duo für einen erholsamen und sportlichen Urlaub im Herzen der Pyrenäen

PYRENEES-ATLANTIQUES (64)

Population: 664,057

Prefecture: Pau

Sub-prefectures: Bayonne, Oloron-Sainte-Marie

Surface area: 7,645 km2

Specialities: piperade, wines (Madiran, Pacherenc, Jurançon, Irouléguy...), poule au pot (hen in the pot), garbure, axoa, piment d'Espelette (pepper), poulet basquaise (chicken in Basque sauce), gâteau basque, Bayonne ham...

Sports clubs: Elan Béarnais Pau-Lacq-Orthez (basketball), Section Paloise, Biarritz olympique, Aviron Bayonnais (rugby union).

Competitions: Pau Canoeing World Cup, Pau Grand Prix, Pau International Eventing Competition.

Festivals: Fêtes de Bayonne, Festival Hestiv'Òc

Economy: agropastoralism, hydroelectricity, agri-food, aeronautics, thermal baths, etc.

Websites / FB / Twitter: http://www.le64.fr / https://www.facebook.com/pages/D%C3%A9partement-des-Pyr%C3%A9n%C3%A9es-Atlantiques/720037604708106 / https://twitter.com/departement64

Km 3.1: Idron (Pop: 5,130) It was in Idron that Philippe Bernat-Salles started out in rugby union, and was subsequently selected 41 times by the French national team as a winger. At club level, he played mainly for Section Paloise and Biarritz Olympique, with whom he won two French Championship titles (2002 and 2005). He then became President of the French National Handball League from 2010 to 2018.  

HAUTES-PYRÉNÉES (65)

Population: 231,453

Prefecture: Tarbes

Sub-prefectures: Argelès-Gazost, Bagnères-de-Bigorre

Surface area: 4,464 km²

Specialities: Tarbes beans (IGP, Label Rouge), Black pork of Bigorre (AOP), Madiran (AOC), Pacherenc, Mouton de Barèges-Gavarnie(AOP), Astarac Bigorre black hen, Garbure (soup), spit cake, Pyrenees cheese, Onion of Trébons, Pyrenees trouts.

Sports clubs: National 1, National 2 and Federal 1 rugby union clubs (Tarbes Pyrénées Rugby, Lannemezan, Bagnères-de-Bigorre and Lourdes), Tarbes Gespe Bigorre in the women's basketball league.

Events: Loudenvielle Downhill and Enduro Mountain Bike World Cup from 29 May to 1 June 2025 / Montée du Géant du Tourmalet (June 2025) / Grand Raid des Pyrénées (20 to 24 August 2025) / Balneaman Triathlon (13 September 2025) / Pyrénées Cycl'n trip (11 passes reserved from 21 to 25 July 2025) / Patou Trail (20, 21 and 22 June 2025) / La course des étoiles Bagnères (October 2025)

Festivals: L'Offrande Musicale / Equestria Tarbes / Jazz in Luz festival in Luz St Sauveur / Piano Pic Festival/ Little Mountain churches Festival / Tarbes en tango / Contemporary art exhibition at the Abbey of l'Escaladieu Bonnemazon / Les Escales d'Automne / Big Bag Festival in Bagnères de Bigorre / Pyrenean Musem in Château de Lourdes / Massey Museum in Tarbes, Le Parvis National Stage in Ibos / Madiran Wine Fest/ Traditions Fair in Loudenvielle

Major tourist sites: Pyrenees National Park, Neouvielle Regional Nature Reserve, Cirque de Gavarnie UNESCO World Heritage Site, Pic du Midi International Starry Sky Reserve, 5 Grands Sites d'Occitanie (Pic du Midi, Gavarnie - Cauterets Pont d'Espagne, Lourdes and Pyrénées Aure Louron), 5 Grands Cols (Peyresourde, Val Louron-Azet, Aspin, Tourmalet, Soulor)

Economy: Tourism is the department's leading economic activity, accounting for almost a third of the total. Agriculture is also very present. Hautes-Pyrénées ranks second in terms of pastoralism. Finally, industry also contributes to economic development, with companies such as Alstom, Daher and Tarmac.

Websites / FB / Twitter: www.pyrenees-trip.com  / www.hautespyrenees.fr / www.facebook.com/DepartementHautesPyrenees / https://www.instagram.com/departementhapy / https://twitter.com/DepartementHaPy  / www.facebook.com/hautespyrenees / www.instagram.com/hautespyrenees / https://www.tiktok.com/@hautespyrenees / www.hautespyrenees.fr / www.facebook.com/DepartementHautesPyrenees / https://www.instagram.com/departementhapy / https://twitter.com/DepartementHaPy / https://www.tiktok.com/@hautespyrenees     

Tourmalet, Aspin, Peyresourde...names that conjure up fantastic landscapes. Yes, but here's the thing. Not everyone has the heart and skills of a cycling hero, an ace climber or a polka-dot jersey wearer. When it comes to riding mountain passes, peaks and kilometres, many prefer the car. Who can blame them? It's for them that Hautes-Pyrénées has created a Pyrenees Roadtrip, following in the footsteps of its illustrious predecessors, Route 66, the Silk Road and the Transamazonian Railway.  

On the programme: 2 countries (France and Spain); 8 legendary passes; 3 UNESCO World Heritage sites; 4 nature parks and secret corners that only the Pyrenees can offer. All in all, an authentic and unforgettable adventure, but above all an idea for a holiday with friends, lovers or family. When it comes to logistics, the Boutique des Pyrénées, specialists in tailor-made holidays, will take care of everything: top-quality accommodation, access to the Grands Sites, entry to spa centres, guided walks, fine dining, etc.

Km 37.6: Lourdes (Pop: 14,400)

Lourdes receives millions of visitors every year from every continent. Since 1858, they have come on pilgrimage to the place where Bernadette Soubirous met the Virgin Mary in a grotto near the river Gave. In 2018, Lourdes celebrated 160 years since the apparitions. A stage of the Tour de France set off from there towards Laruns, where Primoz Roglic won his second victory in the Tour. It wasn't until 1948 that a Tour stage finished for the first time in Lourdes with the victory of Gino "the Pious" Bartali. On that day, the national hero of Italian cycling, tasked along with Fausto Coppi with boosting his country's morale, took his winning bouquet to the grotto and attributed his miraculous victory in the Tour, ten years after the first, to Our Lady of Lourdes. He would return to the shrine each time he visited the region. Other stages have taken place in the heights, in the nearby resort of Hautacam, but in 2011 the last finish in town went to Thor Hushovd, who was wearing the world champion's jersey at the time.

Sanctuary of Notre-Dame de Lourdes and Torchlight Procession Separated from the rest of the town by a loop of the Gave, to the west of the town, the Grotto estate, also known as the Notre-Dame de Lourdes Sanctuary, is a 52-hectare private estate. It is open every day of the year. From April to October, every evening at 9pm, a torchlight procession brings together thousands of pilgrims and tourists, from the Grotto of the Apparitions to the esplanade of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary.

Lourdes fortified castle Construction: 13th, 16th and 19th centuries.

History: restored in 1590 by Henry IV, then in 1828 by the State and acquired in 1894 by the municipality. Transformed into a prison under Louis XIV and until the mid-19th century.

Characteristicss: a remarkable testimony to the development of fortifications in the Pyrenean foothills from the High Middle Ages to the 19th century, it dominates the town and its sanctuaries. Its strategic position at the entrance to the seven valleys of the Lavedan has always made it an impregnable fortress. Multiple outdoor areas, from the keep to the ramparts.

Current use: in 1921, the castle became home to the Musée Pyrénéen, a museum of popular arts and traditions and regional history.

Listed as: Historical Monument in 1995

Km 51.5: Argelès-Gazost (see stage 12)

Km 56.1: Adast (Pop: 250) Journalist, writer, producer and Tour de France enthusiast Jacques Chancel owned a fine residence here, Château de Miramont, built in the 18th century and modified in the 19th century, which dominates the village. The Notre-Dame-de-Piétat chapel is a listed historic monument. 700 metres from the abbey church of Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption, it dominates the entire valley. The oldest known mention of it dates back to 1493. Until the French Revolution, it was a place of worship and prayer for the Notre-Dame-de-Piétat Brotherhood. In the 18th century, a large number of extensions and embellishments transformed the site: 1740, construction of a chapel and sacristy; 1754, extension of the nave and construction of the bell tower. The superb painted wooden vault in the nave (18th century) is also known as the "bird vault".

Km 70.5: Luz-Saint-Sauveur (Pop: 1,200) In 1985, the town was the starting point for a half-stage race won by Stephen Roche. There have been nine finishes in the resort of Luz-Ardiden, the last in 2021, when Tadej Pogacar won there. Much earlier, Victor Hugo stayed in Luz and Napoleon III had a monumental bridge built over the Gave de Pau in 1861.

Napoleon Bridge

Construction: 1859 to 1963.

History: Napoleon III had this bridge built (1859 to 1863, height 65 m) to thank the inhabitants of Saint Sauveur. In fact, the Napoleon Bridge was built during the visit of Empress Eugénie, who was treated for sterility at the Saint Sauveur thermal baths. This bridge opened up the Gavarnie valley. This is what Victor Hugo had to say about his visit to this little "town of light": "Three great rays of daylight enter through the three embrasures of the three mountains. When the Spanish miquelets and smugglers arrived from Aragon via the Breche de Roland and the black and hideous Gavarnie path, they suddenly saw a great light at the end of the dark gorge, like the door of a cellar for those inside. They hurried on and found a large town, brightly lit and alive. They named this town Luz, Light.      

Km 74.4: Betpouey (Pop: 80) The village of Betpouey, with its wash-house and pretty Saint-Sébastien church (12th and 14th centuries), is the birthplace of Louis Armary, a left-sided prop who won 46 caps for the French national rugby union team between 1987 and 1995. "Louisou", who played his entire career for FC Lourdes, took part in the first three editions of the Rugby World Cup and won the tournament three times. He became a departmental councillor in 2015. 

KM 89.5 - Col du Tourmalet There was one big absentee at the summit of the first ascent of the Tourmalet in 1910: Henri Desgrange himself. The creator of the Tour had hesitated for a long time about including the pass on the route, a difficulty that had put off many riders, and the 1910 edition set off with just 110 participants. The Perpignan-Luchon stage and its first Pyrenean passes confirmed the boss of L'Auto in the idea that the Tour's programme was decidedly too copious... Already, before the start, he had suffered the wrath of certain competitors. After the finish in Luchon, he sensed that the morale of the troops, starting with that of leader Octave Lapize, was not very high. Claiming to be indisposed, Desgrange stayed in Luchon to take the waters and entrusted the keys to the race to Victor Breyer. A great boxing fan, Breyer would know how to use his fists if need be. Desgrange was right to slip away. After arriving at the top of the Tourmalet, and then winning in Bayonne, Lapize was furious: "Criminals!” he shoted. Desgrange was not there to hear it. This was a crime that has gone unpunished for more than a century! Since then, riders have ridden this giant of the Tour 85 times, and will once again pay tribute to Henri Desgrange's successor, Jacques Goddet, at the foot of the stele dedicated to him. In the course of its long love-hate relationship with the race, the Tourmalet has already hosted three stage finishes, in 1974 (victory by Jean-Pierre Danguillaume), 2010 (Andy Schleck) and 2019 (Thibaut Pinot). The Tourmalet was also the venue for the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift in 2023, with Demi Vollering winning the stage to secure her overall victory.

Km 106.8: Sainte-Marie-de-Campan It was in this hamlet of Campan that Eugène Christophe, the first Maillot Jaune, was forced to repair his pitchfork at the local blacksmith's shop. A statue in front of the church commemorates this historic moment in the 1919 Tour de France.  

Km 119.3: Col d'Aspin Aspin is one of the most frequently climbed passes on the men's Tour route, having been ridden by the peloton and caravan on 76 occasions. The list of riders who have topped it since the first ascent in 1910 reads like a who's who of great climbers, from Octave Lapize to Richard Virenque, not forgetting Jean Robic, Gino Bartali, Fausto Coppi, Louison Bobet, Charly Gaul, Federico Bahamontes and Lucien Van Impe. The latest was Neilson Powless in 2023.

Km 141.7: Cazaux-Fréchet-Anéran-Camors (Pop: 70)

The commune has three churches, as well as a number of attached hamlets.

Church of Saint-Calixte in Cazaux-Fréchet

Built: 10th century.

Style: Romanesque.

History: according to legend, the building was built on the site of the tomb of Saint Calixte. Originally from Huesca, he fought alongside King Sancho the Great against the Moors in the 11th century. Taken prisoner, he refused to renounce his faith and was massacred by the enemy armies above the village of Cazaux-Fréchet-Anéran-Camors. Most of the church dates from the 11th century and the Romanesque period, as evidenced by the single nave extended by a semi-circular apse flanked on the west by a bell tower topped by four bays. In the 16th century, the nave was enlarged by the construction of a chapel to the north, which was painted by Melchior Rodiguis. At the same time, the nave's current ceiling was installed and decorated around 1720.

Characteristics: The barrel vault is decorated with a 12th-century mural depicting Christ in glory. The high altarpiece was created in the 18th century.

Listed as: Historical Monument since 1944.

HAUTE-GARONNE (31) 

Population: 1,400,039

Prefecture: Toulouse

Sub-prefectures: Muret, Saint Gaudens

Surface area: 6,309 km²

Specialities: cassoulet, Toulouse sausage, foie gras, duck breast, Toulouse violets, AOP Fronton wine, AOC Cadours garlic, IGP des Pyrénées lamb, AOC Bigorre black pork, Label Rouge Lauragais veal.

Sports: mountaineering, horse riding, climbing, hiking (Via Garona GR861, GR10, GR46, GR653, GR86), rugby, caving, white water sports on the Garonne (canoeing, kayaking, hydrospeed, rafting), aerial sports (paragliding, gliding, microlight aircraft), winter sports (skiing, snowshoeing, dog sledding), mountain biking (FFC Pyrénées Comminges), sailing.

Sports clubs: Stade Toulousain, Toulouse Football Club, Fénix Toulouse Handball, Toulouse Métropole Basket, Spacers Volleyball, TOXIII, Union Sportive Colomiers Rugby.

Competitions : Luchon Aneto Trail (Luchon has the Station Trail label), Trail du Mourtis, Trail Toulouse Métropole, Trail du Cagire.

Festivals: 31 Notes d'Eté, Jazz sur son 31, Luchon Television Festival, Printemps du rire, Rio Loco, Comminges Festival Saint Bertrand de Comminges, Toulouse les Orgues...

Economy: Aeronautics and space, tourism, 4 ski resorts, winegrowing (Fronton)

Outstanding sites: Aurignacian Museum, Saint Bertrand de Comminges listed as one of the "Most Beautiful Villages in France"; Martres-Tolosane and Revel awarded the "Villes et Métiers d'Art" label; Lake Saint Ferréol; the Unesco-listed Canal du Midi with its greenway; Lake Oô in the central Pyrenees; Cité de l'Espace, Saint Sernin Basilica, one of the largest Romanesque basilicas in Europe...

By bike: 50 sites with the Accueil Vélo label. Route des cols Pyrénéens (Pyrenean mountain passes) with specific signposting (altitude difference, etc.). The department is crossed by the Canal des 2 Mers à Vélo, with a greenway running alongside the Canal du Midi. 3 cycle routes, including one along the Garonne, from Carbonne to the Pyrenees, which will soon link up with Spain (Trans Garona).

Websites and social networks: http://www.haute-garonne.fr / http://hautegaronnetourisme.com, https://www.facebook.com/TourismeHG / https://twitter.com/TourismeHG , https://www.instagram.com/tourismehg

Km 163.1: Bagnères-de-Luchon (Pop: 2,700)

Thanks to its privileged position, Bagnères-de-Luchon has hosted the Tour de France 56 times, a record for a town of its size. It has to be said that this renowned water town has been part of the history of the Tour since 1910, when it hosted the first two high mountain stages of the event, both of which were won by Octave Lapize, the future winner of this edition. The Queen of the Pyrenees has also often crowned the future winner of the Tour, or its hero, such as Pascal Simon in 1983, Thomas Voeckler in 2010 and Julian Alaphilippe in 2018. That year, the allées d'Étigny were the setting for an unprecedented start in the form of an F1 Grand-Prix-style grid. Bagnères-de-Luchon is the most characteristic mountain town in the Pyrenees. Surrounded by the 13 most famous peaks in the range, including Aneto (3,404 m), the highest peak in the Pyrenees, Luchon is a lively holiday destination that attracts travellers of all types, in all seasons. Since 2011, Bagnères-de-Luchon has been one of the Grands Sites de Midi-Pyrénées. The therapeutic virtues of the waters of Luchon have been renowned for over two thousand years. It's no coincidence that the Roman goddess of water, Ilixon, gave her name to the Luchon region. Today, the spa town of Bagnères-de-Luchon is the busiest in the Haute-Garonne and the Midi-Pyrénées region. Since 2011, it has been a member of the Association of European Spa Towns.