Anyone been to the Pyrenees ?
Discussion
After our 2022 road trip to Italy and Switzerland ( https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&... ) I fancy another one this summer.
Looking at taking the ferry from Portsmouth to Le Havre and then down through France towards Bordeaux and then towards the Pyrenees.
Once finished into the top of Spain and then probably take the ferry from Bilboa back towards Portsmouth.
Anyone been down the westcoast of France and/or the Pyrenees that can recommend any routes/towns they've done ?
Looking at taking the ferry from Portsmouth to Le Havre and then down through France towards Bordeaux and then towards the Pyrenees.
Once finished into the top of Spain and then probably take the ferry from Bilboa back towards Portsmouth.
Anyone been down the westcoast of France and/or the Pyrenees that can recommend any routes/towns they've done ?
I'm going next month.
Group of 3 couples / cars. 2x porsche 981 GTS and 1x R8 V10.
Plymouth to Santander (<24 hrs). Down the pyrenees over 3 nights via logroño, jaca and seu de urgell to calonge. Mostly N260. 4 nights in a villa. Back up again via vielha, some French cols, jaca again and into San Sebastian, over another 3 nights.
Much of your EU trip report inspired my own last year.
Group of 3 couples / cars. 2x porsche 981 GTS and 1x R8 V10.
Plymouth to Santander (<24 hrs). Down the pyrenees over 3 nights via logroño, jaca and seu de urgell to calonge. Mostly N260. 4 nights in a villa. Back up again via vielha, some French cols, jaca again and into San Sebastian, over another 3 nights.
Much of your EU trip report inspired my own last year.
Glad my trip was of help
I've looked at taking the ferry from/to Portsmouth (as Plymouth is a long way away from where we live) and might do that on the return journey.
So that N260 is the route to go for is it ?
Do the "mountain passes" have names like over in the Alps (Furka pass, Grimsel Pass, Nuefen pass etc) or is it more just road numbers ?
The easiest (and in my opinion, the best) way to get down to the Pyrenees via France is to take the overnight ferry from Portsmouth -> St. Malo. It's then a very pleasant run down to Bordeaux, with a few interesting places to see on the way. La Rochelle is nice, as is most of the coast around there. Closer to Bordeaux, St. Emilion is a lovely place to spend a day - lots going on and lots to see. We've never stayed there though as the hotels are quite expensive.
San Sebastian is a must visit place, as is Logrono. Although Logrono might require a slight detour.
In the foothills of the Pyrenees we stayed in the Hotel Viñas de Lárrede, which we really liked.
In terms of the ferry back, Santander and Bilbao are only 1 hour apart, so it really does depend on which day of the week you want to travel. There are 2 ferries a week to Portsmouth from each place.
San Sebastian is a must visit place, as is Logrono. Although Logrono might require a slight detour.
In the foothills of the Pyrenees we stayed in the Hotel Viñas de Lárrede, which we really liked.
In terms of the ferry back, Santander and Bilbao are only 1 hour apart, so it really does depend on which day of the week you want to travel. There are 2 ferries a week to Portsmouth from each place.
Im not aware of any pass names, as per Swiss ones no. I plan to use the N260 and refer to my michelin maps en route for detours that look fancy. Each day is ~3 hrs (5 max) driving time between overnight stops according to Google maps.
I'm East Midlands so Plymouth is a trek for me too (~4.5hrs but it's still 3 hrs to Folkestone) and it's 1000 miles each way from calais to san seb / logrono.
Ferry will save me 2k miles on the car and at £1k for the rtn ticket it's less than I'll spend on chunnel, fuel, hotels for 2 nights each way and food for two.
I'm East Midlands so Plymouth is a trek for me too (~4.5hrs but it's still 3 hrs to Folkestone) and it's 1000 miles each way from calais to san seb / logrono.
Ferry will save me 2k miles on the car and at £1k for the rtn ticket it's less than I'll spend on chunnel, fuel, hotels for 2 nights each way and food for two.
omniflow said:
The easiest (and in my opinion, the best) way to get down to the Pyrenees via France is to take the overnight ferry from Portsmouth -> St. Malo. It's then a very pleasant run down to Bordeaux, with a few interesting places to see on the way. La Rochelle is nice, as is most of the coast around there. Closer to Bordeaux, St. Emilion is a lovely place to spend a day - lots going on and lots to see. We've never stayed there though as the hotels are quite expensive.
San Sebastian is a must visit place, as is Logrono. Although Logrono might require a slight detour.
In the foothills of the Pyrenees we stayed in the Hotel Viñas de Lárrede, which we really liked.
In terms of the ferry back, Santander and Bilbao are only 1 hour apart, so it really does depend on which day of the week you want to travel. There are 2 ferries a week to Portsmouth from each place.
Going with the wife so probably looking at driving stints of no longer then 4.5 - 5 hours in one go. San Sebastian is a must visit place, as is Logrono. Although Logrono might require a slight detour.
In the foothills of the Pyrenees we stayed in the Hotel Viñas de Lárrede, which we really liked.
In terms of the ferry back, Santander and Bilbao are only 1 hour apart, so it really does depend on which day of the week you want to travel. There are 2 ferries a week to Portsmouth from each place.
Plan so far is :
- Nightboat from Portsmouth to St Malo.
- Drive from St Malo to La Rochelle, probably looking at staying here for 1 night for some exploring, eats & drinks.
- La Rochelle to Toulouse, have another night here.
- From Toulouse drive to and over the Millau viaduct, and then towards Collioure and have a couple nights there.
- Colliore to Andorra, and then through the Pyreness towards San Sebastian and then have a couple nights there.
- Ferry from Santander back to Portsmouth (as the travel days from there suit us better then from Bilboa).
Just need to pinpoint where to stay after doing the Millau viaduct, Collioure looks very nice, but also heard good things about Argelès-sur-Mer and Banyuls-sur-Mer.
And we're not sure yet if we want to just visit Andorra for a few hours, or have another overnight stay there.
And still in the process of finding nice routes from Andorra towards San Sebastian. I've got some notes that mentioning Sort and Vielha and Biescas.
Slowly getting there!
Andorra - drive over the top of Pas rather than using the tunnel, the highest road in the Pyrenees. A night in La Vella is a decent option, it's a nice small city to walk around. I'd stay right in the centre. There are probably some cheap options further out, but the ski villages are a bit quiet when there's no snow. There are cyclists & walkers, but it's not the same....
I can't help with the roads though as I only ever really arrive or leave via Toulouse or Barcelona - and there's only 1 route through Andorra
I can't help with the roads though as I only ever really arrive or leave via Toulouse or Barcelona - and there's only 1 route through Andorra
I also agree that Andorra is worthy of a visit, we always go from the french side, up and over then down into la vella.
We have stayed at hotel pic Maia at the very top and thought it was nice.
Here's my bus at the very top!
https://thumbsnap.com/i/vDVp73PD.jpg
We have stayed at hotel pic Maia at the very top and thought it was nice.
Here's my bus at the very top!
https://thumbsnap.com/i/vDVp73PD.jpg
Here's my route from last year's trip: https://shorturl.at/dvyV5
Although there are other options, such as the Sort to Vielha road as mentioned above (I chose to drive via the L-511 to Coll de Nargo instead on this trip, as it's one of my favourite roads). As long as you stay away from motorways, you can't really go wrong.
And if you go Sort to Vielha you can carry on for an hour past Bagneres-de-Luchon and stop at the Pic du Midi cable car with its gob-smackingly spectacular views, one of the absolute highlights of the Pyrenees.
Although there are other options, such as the Sort to Vielha road as mentioned above (I chose to drive via the L-511 to Coll de Nargo instead on this trip, as it's one of my favourite roads). As long as you stay away from motorways, you can't really go wrong.
And if you go Sort to Vielha you can carry on for an hour past Bagneres-de-Luchon and stop at the Pic du Midi cable car with its gob-smackingly spectacular views, one of the absolute highlights of the Pyrenees.
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