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 ?
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 ?
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!
SapperD said:
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.
Can I ask what hotel you've booked for San Sebastian ?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.
Got most of my route and hotel sorted, just need to book a final hotel for 2 nights there.
Awesome! My turn in 4 weeks time, can't wait!
I've got 4S's all round as well, but hopefully no more rain in a month time...
I've booked all our hotels so we're good on that front, but thanks for the offer.
We're popping into Andorra for lunch when we leave le Barcares, and we'll come through La Seu D'Urgell by the looks of it, and then we'll take the N260 towards Sort, and stay in a hotel just past Sort in a place call 'Llavorsí'.
Then the next day our route looks like this, heading back into France before dipping back into Spain, ending up in Jaca for the night :
Link to bigger picture of the map: https://ibb.co/sFBh1V6
You doing a similar route or you staying on the N260 in Spain heading West from from Sort instead of North ?
I've got 4S's all round as well, but hopefully no more rain in a month time...
I've booked all our hotels so we're good on that front, but thanks for the offer.
We're popping into Andorra for lunch when we leave le Barcares, and we'll come through La Seu D'Urgell by the looks of it, and then we'll take the N260 towards Sort, and stay in a hotel just past Sort in a place call 'Llavorsí'.
Then the next day our route looks like this, heading back into France before dipping back into Spain, ending up in Jaca for the night :
- Port de la Bonaigua
- Col Du Portilon
- Arreau
- Col D'aspin
- Col du Tourmalet
- Col du Soulour
- Col d'Aubisque
- Col du Pourtalet
- Hotel & Spa Real Badaguás, Jaca
Link to bigger picture of the map: https://ibb.co/sFBh1V6
You doing a similar route or you staying on the N260 in Spain heading West from from Sort instead of North ?
Edited by Medic-one on Thursday 13th June 10:25
SapperD said:
Collada de Tosses was just awesome. I've never driven as hard in any normal road for so long as I have today. Hardly any traffic either. We're doing it again on the way back.
Mmm, might have to adjust my route a bit to add that one in I think... We're a bit further up along the coast before we go to Andorra, in a place called 'Le Barcares' , which is kinda parallel with the top of Andorra, though I might go from there South towards Ripholl and then up via the N260 and do that Collada De Tosses before heading into Andorra. Thank for the tip!
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