Hike the Pyrenees: A Tailormade Journey
The Pyrenees are our favourite place to hike. Anywhere! The Samgai Journeys office is within eye shot of the western end of these mountains and although we have been lucky enough to have hiked and travelled in mountain landscapes the world over the Pyrenees have charmed us like no other mountain range. We might be biased, but for us there is simply no more beautiful a mountain range. It’s not just the scenics, the wildlife and the hiking that leaves us entranced. It’s also the rich layer of myth and legend. From doomed covens of witches, to mountain gateways carved by long dead knights and the secret caves where angry pre-Christian goddesses whip up vicious storms, every outcrop, every stream and every cave seems to have a fantastical tale to tell.
Compared to the Alps, the Pyrenees remain fairly unknown in international hiking circles, but little by little they are starting to appear on some international hiking tour companies websites. But, for the most part, they are offering fairly standard and busy routes on the best known trails. We do things differently. Our Pyrenean hiking holidays are one hundred percent tailored to your requirements and abilities. We’ll send you to the classic spots that nobody wants to miss but via trails that only locals know and we’ll take you to parts of the range that no other international trekking company offers. The reason that we can do this is because we have real local knowledge of these mountains in all seasons.
We have been based close to the foot of these mountains for thirty years. Over the decades we’ve walked - quite litterally - hundreds of different hiking trails on both sides of the border and authored several guidebooks and hiking books to the Pyrenees including the iconic Cicerone guidebook: Hiking the GR10 (and, we’ll let you in on a little secret but we have two more books in the works for Cicerone focusing on short treks and day hikes in the Pyrenees). This means that when it comes to organising a hiking holiday in the Pyrenees our indepth, firsthand knowledge, of these mountains in all seasons and weathers is unbeatable.
Loose count of how many lakes you’ve hiked past in the Massif of Néouvielle or the Aigüestortes National Parks.
Be stunned by the view from the Brèche de Roland.
Walk among the needle-like spires surrounding the gorgeous village of Lescun.
Take on the multiday challenge of the Mt Perdido (Perdu) Circuit.
Watch the vultures and eagles circling the Basque peaks.
Hike quiet trails to stunning view points overlooking the magnificent Ordesa Canyon.
Wild camp beside idylic mountain lakes.
Learn about shepherding culture and buy the unique brebis cheese direct from the shepherds.
Enjoy the comradery of staying in a mountain refuge.
Stand atop Aneto, the roof of the Pyrenees or a multitude of other summits.
Pyrenees Hiking Highlights
How does it work?
First thing to do is get in touch with us and we’ll arrange a time to talk through all the options, find out about your previous hiking experiences (it doesn’t matter if you’ve never hiked before - we can make the routes as easy or hard as you wish), whether you want to do day walks and sleep in villages or if you prefer a multi-day adventure, what sort of walks you’re interested in and anything else that will help us to design the perfect Pyrenees hiking journey for you and we will answer any questions you might have. Then, once we have an idea of the kind of journey you want to do we will set to work building you a tailormade itinerary while you start putting on your hiking boots!
Note that we can either organise a fully guided holiday with a professinal, fully qualified, local but English speaking mountain guide or we can organise a self-guided holiday.
Accomodation
The type of accommodation used on our tailormade Pyrenees journeys depends upon your style of hiking. If you’ll be doing only day hikes then you will stay in comfortable hotel or guesthouse accommodation in the valleys. Mostly these will be situated in pretty villages, on farms or in attractive spa towns (and yes, we can arrange a spa visit for you after hiking). This sort of accommodation is always of a high standard. However, if you’re doing overnight or multiday hiking where the route doesn’t end the day in a village then accommodation is normally limited to mountain refuges (mountain huts). In summer many of these are staffed and offer meals but sleeping arrangements are always dormitory style and bathrooms (hot water not always available) are always communal. Although basic the atmosphere is always convivial. Demand for beds in many mountain refuges in summer is very high and if you bookings need to be done very far in advance. The other option - and one that allows more freedom - is wild camping. Waking up in a small tent in a wild flower meadow next to a luminous blue lake is simply perfect. We will carry the camping equipment for you so ensuring that your bag remains lightweight.
Times of year
It goes without saying that most people hike the Pyrenees in summer (June to September), but you can hike here at any time of year. In fact, in many ways the two best periods are spring (mid-May to late June) and autumn (October to early November). Not just are the trails notably quieter then, but the colours and light are fantastic. In spring everything is fresh and green, mountain meadows are filled with flowers and the ice is starting to melt on the many lakes. In autumn the first dustings of snow cover the summits and the leaves in the vast beech forests turn an extraordinary palette of red, orange and gold. It’s truly magical. However, there are drawbacks to hiking in spring and autumn. Snow (in spring in particular) can mean many passes remain blocked and summits require specalist equipment, most mountain refuges are closed (although unstaffed winter quarters are available for our use) and, in autumn, it’s too cold for camping to truly be described as fun. In general then, spring and autumn are better suited for day hikes. It’s even possible to hike in winter, either by concentrating on lower altitude areas (such as the Basque Country), or by using snow shoes or cross country skis. There’s a real beauty to the silent snow covered winter landscape but if you hit a period of bad weather than it might not be possible to safely head out into the mountains at all. Overall we would suggest avoiding winter.
Prices for our Hike the Pyrenees: A Tailormade Journey depend upon the itinerary that we decide upon, accommodation type and whether it’s a guided or self-guided journey.