Central Pyrenees

The Central Pyrenees
Most of the time spent by me, Findoh, was in the Central Pyrenees, so I shall leave description of other areas to those who have been there.

Getting there
Lourdes has excellent transport conenctions to the rest of Europe, and provides easy access to some of the best bits of the central Pyrenees.

By Train:
It is possible to book a though ticket from Manchester to Lourdes. The trip has three changes and takes about 11 hours door to door. Therefore it's easier to get to than some of the more remote bits of Scotland...or for that matter, Conway on a sunday. Eurostar website

By planet destroying air travel:
Ryanair flys from Liverpool to Pau Pyrenees. A few warnings about Pau. it's a shithole for walkers, and has no campsites (but helpfully there are three listed on the map in the station) but does have excellent graffiti. Get the train or bus straight out. Oloron Ste-Marie or Lourdes are good onwards destinations with campsites.





By car
Ferry to France. Use map etc

Lourdes
Aparently you can save your soul here too, but it's more useful to the visitor to the Pyrenees for the bus service to Cauterets, and for those arriving at 2330 off the TGV for Camping Arrouaches which is a bit of a hike out of town, but is inexpensive and nice. another plus is the walk back to the station in the morning goes past a decent patisserie. Get the bus to Cauterets and access either the GR10 or HRP.

EDIT: as of june 2012 Camping Arrouaches may no longer be open. we camped there anyway.

Oloron Ste-Marie
Trains from Pau run to Oloron Ste-Marie. The municipal campsite is good. Oloron Ste-Marie has a world heritage site, an atomic garage and a chocolate factory that makes the town smell alternatly of chocolate or death.

 From Oloron get the bus to Urdos, and if heading East, flog up a steep path to the Lovely Refuge du Larry on the HRP, or if heading west, carry on to Canfranc Estacion. If you do visit the Refuge Du Larry, please pick up the pan supports to my MSR stove. They are by the spring. I spent the rest of that holiday burning my fingers.

Luz-St-Saveur
Nice campsite. good shops etc. the bus to Gavarnie goes here. do not miss the bus back from gavarnie. Gavarnie is not a good place to spend a whole day. It is worse to spend the night. There is one bus in in the morning and one out in the evening. The gavarnie fire-engine is priceless in it's antiquity and utility...It has only two wheels for fuck's sake.

Tips
Travel REALLY light. It can be bloody hot.

It's easier to get hold of gas cannisters than the guidebooks suggest (and harder to get hold of liquid fuels).

If it says it's illegal to camp there and you're not in a town, or obviously on a farm, it's probably ok as long as you get up early and don't stay more than one night.

There's shit everywhere on the French side. Get used to it.

It is difficult to pitch tents that rely on peg tension over the 2300m contour line.

You probably don't need a ice axe in high summer. But be safe kids...