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The French Pyrenees With Peter Kellett
Beautiful farmland, rich valleys with fast flowing streams, beech forests, and ancient villages and cultural sites are the destinations of our walks. Join Peter Kellett as we walk sections of the GR10, the famous long distance footpath that follows the Pyrenees from Atlantic to Mediterranean.
Gallery View map
Gallery View map
Tour Highlights
- St-Jean-Pied–de-Port
- The Pilgrims’ Way, GR65
- Chateau Laas
- Salies de Bearn
- French cuisine and wine
- Peaks and passes of the Pyrenees
Inclusions
- Accommodation: 7 nights twin/share in a renovated Basque farmhouse
- Meals: 7 breakfasts, 6 lunches, and 6 evening meals
- Wine and beer with evening meals
- Professional driver/guides
- All local transport to walks and attractions
- A fully organized program of walks and visits
- Transfers to and from Dax
The French Pyrenees With Peter Kellett
Day 1: 29 May 2012Meet at Dax TGV railway station at this afternoon and transfer to ‘Etxexuria’, our comfortable Basque farmhouse in the foothills of the Pyrenees. Time to settle in and a short stroll before dinner.
Day 2: 30 May 2012
Ostabat (5 hours, 12 kms)
A fairly gentle start to the week. This walk starts from a saddle within view of the house and heads north along the edge of the Lantabat valley. Winding through gentle farming country, our route joins the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela (the GR65) and passes a 12th century chapel which was once a sanctuary for those on the pilgrimage. We end the walk at a café in the village of Ostabat, a former meeting point of several of the routes leading to Santiago.
Day 3: 31 May 2012
Urdos (4 hours, 8 kms)
Urdos, a tiny hamlet with an ancient château and a 17C chapel, is the starting point for one of our shorter walks, some 40 minutes drive from Etxexuria. We climb up by the river under the shade of chestnut and oak woodland, past picturesque old barns, shepherds' huts, craggy rocks and lush vegetation. We have the option of walking up to the Iparla ridge and the Spanish border before descending towards Urdos.
Day 4: 01 June 2012
Source of the Bidouze (5 hours - 12 kms)
We start with a long but gentle uphill in shady beech forest by the River Bidouze. Arriving at a vertical limestone cliff face below a hanging valley, we are faced with a dark cave containing the source of the River Bidouze, and if one is to believe Basque legend, the home of a "laminak" or two (Basque equivalent of leprechauns)! From here a track takes us to our lunch spot above the hanging valley, where we enjoy wonderful views of surrounding forest and mountains. After lunch, we continue the circuit past a wood pigeon netting site (only active in October), eventually dropping down and through lush farmland surrounded by hills, to be collected.
Day 5: 02 June 2012
Cold'Ispéguy (5 hours - 12 kms)
One of the most attractive villages in the Pays Basque is Saint Etienne de Baïgorry, on the road to Spainfrom St-Jean-Pied-de-Port. Starting from the Col d'Ispéguy (one of the Pyrenean crossing points for that mother of all cycle races, the Tour de France), this walk traverses forest and mountain pastures, and offers superb views into both Spainand France. The last phase of the walk includes a descent valley through shaded woods and by the side of a fast flowing mountain stream to a cafe.
Day 6: 03 June 2012
Salies de Béarn (0 kms!)
As a rest from walking; today we drive north out of the Basque country to this charming mediaeval Béarnaise town. We typically visit the lovely Chateau Laas and then you can wander around a typical French market before lunching in a local cafe. In the early afternoon you can visit the town's famous spa baths to relieve any aching muscles.
Day 7: 04 June 2012
Sommet d'Occabé (5 hours, 12 kms)
This walk climbs up through the beautiful Iraty beech forest (the largest in western Europe) to a large open plateau and the summit of Occabé. At 1456m this is the highest in the area accessible on foot. Here we pass a formation of 26 cromlechs (stone circles) dating back to the Iron Age. After lunch we descend through forest to our pickup point.
Day 8: 05 June 2012
Pack and transfer to Dax railway station by 09h00 in time for the TGV to Paris
IN A NUTSHELL
7 nights
$2,580Please call
May 29, 2012
Walking- Moderate
