Walking in the Pyrenees
The Ariege Pyrenees and surrounding foothills offer hundreds of miles wonderful, well-marked, quiet walking for all ages, abilities and experience.
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Spring and early summer is a magical time to explore the Ariege - check our travel advice for cheap flights to Carcassonne and Toulouse. Stay in our wonderful gite or bed and breakfast. We offer warmth, comfort, relaxation and excellent 'walkers meals', using vegetables from our garden and fresh local produce.
We have many routes, day trips and ideas. Please feel free to contact us to discuss your ideas, etc.
On Our Doorstep
There are plenty of
well marked walks locally, many circular. A good example, and one of our
favourites in the entire area, is the walk around the pretty medieval village of
Saint Martin d'Oydes. There are magnificent views across the foothills to
the high peaks, plus plenty of points of interest including bamboo and the oval
village centre built around the church.
Easy - Walking with Children
The Ariege has many spectacular, very high and extremely challenging mountains. However, there are many well signposted walks that offer gentle, generally flat walking that allows the whole family to easily enjoy the
magnificent scenery. We have a number of walking books and many maps, covering the whole area and all abilities. For the younger ones, 4-5 years upwards, there is the 'Les Sentiers d'Emilie en Ariege', with clear maps and route guides (In French!) covering local walks such as around Lac Mondelely to superb walks in the high mountains such as the National Park in the valley of Orlu, near Ax Les Thermes, where Marmots can be seen on the pathside!
A recent favourite was a circular walk to Chateau Roquefixade. The walk is from the village, up through beautiful beech and oak woods, up onto the top of the limestone ridge with superb views to the high mountains, through pastures with grazing cattle then a drop down to the evocative and impressive Cathar castle. You then continue your decent back to Roquefixade village. About 2 hours walking, 200 meters of climbing, 3 km. Easily achieved by our 4 year old daughter!
Medium - Walks that require basic fitness!
There are many, many routes, books, maps, leaflets, etc that detail what could be termed 'medium level' walks, requiring a reasonable level of fitness and needing the same level of experience and equipment to walking in the Lake District for example. The 'L'Ariege... a pied' book covers some 40 walks in the Ariege, from easy paths around lowland areas to within reach of the highest points - all these books are available for use in
Gite de Pechine.
Montcalm nature area offers easy access to spectacular scenery and many miles of well marked paths and circular routes. There are many quiet, scenic picnic and bbq sites throughout the area. This photograph was taken at Etang de Soulcem looking up towards Pic de Montcalm.
The ski resort of les Monts d'Olmes offers superb beautiful walks at high levels without the need for endless climbing.
This is taken looking towards Pic de St Barthelemy.
High Level/Harder - fitness required!
The possibilities for high-level, strenuous walking are endless. It is best to gain the advantage of height through either driving to a central point, such as Plateau Beille or by using the cable car at Ax. There are many books, guides and information on the internet to help you plan an adventure! We can help point you in the right direction. Hopefully next spring and summer we will have the time to tackle some of the higher routes, such as Mt Valier. Watch out for some reports here during 2008.......
To give you some more idea of the beauty and majesty of the Ariege, in particular the higher, wilder places, take a look at the following site www.photosariege.com
For more information on fantastic walking in the Pyrenees for all the family and how to explore this wonderful area, please contact Richard and Sandra:
Click here to email Richard and Sandra
We highly recommend the following walking book, which we use regularly and a copy is available for guests to use, plus maps and other guide books:
'The Ariege Pyrenees are high, stunning mountains, interlaced with beautiful lakes, lush valleys, impressive waterfalls and imposing castles. This book cuts this large, unspoilt area down to a manageable size, providing a good range of walks from easy to hard. Although written in French, each walk is clearly indicated on a small scale map. The trails are very easy to follow both from the book and in reality on the ground. The paths are clearly marked with coloured posts and are well maintained. 'Ariege a pied' helps open up the wonderful world of the Ariege Pyrenees; one of the last spectacular wildernesses in Europe is tamed and brought within easy reach. '
Our review for 'Amazon'.