Rides around the Pyrenees

I'm with him ^

 

I'm off from Santander next April across Pyrenees , gorge du verdon, Côte d'Azur , route napolean , the alps, Strasbourg then home.
i know the south of France, and the alps really well as I used to live in courchevel for ten years, but I don't know the Pyrenees at all, so I would love to know places as well!

 

Im with them

 

Make sure you take in Col D'Aubisque, Tourmalet and Aspin if the weather is decent

Lots of places to stay

 

There are some fabulous roads in the Pyrenees, the N260 runs nearly the whole length from east to west, it's a great road, in parts it's awesome.
I've done a few trips to the Pyrenees over the last few years and always ride parts of this great road and then plan routes off it, usually north over the border into France.
I usually stay somewhere in the centre for a few days and then plan days out, places I like are in and around Bagneres du Luchon on the french side.
One of my absolute favourite roads is the C28/C13 which is on the Spanish side and runs from Vielha up through a couple of ski resorts and then down to Sort.
The best roads IMHO are usually to be found on the Spanish side and can be found not far away from the aforementioned N260.

 

Just returned home after 8 days in the Pyrenees .You will love it.We have been for the last 4 years and still havent done all of the roads.The roads mentioned by Midnight Runner are excellent particularly the Vielha route but beware of cows and their deposits when heading for Sort out of Vielha. This year we also went into Andorra , not very nice , but found Soldue to be ok with really cheap accomodation at a Hotel Bruxelles ( 42 euro) for a room. From there we dropped out of Andorra through Pas de la Casa into France vbriefly before heading to Berga and then back due east towards Tremp then Ainsa , fantastic ride.
Ainsa is a good base , right on the N260 and the Hotel Dos Rios has secure parking and a really friendly guy called Lewis who runs it. We have stopped there each year for at least a night. We also had a night in Jaca at the Hotel Real , again very good with secure parking.
On the way back to the ferry we stopped in Pamplona at a hotel recommended and arranged by Lewis , the Maisonavre . Great afternoon and night in a very interesting city which was assisted by some sort of festival and some beers in the Cafe Iruna a place where Hemingway used to hang out .

All in all another great visit to Northern Spain I am sure you will enjoy.Petrol slightly cheaper than here and Menu of ther day usually 3 courses with bottle of water and wine for 12 to 15 euros .Hope you have a great time

 

All this talk is making me want to go!

Do you catch the Portsmouth to Bilbao ferry?

 

Wait to book ferry until the bike show is on.there is usually a discount code which knocks 10 % off. We sailed 1st Sept from Plymouth to Santander and returned Bilbao to Portsmouth. With the discount it works out £300 each for 3 of us sharing 4 berth cabin. When you factor in the size of France and the hotels/ peage/petrol I think if you are headed to Spain its the best option, different if the journey through France is to be part of the tour.

Just checked prices for next year and they are the same as this .

 

If you are arriving at Santander there is a great place to stay after a good little ride: Hotel Casona De Quintana Quintana, Spain - Hotel Deals, Reviews and Photos | Venere.com A group of us had a really good night there last year.

Apart from that I would recommend an initial excursion into the Picos de Europa National Park. Just zoom in on Google maps until you see the photos and you can check the road conditions - they are almost always great bits of well maintained tarmac. Some really fun roads, enjoy!