Does anybody have a decent route they may have ridden from Bilbao heading over the Pyrenees toward Perpignan. I want to take in some of the cols that the Tour de France uses. I've got about three days once off the boat to do it.
Head towards Jaca then pick up N260.This is a fantastic road and runs straight over towards Med. Take a detour on N230 though and go to Vielha through there picking up C28 and C13 towards Sort miles of bends with little traffic and excellent road surface.You could go to Andorra ,the road into Pas De la Cas and down into France or back into Spain are good but Andorra itself wasnt great imo. Lots of places to stay,eat and drink and at reasonable cost.Nice people cheaper petrol what more could you want.Our annal european tour has taken us back 4 years running and there are still great roads we havent hit yet.Get Michelin Regional map 577 and aim to hit as many green coloured bendy roads as possible. Hope you have a great time
Wow. Great advice. Seems like you know the area well. Going to get to the shop now and get the maps. Thanks very much.
The pass out of Andorra and the roads around there are great, but the border entry and exit can be slow. The town itself is definitely worth a miss! My wife and I are going 2 up next month. Depending on the weather we will come in through Jaca as Nodrog suggests or via Oloron-Sainte-Marie on the French side. I haven't done the latter route before, but it looks like you can get off the motorway at Saint Jean De Luz and go cross country using D and E roads. After that we have booked in Bagneres De Luchon, Sort and Jaca as I love the riding and scenery in that area. Plan is to ride 2 up pretty slow in the mornings, get to the hotel and then drop off the pillion and the panniers and go for solo afternoon blasts.
I'll 3rd that on Andorra, went about 6yrs ago and based ourselves there for 2 days as it was cheap..... that's all that could be said for it..... Pass through for cheap fuel and the ride up and down but it isn't worth staying... just watch the Spaniards/Frenchies head home at the end of a shopping spree!
I'll 4th that on Andorra. My gf and I went east to west last year and had planned to stay in Andorra. At the end of a long ride we cruised around looking for a hotel but we were not impressed. It struck us as being a grey and scruffy placed. In the end we headed south into Spain, found a really nice hotel for about €50 which let us park our bike in their front garden! I do have a couple of good memories about Andorra. A snow ball fight at a ski resort (in June) and filling up at a petrol station (at the same resort) with a sign saying the fuel was at -4 degrees! It would have been interesting to see how how many miles I got out of that tankful!! Kevin
I did this route last year - it was just sensational Satnav was TomTom on the iPhone which was superb There was still some snow in June Stopped through Gavernie Falls on the French side Heading south over the mountains to Jaca from the French side Best trip ever with good mates You'll have a blast! I'm heading back there in a couple of weeks time, this time on the K1300S, and doing a slightly different route.
And if heading to Perpignan, head a little farther north to the Millau through the stunning Carcasonnes... Lord Foster's engineering masterpiece
Sprocket you could do a lot worse than follow large chunks of Spareparts route, its a cracker. Done the Spanish side of this but cant comment on French. I have had the snow in June Andorra experience too. Quickly goes when sun comes out next day but it does happen .We had around 4 or 5 inches one evening which prompted us heading for Spain the next day . Was fantastic to feel temps change from really cold to really hot in about 30 mins , one of the best bike rides ever for me.
I!me going down from Portsmouth to Bilbao on the 4th june, we are heading in the same direction, we are staying in Biescas, then up over the tormelet and aubisque and heading to carcassone, then onto st tropez, Route Napolean, alps etc Be careful though as the col du aubisque and Tormalet are still closed as we speak! Great roads, great views!
Thanks for posting the map Spareparts. I'm going to Oloron en route to Perpignan but might chuck in that leg south from there that you did.
We rode from point F (Laruns) to J (Andorra) in a day, including the detour to Gavernie Falls (H). The weather in mid-June last year from Vielha to Andorra hit 30C airtemp, and by the time we reach Andorra our body temps were about 2degrees south of the sun. You have to keep drinking isotonic fluids - despite drinking upto 1L of Aquarius at every fuel stop, there was nothing to pee at Andorra! It was during this stretch that given the pace we were riding at, even the PilotPower3s overheated and my front was pushing wide on entry to many of the bends. After Andorra, we turned back west and did the southern N260. But do not miss out the N152 from K (Puigcerda) to L (Ripoll)! The N152 (Top Gear's favourite test road!) is truly epic, arguably even better than many sections of the N260. The Cadi Tunnel (M) is a brilliant tunnel offering cool respite from the heat.
Here is what was probably the most memorable day we rode last year. 317 miles, no motorways. Leaving Andorra and heading out east before south to ride the N152, through the Cadi Tunnel, then back west along the N260, ending at the ski resort town of Saint Lary-Soulan. This day was a tough day - a solid 9 hours of riding at twisties at pace in 20-30C heat, on the 1098R with a 15kg backpack, stopping only for fuel and a light lunch. The 4 of us made it, shattered but buzzing with adrenaline, and just thinking that it would be impossible to better that route for road riding. Without a doubt, one of the most memorable sectors was tracing the Rio Eseras river from (G) Castejon de Sos to (H) Campo. Grade 4/5 rapids on the fall off to the right, narrow 1.5 lane 2-way road, steep cliff on the left, with blind turns all the way on mirror smooth ribboned tarmac that just ebbed and flowed. HEAVEN.
Sprocket, you'll have a great time, done most of the routes already given above and they're great roads. A couple of tips - 1. Before you start your days ride check for any closed tunnels / passes (ask at your hotel), we didn't and one decently long circular days ride turned into a VERY long day, a tunnel was shut due to roadworks and the detour added another 100 (nice & twisty) miles before we got back to the hotel (mountains can get in the way sometimes ). By the time we got back it was dark and a rapid change out of bike gear was required before the restaurant closed for the night! 2. IMO roads on the Spanish side are much better maintained than the French. Also a lot of the Spanish roads are really grippy (looks like sandpaper, glistens in the sun), great fun but expect your tyres to wear more rapidly! Travelled with friends a few years back and their tyres were way past legal when we got back on the ferry. 3. A couple of years now since I've been in the Pyrenees but seem to remember that some small towns / villages (mostly in the west I think) have traffic lights linked to speed sensors on the outskirts, approach too quick and they'll change to red and hold you for a long wait. Better progress by keeping pretty close to speed limit when approaching these. Have fun! This year Black Forest, Alps, Dolomites and deeper into Austria for me. Tuscany next year maybe via the Pyrenees. No doubt you've got the ferry already booked, but consider the Santander route - quicker, only one night instead of two ('er indoors doesn't ferry well), and in my experience do a better job of strapping the bike down.
+1 for that river canyon stretch. I remember whooping out loud in my helmet and thinking I was in some fantastic video game, but in 3d sound-surround pin sharp reality. Awesome! I could not recall exactly where it was though, so thanks for reminding me. On another note, I was wondering if it was worth taking my heavy lock up chain this time? Any views on bike theft risk in the region?
