Pyrenees and the Basque Coast: Carcassonne, Lourdes, Biarritz and San Sebastián

1. Day 1: Toulouse, then Carcassonne by evening

   Toulouse-Blagnac Airport to central Toulouse, then Carcassonne

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Dinner
   • Stay in Carcassonne
   Day 1 details

   Your guide and driver meet the group at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport (TLS) at about 11:30 am, so plan to land by 11 or arrive the day before. We drive into the centre and walk the pink-brick old town for about two hours: the Place du Capitole, the Basilica of Saint-Sernin, a UNESCO-listed stop on the pilgrim routes to Santiago, and the Garonne quays. There is time for a coffee or a light lunch of your own on the way. Mid-afternoon we take the A61 east for about an hour and a quarter to Carcassonne, check in at our hotel inside or at the foot of the Cité, and walk up into the Cité as the day visitors leave and the walls turn gold. Dinner is a welcome meal together inside the walls, the first chance to meet over a plate of cassoulet. Your guide runs through the week at the table.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport (TLS)
   • Guided walk in Toulouse: the Place du Capitole, the Basilica of Saint-Sernin and the Garonne quays
   • Evening walk into the Cité of Carcassonne
   • Welcome dinner inside the walls

   Free time: Free time for lunch in Toulouse

   Activity: About 5 km on foot, mostly flat, with a short climb into the Cité.

   

2. Day 2: Carcassonne's ramparts, then Lourdes

   Carcassonne to Lourdes

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Lourdes
   Day 2 details

   We are at the gate of the Château comtal when it opens, the quietest hour of a site that fills with coaches by late morning. A local guide takes us through the castle and along the ramparts, where the double ring of walls and towers, restored in the 19th century by Viollet-le-Duc, looks out over the Aude valley and, on a clear day, the Pyrenees. After a sit-down lunch in the lower town we take the motorway west past Toulouse and along the foot of the mountains, about two hours and fifty minutes, with a stop on the way. We reach Lourdes at about 4:30 pm. After check-in your guide walks you down to the sanctuary: the Grotto of Massabielle, the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception and the river Gave. The evening is free, and from April to October the candlelit procession leaves at 9 pm.

   Included

   • The Château comtal and ramparts of Carcassonne at opening with a local guide
   • Sit-down lunch in Carcassonne
   • Walk through the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes with your guide: the Grotto, the basilicas and the Gave

   Optional experiences

   • The torchlight procession in Lourdes (free, nightly at 9 pm from April to October)

   Easier option: Skip the upper rampart walk and wait in the castle courtyard or a café in the Cité.

   More active option: Walk down from the Cité across the Pont Vieux into the lower town before lunch.

   Free time: Evening free

   Activity: About 7 km on foot, with steps on the ramparts.

   

3. Day 3: The Cirque de Gavarnie on foot

   Lourdes to Gavarnie and back, via Luz-Saint-Sauveur

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Lourdes
   Day 3 details

   We leave Lourdes by 8:15 am and drive about an hour and a quarter up the Gave de Pau gorge, through Luz-Saint-Sauveur, to the village of Gavarnie at 1,370 m. Walking by about 9:30 puts us on the track before the day-trip coaches arrive. From the village a broad path follows the river into the Cirque de Gavarnie, a curved wall of limestone about 1,500 m high, part of the UNESCO-listed Pyrénées-Mont Perdu area that crosses into Spain. The Grande Cascade drops over 400 m from its rim, and in early summer snowmelt falls in ribbons all around it. The walk to the inn at the foot of the cirque, at about 1,570 m, is about 4 km each way and takes about an hour and a quarter, with gentle climbing. We are back in the village by about 1 pm for lunch in the village, with time to walk the old church and its pilgrim cemetery. We leave at about 2:45 and are back in Lourdes by about 4 pm; the evening is free.

   Included

   • Guided walk into the Cirque de Gavarnie to the foot of the cirque
   • Sit-down lunch in Gavarnie village

   Optional experiences

   • Horse or donkey ride on the Gavarnie track (paid on the spot)

   Easier option: Walk the first, near-level stretch along the river and wait at a café in the village, or ride a horse or donkey up the track.

   More active option: Continue with your guide from the inn toward the foot of the Grande Cascade over rocky ground, about an hour and a half more return.

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free in Lourdes

   Activity: About 8 km return and 200 m of climbing on a broad track, about 2.5 hours walking; up to 11 km on the active option.

   

4. Day 4: Pic du Midi, then into the Basque hills

   Lourdes to La Mongie and the Pic du Midi, then Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port
   Day 4 details

   We leave Lourdes at about 8:15 am and drive about an hour and ten minutes through Bagnères-de-Bigorre to La Mongie, at about 1,800 m, for the first cable car of the morning up the Pic du Midi de Bigorre, 2,877 m. It leaves at 9:30, or at 9 am in July and August. The observatory has stood on the summit since the late 19th century, and the terraces look along the whole Pyrenean chain, often above a sea of cloud. Allow about two hours at the top with the small museum on the observatory's work, and we come down before the cable car's midday break. Lunch is sit-down in La Mongie or the valley at about 12:30. At about 2 pm we drive west along the foot of the mountains, about two hours and fifty minutes with a coffee stop, into the green Basque hills. The total is about four hours of driving in two legs. We reach Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, the walled town where the Camino Francés starts, at about 5:30 pm. Dinner is free in the old town.

   Included

   • Return cable car from La Mongie to the Pic du Midi de Bigorre (2,877 m)
   • The summit terraces and observatory museum
   • Sit-down lunch in the valley

   Easier option: Stay indoors in the summit museum and café if the altitude or wind is uncomfortable.

   More active option: Walk the ramparts path around Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port's citadel before dinner.

   Free time: Evening free in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port

   Activity: Light walking only; the summit is at 2,877 m and can be near freezing in any month.

   

5. Day 5: Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and Espelette to Biarritz

   Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Espelette, then Biarritz

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Biarritz
   Day 5 details

   The morning starts in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, where pilgrims set out each day for Roncesvalles and Santiago. Your guide walks you down the cobbled Rue de la Citadelle from the Porte Saint-Jacques, past the pilgrims' office, to the old bridge over the Nive and the red-shuttered houses reflected in the water, then up to the citadel for the view over the valley. Walkers can take the first stretch of the Route Napoléon uphill instead, with the van collecting them above the town. We leave mid-morning and drive about an hour to Espelette, the village whose red peppers hang drying on the house fronts in late summer, for a sit-down Basque lunch. Then it is half an hour to Biarritz, where we check in for two nights by mid-afternoon. The rest of the day is free: the Grande Plage, the market halls or a swim.

   Included

   • Guided walk in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port: the Porte Saint-Jacques, the Rue de la Citadelle, the Nive bridge and the citadel
   • Espelette village walk
   • Sit-down Basque lunch in Espelette

   Easier option: Skip the climb to the citadel and wait by the river.

   More active option: Walk the first uphill stretch of the Route Napoléon, the Camino over the Pyrenees, with the van collecting you above the town.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Biarritz

   Activity: About 5 km on foot with a steep cobbled lane; up to 9 km and about 400 m of climbing on the active option.

   

6. Day 6: Biarritz and Saint-Jean-de-Luz

   Biarritz to Saint-Jean-de-Luz and back

   • Drive about 48 min
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Biarritz
   Day 6 details

   We start on foot in Biarritz while the promenade is still quiet: the Grande Plage below the Hôtel du Palais, built for Napoleon III and the Empress Eugénie, the old fishermen's port and the footbridge out to the Rocher de la Vierge, with the Atlantic breaking on the rocks below. We drive twenty-five minutes south to Saint-Jean-de-Luz, the fishing port where Louis XIV married Maria Theresa of Spain in 1660. Your guide takes you into the Church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste, with its tiered wooden galleries, and past the house where the king stayed, before a sit-down lunch of fish near the harbour. The afternoon is free on the town beach or in the shops of the Rue Gambetta; the van returns to Biarritz at about 3 pm, with a later run for anyone who stays. The evening is free in Biarritz.

   Included

   • Guided walk in Biarritz: the Grande Plage, the old port and the Rocher de la Vierge
   • Saint-Jean-de-Luz walk with your guide, including the Church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste
   • Sit-down lunch in Saint-Jean-de-Luz

   Optional experiences

   • The La Rhune rack railway from the Col de Saint-Ignace to the 905 m summit on the French-Spanish border (price shown at booking)
   • Surf lesson on the Côte des Basques

   Easier option: Stay in Biarritz for the day and meet the group for lunch, or return to the hotel after lunch.

   More active option: Walk the coast path from the Rocher de la Vierge to the Côte des Basques before breakfast.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free

   Activity: About 6 km on foot, mostly flat.

   

7. Day 7: Hondarribia and San Sebastián

   Biarritz to Hondarribia, then San Sebastián

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and dinner
   • Stay in San Sebastián
   Day 7 details

   We cross into Spain after breakfast, about forty minutes to Hondarribia, a walled Basque town at the mouth of the Bidasoa. Your guide walks you up through the gate to the Plaza de Armas and the Calle Mayor, with its carved wooden balconies, and down to the fishermen's quarter of La Marina, where lunch is your own choice of pintxos bars. Half an hour more brings us to San Sebastián in the early afternoon. After check-in we walk the length of La Concha bay and climb Monte Urgull, about twenty minutes up shaded paths, for the view over the bay and the island of Santa Clara. There is time to rest before the evening. At about 8 pm your guide leads the group through the Parte Vieja for a pintxos evening across several bars, the way San Sebastián eats, with a drink at each stop.

   Included

   • Hondarribia old-town walk with your guide
   • La Concha bay and Monte Urgull walk in San Sebastián
   • Guided pintxos evening in the Parte Vieja, with a drink at each stop

   Optional experiences

   • The Monte Igueldo funicular for the view from the other side of the bay (paid on the spot)

   Easier option: Walk La Concha and skip the climb up Monte Urgull.

   More active option: Walk out along the promenade to the Peine del Viento sculptures at the far end of the bay.

   Free time: Late afternoon free in San Sebastián

   Activity: About 8 km on foot with a short climb on Monte Urgull.

   

8. Day 8: La Concha in the morning, then home

   San Sebastián to Biarritz Airport

   • Drive about 54 min
   • Breakfast
   Day 8 details

   A free morning in San Sebastián. Swim at La Concha or Ondarreta while the beach is quiet, walk through La Bretxa market as the stalls fill, or sit with a coffee and the last of the pintxos counters in the old town. Your guide is around to point you to the San Telmo Museum or the Monte Igueldo funicular. At about 11 am the van leaves for Biarritz airport (BIQ), about fifty minutes back across the border, arriving by around noon; book flights leaving after 2 pm. If you are staying on in Spain we drop you at your hotel or at the San Sebastián station before the van leaves. Bilbao airport (BIO) is about 100 km west and can be added as a private transfer. Breakfast is included, and the trip ends at the airport.

   Included

   • Drop-off at Biarritz Airport (BIQ), or in San Sebastián if you are staying on

   Free time: Morning free until about 11 am

Wildlife and weather: June is green, with snow still on the high peaks and in some years on the upper part of the Gavarnie walk. July and August are warm in Carcassonne and Lourdes (often 28 to 32 °C) and busy everywhere. September and early October are settled and quieter. The Basque coast is mild and showery in any month, and the Pic du Midi can be near freezing even in summer. Look for griffon vultures and marmots on the Gavarnie track. The trip starts in June because the Pic du Midi cable car closes for maintenance in May.

• Carcassonne1 night
• Lourdes2 nights
• Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port1 night
• Biarritz2 nights
• San Sebastián1 night