Sightseeing along the way
Gavarnie: a little mountain village at an altitude of 1,400 m with a population of barely 160 and lots of cafés, restaurants and holiday accommodation.
The place is always buzzing in summer – every year nearly a million visitors come to admire the Cirque. In winter the village turns into the superb ski resort of Gavarnie-Gèdre. It is also on the Pyrenean Foothills route, one of the paths of the St James's Way pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela.
The Gave de Gavarnie: the first part of the walk runs alongside this fast-flowing, crystal-clear river fed by the water funnelled down by the Cirque de Gavarnie (including the Grande Cascade waterfall).
The broad trail that follows the Gave is the one that most visitors follow on foot, on horseback or by mule to get to the Cirque de Gavarnie. The walk described here soon splits off this trail to climb to the Plateau de Pailha.
The Plateau de Pailha: this plateau at an altitude of 1,742 m gives you a sensational view of the Cirque de Gavarnie and, higher up, of the famous Brèche de Roland, a natural gap in the cirque wall 40 metres wide and 100 metres high. According to legend, it was hewn out by the sword of Roland, the nephew of Charlemagne, at the end of the Battle of Roncevaux. This impressive gap marks the boundary between the Pyrenees National Park (France) and the Ordessa National Park (Spain).
The Pyrenees National Park: this walk takes place inside the Pyrenees National Park. The Park is home to the Great Tourist Sites of the Pyrenees: not just Gavarnie but also the Pont d’Espagne, Lac de Gaube, Néouvielle Massif and more. The scenery is fantastic, with lots of evidence of livestock grazing, amazingly diverse wildlife with more than 4,000 species listed, and a flora unrivalled in Europe in terms of its originality.
One of the Pyrenees National Park visitor centres (Tel. +33 (0)5 62 92 42 48) is in Gavarnie, and here you'll find information about the Park itself and the activities on offer.
The Grande Cascade: from the bottom of the Cirque de Gavarnie where you'll come to the Hôtellerie du Cirque hotel, you can make a detour (50 minutes there and back) to see the Grande Cascade. This 422-metre waterfall is the highest in mainland France. The Gave de Gavarnie, the source of which is on the lower slopes of Le Marboré (3,248 m), falls from such a height that the water vaporises into a plume of spray.
Gavarnie Church: at the end of the walk, a flat path takes you to this 14th century church, a former priory founded by the Order of Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site as a major staging post on St James's Way to Santiago de Compostela.
Gavarnie Cemetery: this contains the graves of several legendary figures of Pyreneism including the mountain guides of the Passet family, François Bernard-Salles and Georges Ledormeur, people whose mountaineering exploits contributed to the knowledge and conquest of the Pyrenees in the 19th century.
Millaris: before or after your walk, visit Millaris, the 'Maison des Cirques' visitor centre in Gèdre, 7 km from Gavarnie. This modern, interactive museum offers a fascinating look at the Gavarnie site, explaining its history, the pastoral culture that it symbolises and the different aspects that lead to it becoming listed as a World Heritage Site.
Practical info
The Cirque de Gavarnie walk
Start and end point
The car park on the edge of the village of Gavarnie (Hautes Pyrénées).
Duration
3 hrs 45 min, not including the return trip to the Refuge des Espuguettes (30 min) and the Grande Cascade (50 min).
Total height difference
Almost 400 m (1,365 to 1,748 m).
Waymarking
Yellow directional panels.
Level
Intermediate.
Best time to go
June to October.
More challenging parts
Cliffside sections on the first half of the route. No directional panels on part of the return path to Gavarnie.
Additional information
Dogs, even on a lead, are not permitted on this walk (Pyrenees National Park regulations).
Getting there
Gavarnie is 20 km south of Luz-Saint Sauveur on the N21.
Information
This walk takes you to the Cirque de Gavarnie along an attractive cliff path that gives you some unforgettable panoramic views of the most famous limestone cirque in the Pyrenees.
Protected within the boundary of the Pyrenees National Park, the Cirque de Gavarnie forms an incredible wall of rock 1,700 metres high and 14km in circumference. It rises in concentric tiers, surrounded by a cortège of giants including Mont Perdu (3,352 m), the Pic du Marboré (3,248 m) and the Taillon (3,144 m). It contains one of the most impressive waterfalls in Europe (422 m vertical drop) and is close to two other giants: the Cirque de Troumouse and the Cirque d’Estaubé.
Exploring a World Heritage Site
The crowning glory of the 'Pyrenees - Mont Perdu' area, the Cirque de Gavarnie has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997 on the basis of both natural and cultural criteria. Very few sites around the world have been honoured by this double distinction.
The Cirque de Gavarnie rose to fame as a result of the various explorations that were made of it. From as early as the 16th century, bold and adventurous botanists, scientists, romantics, artists, poets and mountaineers made Gavarnie the birthplace of what has become known as Pyreneism.
The cirque entered into legend for good when Victor Hugo described it as "an impossible and extraordinary object," and a "colosseum of nature."
The Cirque de Gavarnie and surrounding area are a sanctuary for hiking but also for canyoning (trips supervised by Gavarnie Bureau des Guides) and winter sports in the ski resort of Gavarnie-Gèdre.
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