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Gavarnie from Luz-Saint-Sauveur

40 km · 700 m · Luz-Saint-Sauveur

Base
Luz-Saint-Sauveur
Distance
40 km
Elevation gain
700 m
Difficulty
Easy
Type
Out and back
Highest point
Gavarnie (village by the cirque), 1,365 m
Season
May–October (Col de Tentes: June–October)

A perfect warm-up ride for the first day: a steady, never steep climb of just over 20 km through the gorge from Luz up to the village of Gavarnie and the famous cirque with Europe's highest waterfall. The gradient is mostly 3–5 per cent, so there's time to enjoy the view. On the way back it's downhill more or less the whole way. If you want more, carry on 10 km to the Col de Tentes (2208 m), where the gradient bites properly and the traffic disappears.

TipsCafés and restaurants in Gèdre and Gavarnie. Lots of tourist traffic and coaches to Gavarnie in the middle of the day in July–August, so start early. The road to Gavarnie is open all year round. The extension to the Col de Tentes is snow-free roughly from June to October/November.

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