A Short Tour of the Pyrenees Oriental

Perpignan, Ax-les-Thermes, Bagneres-de-Luchon, Salardu, La Seu d'Urgell, Prats de Mollo

Introduction

"... agencies make travelling easy; they organise parties, issue circular and combined tickets, sell hotel coupons, and render many other useful services; but the enterprising traveller will often prefer to dispense with such aid and to maintain his independence and liberty of action." quote from Baedeker's Southern France 1909

Anyone who has read the account of our London Walk will know that Antony and I had some success making up an itinerary on the hoof, so we decided to employ the method on a grander scale during a week long tour through the Pyrenees. Admittedly we did take the 'Rough Guide' to help us along but we promise that we didn't look at it until we were over the English Channel on-route to Perpignan. We think we did pretty well, cramming some great walks, a bit of cycling, a little history, some fantastic food and wine, some hair raising roads and above all, stunning scenery into a 7 day holiday.

Once again we have used some old guides for the source of the maps and once again we feel it necessary to remind you that many date from 1909 - don't use them as the basis for a tour (although, as you will discover they may well be better than the map that we were using).

next: Perpignan to Ax-Les-Thermes