In Vallées des Gaves, nature is around every corner and in its diversity it has shaped a strong identity which gives meaning to each of your discoveries.

The fauna, flora, water, habitat, religious buildings... everything combines to rouse your interest. Seeing the flight of a vulture or how a former mill functions, photographing the Martagon Lily, stepping inside an intimate chapel, understanding the originality of pastoral legacy...

Do you think you might allow a few extra days?

Stupendous landscapes and exceptional biodiversity

Vast spaces where nature is preserved in its entirety. Do you know of a more enticing place to walk?
The Pyrenees National Park offers up its stupendous landscapes and its exceptional biodiversity with species who only live in our mountains, such as the singular Desman and the delicate Ramonda.

ou can also admire the audacity and agility of the izard, be “whistled” at by the marmot before seeing it disappear down its burrow and find the black woodpecker’s holes in the old pine trees. Lots of hiking trails take you to the heart of this remarkable environment.

The Pibeste nature reserve, the largest in France at 2,600 hectares, is home to 25 of the 31 known species of birds of prey in mainland France, including the Egyptian vulture and the Bearded vulture, with a wingspan of up to 3 metres!

Finally, the Néouvielle Reserve, an extension of the National Park, will surprise you with its high number of lakes and the highest mountain pine forests in Europe. There you go: now you can start packing your backpack!

From the sanctuaries of Lourdes to the intimacy of a chapel

Of course, there is Lourdes and its many places for prayer visited every day by a fervent crowd. But perhaps you prefer the intimacy of a small mountain chapel? Such as the Piétat chapel near Saint-Savin, a village famous for its 12th century Benedictine abbey.

As you walk in the footsteps of the pilgrims on the road to Compostella, you will stop off at the Chapel of Pouey Laün in Val d’Azun and admire this little marvel of western baroque art. More discreet, but equally moving in its simplicity, the church of Gavarnie, set on the side of road to Santiago de Compostella, invites you to climb towards Port de Boucharo on the border with Spain.

You won’t need persuading, it’s magnificent! The list of religious buildings would be too long to set out in full. However, our churches fit in so neatly with each village and every landscape that there must be a touch of the divine at work...

Villages bursting with history

In Vallées des Gaves, history and pastoral farming provide an excuse for a great many discoveries: towers and strongholds take you back to the atmosphere of the middle ages, an era when our territory was independent. The villages and their highland barn complexes bear witness to the solid and sober elegance of Bigourdan architecture.

During your walks it will be impossible to ignore the masterpieces of town planning which are legacies of the 19th century fashion for water cures. This is the case of Pont Napoléon in Saint Sauveur and the former luxury hotels in Cauterets, with their monumental facades decorated with statues and wrought iron balconies.

In our valleys, springs and mountain streams contribute significantly to the diversity of our built heritage. For example, you will note many fountains, washhouses and old mills which still stand alongside our streams and torrents.

Today, the hydroelectric power stations make use of this hydraulic force to produce clean, renewable energy. As you explore the plant in Pragnères, you will learn that the water that powers it is collected using four dams and 40km of galleries pierced into the mountain!

And that is how to satisfy your curiosity!