Nature · Barèges

Col du Tourmalet & the Vallée de Barèges

The Col du Tourmalet is the highest paved mountain pass in the French Pyrenees and the most frequently climbed col in the entire history of the Tour de France. Standing at 2,115 metres, it is practically on Barèges's doorstep — and cycling or driving over it feels like crossing a threshold into a wilder, older world.

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Cycling the Tourmalet

The eastern ascent from Barèges is 17 kilometres of steady, relentless climbing through alpine meadows carpeted with gentians and wild orchids in June and July. The gradient averages 7.4%, with ramps touching 10% near the final hairpins — the same slopes that have broken and made Tour legends from Fausto Coppi to Chris Froome.

At the summit, a bronze statue of cyclist Octave Lapize — who first crested the col during the 1910 Tour and reportedly shouted 'assassins!' at the race organisers — marks the achievement. Even non-cyclists make the pilgrimage on foot or by car to photograph it.

The Valley Floor Walk

Below the drama of the pass, the Vallée de Barèges itself rewards slower exploration. The GR10 long-distance trail threads through the valley, and shorter waymarked loops depart directly from the village, following the Bastan torrent through stands of birch and into open grazing land where Merens horses still roam.

The Réserve Naturelle du Néouvielle begins just south of Barèges, offering pristine glacial lakes — Lac d'Aumar and Lac d'Aubert are the most spectacular — accessible via a shuttle bus from Barèges or Aragnouet in summer.

Wildlife & Wildflowers

The high pastures around the Tourmalet are one of the best places in the Pyrenees to spot isards (Pyrenean chamois) at dawn and dusk. Marmots are virtually guaranteed from May onward, popping up from burrows beside the road with cheerful indifference to passing cyclists.

In late June the slopes explode with Pyrenean iris, trumpet gentian and the rare Ramonda myconi, a violet-flowered plant that grows only on shaded limestone cliffs in this mountain range.

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