Cirque de Gavarnie
Just 20 km south of Luz-Saint-Sauveur, the UNESCO-listed Cirque de Gavarnie is a cathedral of rock and ice that stops every first-time visitor dead in their tracks. A 1,700-metre curved wall of glacier-streaked limestone shelters Europe's highest waterfall — the Grande Cascade, plunging 422 metres in a single silver thread.
The Walk In
The flat 4 km trail from Gavarnie village to the foot of the cirque follows the Gave de Gavarnie river through meadows dotted with Pyrenean horses. The path is wide enough for families and rewards you with progressively more jaw-dropping views of the headwall as you round each bend.
In summer, donkey rides are available for children along the same route, and the stone Hôtellerie du Cirque at the trail's end has been serving hot chocolate and omelettes to weary walkers since the 19th century — a tradition worth honouring.
The Grande Cascade & Brèche de Roland
Standing beneath the 422-metre Grande Cascade in late spring, when snowmelt is at its peak, the roar is physical — you feel it in your chest. The spray keeps a wide radius perpetually cool and green even on the hottest July afternoon.
More experienced hikers can tackle the full-day ascent to the Brèche de Roland, a dramatic 40-metre-wide notch sliced into the ridge at 2,807 metres. Legend holds that the paladin Roland cut it with his sword Durendal; geology says glaciers, but the myth is more fun.
The brèche sits on the Spanish border and on a clear day you can peer down into the Ordesa valley on the other side — two national parks in one glance.
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