Hautes-Pyrénées: what to see and do
37 sites listed in the département. Dominated by the UNESCO-listed Cirque de Gavarnie and the peaks of the Vignemale, the Hautes-Pyrénées offer some of the finest hiking country in France. Lourdes, a major place of pilgrimage, and the spa resort of Cauterets complete this exceptional mountain heritage.
Grotte de Bétharram
The Bétharram caves are among the most beautiful that exist, and certainly the most curious to visit, because in the variety of their aspects they give the key to the formation of almost all caves, dead or fully active.
Les Cascades de Cauterets
Here is the kingdom of granite and water; its impressive waterfalls and its many lakes make it a natural paradise where Empress Eugénie came to dream in the last century.
Sanctuaire Notre-Dame de Lourdes
Built on the site of the Marian apparitions of 1858, this sanctuary is one of the most visited places of pilgrimage in the world, welcoming about 6 million people every year.
Cascades d'Arizes et Garet
From Bagnères, take the road of the passes. Follow this road to Sainte-Marie-de-Campan, where you turn right towards the Col du Tourmalet.
Cirque de Troumouse
Upstream of the Héas gave valley, the Troumouse cirque is the largest glacial cirque in the Pyrenees.
Col du Tourmalet
The highest road pass in the French Pyrenees at 2,115 metres, the Tourmalet is the legendary arbiter of the Tour de France, immortalised by the statue of the cycling giant Octave Lapize.
Lac Bleu de lesponne
This middle-mountain Pyrenean lake: 47 ha, 120 m deep, shows a beautiful intense blue colour in fine weather.
Aquarium de Lourdes
Aquarium tropical de Pierrefitte-Nestalas
Cascade du Lutour
This path will take you from La Raillère to the Pont d'Espagne. The route follows the Gave de Jéret, on the left bank.
Centre Balnéa
Château de Mauvezin
This fortress, first restored in 1906 and again under restoration, belonged to the counts of Bigorre, the king of France, the Black Prince, Gaston Phoebus, Henry IV.
Château fort de Lourdes
Cirque de Gavarnie
This exceptional mountain landscape, which spreads on both sides of the present national borders of France and Spain, is centred on the Mont Perdu peak, a limestone massif that peaks at 3,352 metres.
Cirque du Litor
Funiculaire du Pic du Jer
Grand Tourmalet Bagnères-Campan- La
Grotte de Médous
The Médous caves are divided into two parts: a lower gallery, the "dry gallery", and an upper one, the "Gallery of Marvels".
Grottes de Gargas
A few kilometres from the basilica of Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges, the Gargas cave is famous for its walls decorated with enigmatic hand paintings.
La cascade de Magenta dans la vallée de Lesponne
The Magenta waterfall was formerly called the Aspi or La Truite waterfall; it is a fine fall on 3 levels.
Lac de la Glère
Le Donjon des Aigles
The château de Beaucens, in the Hautes-Pyrénées, houses one of the most prestigious collections of birds of prey: kites, vultures, eagles, sea eagles, falcons or buzzards rub shoulders with parrots in summer.
Le Pic du Midi de Bigorre
The Pic du Midi de Bigorre is in the Hautes-Pyrénées, and reaches an altitude of 2,877 metres.
Lourdes
Lourdes et le cachot
Massif du Néouvielle
A granite massif of the Hautes-Pyrénées peaking at 3,192 m, famous for its many high-altitude lakes such as Aumar, Aubert and Cap de Long.
Musée de Cire de Lourdes
Parc National des Pyrénées
The Pyrenees National Park, also called the Western Pyrenees National Park, is one of the ten national parks of France in the south of the country in the western part of the Pyrenees mountain range, straddling the Hautes-Pyrénées (Midi-Pyrénées region) and the…
Parc animalier des Pyrénées
In the very heart of the Pyrenean chain, discover the region's animals in vast spaces where marmots, bears, wolves, isards, lynx, roe deer, otters and squirrels live in semi-freedom.
Peyragudes
Saint Lary Soulan
Authentic thanks to its traditional village of character and sporty through the variety and quality of its ski area, Saint-Lary is the dream place for the whole family to enjoy intense leisure. 3 access points to the pistes, 3 linked sectors for a vast and varied area. 100 km of…
Cascade de Boussès
Cascade du Ceriset
Cirque d'Estaubé
A discreet neighbour of the famous cirques of Gavarnie and Troumouse, the Estaubé cirque closes the valley of the same name on the Spanish border. Included in the Pyrénées – Mont Perdu UNESCO property, it appeals to hikers seeking tranquillity.
Lac de Gaube
Nestled at the foot of the Vignemale, this Pyrenean glacial lake is reached from Cauterets by a hiking path or a chairlift. Its clear waters, framed by steep walls, make it one of the most visited mountain lakes in the French Pyrenees.
Pont d'Espagne
At 1,500 metres' altitude, this Pyrenean natural site brings together waterfalls and torrents at the confluence of several glacial valleys. Gateway to the Pyrenees National Park, it is the classic starting point for Lac de Gaube.
