THE GRAND PYRENEAN TOUR

Travellers from the UK can depart from Portsmouth on Sunday 15th September, 2024 at 21:45 to arrive in Bilbao at 08:00 Tuesday May 17th, 2024.

A scenic drive will take you to Pamplona, where the stay will be at the Castillo de Gorraiz Hotel.

A welcome lunch will take place at a selected restaurant where travellers coming from mainland Europe can join the tour.

The welcome dinner will take place at the hotel.

Iraty, North from Pamplona, is the 2nd largest pine and beech forest in Europe, only after Germany’s Black Forest. 

Three beautiful valleys with picturesque villages and Caseríos (the tipical Basque farms). Interesting stops that will be recommended in the road book, like the ancient stone circles of Izpegui or the Gorges de Kakuetta, a perfect place for enjoying the packed lunches that will be provided in the morning.

The destination today is Canfranc, once the largest train station in the Pyrenees, which has been restored after decades of been abandoned and is now a charming 5 star hotel.

Dinner will be at the hotel.

A circular route returning to the same hotel in Canfranc is scheduled for today. 

A mountain stage with two spectacular mountain passes going north into France and then back into the Spanish side of the Pyrenees, as the smugglers used to do to bring goods from France into Spain and viceversa.

Dinner will be at the hotel’s restaurant.

South from the Pyrenees the roads are also amazing.

The so-called Pre-Pyrenees are not so high, but the scenery is second to none.

Today the group will stop at the Loarre Castle, built in 1033 and probably the best preserved medieval castle in the Iberian Peninsula.

After a stop at a local restaurant for lunch, the road book will take travellers to the Monasterio de Boltaña Hotel, where the tour will stop for the next two nights.

Dinner tonight will be free so you can visit the nearby village of Ainsa, one of the most beautiful villages in the Pyrenees.

After a drive of some of the most picturesque roads of the Pyrenees, the group will arrive to Broto, from where 4x4 vehicles will bring travellers to the top of the protected Ordesa National Park.

A picnic lunch will be arranged at the top and an easy walk will take you to the most astonishing viewing points of these mountains.

Dinner will be served at the hotel.

The tulip notes will guide participants to Vielha, and a helicopter will take groups of 4 travelers for a flight over the peaks.

May is the best time of the year for this activity, as there is still snow at the top of the mountains and also some of the lakes could be partialy frozen, and flying over them is a thrilling experience.

The stay tonight will be at the Parador de Vielha, a great hotel overlooking the valley. Dinner will be at the Parador.

One of the toughest stages of the Tour the France is the famous Col du Tourmalet which will be on todays route, as well as the col d’Aspin. 

Tonight the group will stay in the Breche de Roland, a small local hotel in Gedre, close to the Glacial Cirque of Gavarnie.

In La Mongie, the village almost at the top of the col de Tourmalet, there is a cable car that goes all the way to the Pic du Midi. If the day is clar you shouldn’t miss it. The views from the top are difficult to put into words.

At the hotel, the owner is a great chef that will prepare a special local menú for our group’s dinner.

Some of the roads on today’s route are so high it doesn’t matter if it’s cloudy, as the clouds will be below us.

The Larrau Mountain Pass is one of our all time favourites. 

Our destination today is the historical village of Sos del Rey Católico, where the stay will be at the Parador.

Dinner will also be served at the Parador.

Olite Royal Palace was built at the beginning of the s. XV, at the request of the King of Navarra Carlos III the Noble and his wife Doña Leonor de Trastámara.

It is made up of a set of patios, rooms, moats and gardens, topped by numerous towers that can also be accessed.

It was one of the most sumptuous palaces in Europe, with hanging gardens, running water, luxurious decoration and even exotic animals such as lions or camels. Today it is the most important medieval monument in Navarra.

Tonight the stay will be at the same Parador in Sos del Rey Católico, And dinner will be at the hotel’s restaurant.

Todays drive will be on beautiful back roads of Navarre, la Rioja and the Basque Country, and arriving to Bilbao, where the stay will be at the 5* Grand Hotel Domine, overlooking the world famous Guggenheim Museum.

Since the iconic Guggenheim Museum was built, Bilbao has undergone impressive changes that have turned the once decadent and industrial city into one of the most atractive and charming cities in Spain.

Lunch today will be at a local restaurant and dinner will be free, but we will go to the old part of town, not far from the hotel, to have some of the great pintxos and tapas that the Basque Country is world famous for.

After 10 days of driving on the most astonishing roads of Spain and France the cars will remain at the parking today as drivers and passengers enjoy a day in Bilbao.

In the morning there will be a guided visit to the Guggenheim Museum, just across the street from our hotel, and then you will have the rest of the day free to enjoy Bilbao. 

Dinner, which will take place in a local restaurant where you will enjoy the most authentic Basque cuisine… a grand finale to a great tour!

After breakfast the tour will be finished and those participants returning to the UK by ferry will be accompanied to the port by the Classics on the Road team.