
DAYTRIPS
Route of the week
Western Pyrenean Promise
France/Spain
There are so many good roads in the Pyrenees that the options for routes are nearly endless. I already have two routes based around Oloron St Marie... but that doesn't mean I didn't need a third! W
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This route loops out to Spain before cutting back to France for lunch in lovely St Jean Pied de Port and heading further west. It picks up the quiet roads that often get overlooked while visitors concentrate on the more-famous passes a bit further east. These aren't so high and dramatic, perhaps, but they're still great to ride and you'll have them to yourself. As part of the full Pyrenean experience, you need to ride these roads as well as ones like Col du Tourmalet and the Cirque du Gavranie.
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This route was designed to complement the new Pure Pyrenees tour, making it easy to expand that trip by a day with minimal repetition of roads. However, having three routes starting from Oloron St Marie means if you're planning your own tour, you can use the town as a base from which to cloverleaf out on this trio of daytrip rides.
Daytrip GPX files
Downloadable GPX files for daytrip rides in Western Europe, including routes from Bikers' Europe and Bikers' Europe: Hidden Gems. For European tours, click here