The Great Pyrenees Loop
Welcome to our Special Tour around Pyreneese! Edwin, Leo, Edgar, Eduardo, Julio and Andres made the Long Way East in order to do this amazing tour with us! A returning and loyal group of friends from El Savador - its the best feedback anyone can have, and Edelweiss is thankfull for that! As always it always starts with our Welcome and Safety Briefing, even if we have our returning guests we don't forget about safety. We welcome our guests and provide them with information about the tour’s unique features and highlights. This time Michael and Jure have the pleasure to guide this special tour through the Pyrenees that will take us through 2,500 km of the high mountains, valleys, villages, history and of course food of Spain and France. After providing the groundwork for a safe, relaxed, and exciting tour for all participants. a welcome dinner connected us into the first evening. Stay tuned
What a first day! We opened the tour with amazing 360km of one of best Catalan twists. We headed north from our hotel in Casteldefells and first visited the amazing Montserrat monastery, a 1001 year old preserved piece of history. A coffee with a view and photo for a lifetime memory. We continued the ride through Montserrat mountains where road just flows with the hills. Still continuing north versus Pyreneese we passed by midevel Cardona castle and city of Berga. Warmed up and energized by typical Spanish 'Menu del Dia' the fun really started. 3 mountain passes one after another - more then 100km of nothing but twisty roads, nature, beautiful scenery and even Spanish mountain eagles who circulated over us jelaously when they saw our bikes. The passes were connected by spectacular canyon road with carved tunnels making the experience even more magical. Despite very long trip of our group from Latin America, the jetlag was overcome by dynamic scenic riding. We headed slightly south reaching Os de Balagues where rooms were waiting for us in Monasteir de Les Avelannes, similar to Monserrat just shy of being 1000 years old.
Today, with 418 kilometers, we face the longest day of riding on this trip. The route takes us right into the heart of the Spanish Pyrenees. There we’ll also encounter the highest peak of this impressive mountain range: Aneto, standing at 3,408 meters. We don’t plan to go quite that high, though—our route stays below 1,500 meters at all times. The roads are almost deserted. Only a few road cyclists share the stunning mountain passes and spectacular views of the mountains with us. We spend our lunch break in Aínsa, a beautiful little town with a medieval charm. After that, the roads become a bit less winding, and for the final kilometers to Pamplona, we switch to the highway so we can arrive in the city in time for dinner.
Today a little cloudy weather convinced us it's time to take a real rest day, especially after 2 very dynamic riding days. We explored Pamplona in full, from streets where bulls will run at famous San Fermin event in just 3 weeks, to old town narrow streets, old city wall, and numerous of shops, caffees, restaurants. On every step we see an honor to American writer Ernest Hemingway , who contributed to the worldwide popularity of the San Fermín festival through his frequent visits and his novels.
After a relaxing day in Pamplona, it was time to hit to high ground and meet the Pyreneese even closer. Our altitude is rising every day and today we go over 1700m. We started the day earlier to beat Pamplona traffic, and it was the right decision, only few traffic lights and roundabouts slowed us, but after 15 min we were already on fast and fluent Spanish roads. Our first stop was at the Embalse de Usoz lake. We were totally alone, just us and breathtaking scenery. We continued north towards first Pyreneese passes bordering with France and stopped for a coffee in a lovely vilage. Then the real fun begined. Jure became a photographer, customers became movie stars. Driving freely the Col Pierre-Saint-Martin, the highest pass of the day at 1765m. Horses, cows freely pasturing around made the panorama unreal, entering France was unforgetable. Soon after, down in a valley the first sign of culture change was inevetable - 'Entrecote de Boeuf' entered the scene :). After lunch green mountain scenery just didnt want to end, Col de Labays, Col Marie-Blanque....followed by Tour de France famous passes Col'd Aubisque (1709m) and Col de Soulor (1471m) which paved our way to hotel in Luz-Saint-Sauveur, a starting point for yet another amazing day tomorrow. How to finisha perfect day even better - with Edelweiss boot beer.
What do motorcyclists love most? Curves, curves, and more curves! And there are plenty of them today, as no fewer than ten mountain passes await us. Our journey begins with the legendary Col du Tourmalet. The highest pass in the Pyrenees will feature on Stage 6 of this year's Tour de France, scheduled for July 9. Even now, dozens of cyclists are battling their way up to an altitude of 2,115 meters, earning our sincere respect. From there, one pass follows another. And the lower the passes become, the more cyclists we encounter along the way. But they're not the only ones enjoying these roads—numerous sports cars also share this unique playground with us. After the passes, another highlight awaits: the Grotte du Mas d'Azil. Here, the road passes directly through a vast cave that was already inhabited during prehistoric times. Filled with these unforgettable impressions, we continue on to Carcassonne, our destination for today and tomorrow. Founded by the Romans, Carcassonne is home to one of the best-preserved medieval fortified cities in Europe, and its spectacular walls and towers are truly breathtaking.
Carcassonne - a beautiful medivel town in Occitane, France. A perfect opportunity for a relaxed day in the city or at the pool of our gorgeus 'Chateau Palaja'. while others decided to take it cool, Edwin and Edgar followed Michael on bikes for a short loop to Pic de Noire and scheduled the city visit for afternoon. Edelweiss rest days always offer the activity of customer choice. Enjoy this day with us in pictures. A visit of the city produced a complete Edelweiss offer - ride in Edelweiss van :) . Carcassonne will also be a start of Tour de France stage on 7.7.2026
Today was another incredible day, mixed with wild nature and history. We set out from beautiful Carcassone south in direction of Spain, and drove on perfect French backroud turns surrounded by intact nature. Our first stop was an incredible 'Château de Peyrepertuse' who sits top of 800m high mountain or better said rock! Its one of most preserved Cathar castles located high in the French Pyrénées and associated with Counts of Narbonne and Barcelona. The name actually means "pierced stone', and when you see it, you immediately understand it. After visit of castle we had a very tasty lunch, our last French one on the tour, but just before we rode incredible balcony road through Gorge de Galamus. Its hard to describe this spectacular road high above clifs that were carved by river over many centuries. However it was time to say 'Au-revoir' and head over Pyreneese back to Spain. Our hotel was awaiting our team with pre-reserved massage therapies before dinner.