42.70° N · 0.01° W
A rock amphitheatre with the highest waterfall in France. It is an hour on foot from the village.
Part of Pyrenees
What to do
Each plan says how long it takes, who it's for and whether you can book.
Benh LIEU SONG · CC BY-SA 2.0Must-seeFlat path to the Hôtellerie du Cirque, then a stony trail to the foot of the highest waterfall in France · 3–4 h round trip · free
Horses and donkeys from the valley's outfitters take you from the village to the Hôtellerie du Cirque · 1 h each way · Easter to All Saints' Day
Amphitheatre with an 11 km perimeter at 2,100 m, reached by car as far as the Maillet plateau in summer · 2–3 h · free
Itineraries
Days and weekends already planned out, with how to get between each stop and who to book with.
Plan the trip
Each choice narrows the next: the season shapes how best to travel, and how you travel decides where you stay and where you eat.
When to go
From June to September, with the path clear of snow. In June the waterfall carries more water; in July and August there are more people and horses on the path. In winter you get there on snowshoes and the Gavarnie-Gèdre ski resort opens its slopes.
How you travel
Choose how you're travelling and we'll tell you where to stay, how to get around, where to eat and which services you'll need. We only show the ways of travelling that make sense here.
There is no direct road from Ordesa: from Aragon you go round through the Bielsa tunnel or the Portalet and climb via Lourdes and Luz-Saint-Sauveur. In the village you park and everything is done on foot. The car is useful for Troumouse and Estaubé.
Gavarnie is for walking: three cirques in one valley and the Brèche de Roland for those with experience. From Bujaruelo you cross on foot over the Port de Boucharo.
From Aragon and Navarre it is quicker to come by car. From the rest of Spain, flying to Toulouse, with direct flights from Madrid and other cities, leaves Gavarnie about three hours away by car; Tarbes-Lourdes is a little over an hour away. Without a car: train to Lourdes and the liO 965 bus.
Who you're with
A trip with a toddler is not the same as one with a teenager. Pick yours to see what works and what to bear in mind.
The path to the cirque is one of the few great Pyrenean landscapes that a family can do in full: a good hour that is almost flat as far as the Hôtellerie, and anyone who can't manage any more can ride a donkey.
For a teenager, the path to the cirque is not much. Raise the stakes: a canyon with jumps, the foot of the waterfall or, if they already walk in the mountains, the Brèche de Roland.
Where to stay
We show you what suits the way you travel.Change how you travel
Why we like it: The hotel in the middle of the Cirque de Gavarnie, open since 1845, with rooms named after valley guides and the Grande Cascade opposite; reached on foot only.
Why we like it: Two-star hotel in the village of Gavarnie, next to the path to the cirque, with a regional restaurant, pub, fireplace and fitness area; June to September.
Why we like it: Three-star campsite two minutes from Gavarnie at 1,200 m, with 54 level pitches, mobile homes and chalets with a view of the cirque; open in summer and winter.
Services for this trip
Where to eat
From set lunch menus to Michelin stars. We mark the price level and what to order at each place.
What to order: Trout or Pays Toy lamb on the terrace, with the waterfall in front of you; to take away, a sandwich from Chez Moussu.
Nearby
The closest places, whichever country they are in.
Tips
In July and August the path is packed by mid-morning and the horses kick up dust. First thing, you have the waterfall almost to yourself.
By the waterfall it sprays and is cold even in summer, and the last stretch is loose stone.
In low cloud the cirque can't be seen from the bottom. The tourist office has cameras in Gavarnie-Gèdre.
If you stay two days, spend the second at another cirque: the scenery is similar and there are far fewer people.
Bring a picnic and stop in the meadows by the Hôtellerie du Cirque on your way back from the waterfall: you have the whole amphitheatre in front of you.
It is the busiest moment, with the most horses, and the sun falls full on the valley. Set off before nine or wait for the afternoon.
A glacial amphitheatre at the head of the Gave de Pau valley, at the end of the road that climbs from Lourdes: a rock wall 6.5 km around and some 1,500 m high, with peaks of over 3,000 m above and the Grande Cascade falling down the back wall, the highest in France. On the other side of that wall lies Ordesa. The two sides form the cross-border site Pyrénées – Mont Perdu, a World Heritage Site since 1997.
The village of Gavarnie sits at the entrance to the cirque. From there everything is done on foot, or on horseback in summer. There is no road to the far end.
The classic path leaves the village, follows the river along a wide, flat valley and reaches the Hôtellerie du Cirque, a mountain building in the middle of the amphitheatre, with the waterfall straight ahead. Allow a good hour from the village, with little climbing: families and people of all ages do it. From the Hôtellerie, a stonier path carries on to the foot of the Grande Cascade, where the spray reaches.
In summer there are horses and donkeys for the trip to the Hôtellerie. In winter the route is done on snowshoes, always checking the avalanche risk first.
Get to the village early and park. Set off on foot before nine: by half past ten you are at the Hôtellerie and by mid-morning at the foot of the waterfall, with the light pouring into the cirque. Come back without hurrying and have lunch in the meadows or in the village. In the afternoon, if you have energy left, drive up to Lac des Gloriettes and take a short walk towards Estaubé. If you are sleeping in the valley, Troumouse is there the next day.
Gavarnie has two more cirques, less well known and quieter:
In Gèdre, the village just before, the Pragnères hydroelectric power station, from 1954, can be visited with a guide and with virtual reality: it has 40 km of galleries, four dams and thirty water intakes.
For mountaineers, the Brèche de Roland is the gap that opens in the top of the cirque wall, on the border with Ordesa. It is a full-day high-mountain route: don't improvise it.
There is no direct road from Ordesa. From Aragon you go round through the Bielsa tunnel or the Portalet pass and climb via Lourdes and Luz-Saint-Sauveur. On foot you can cross: from the Bujaruelo valley, over the Bujaruelo pass, which the French call Port de Boucharo. Without a car, the nearest railway station is Lourdes, with TGV and Intercités services, and from there the liO 965 bus climbs to Gavarnie-Gèdre via Argelès-Gazost and Luz-Saint-Sauveur.
Questions
A good hour from the village to the Hôtellerie du Cirque, along an almost flat path. To the foot of the waterfall, a while longer on a stony path.
Yes. The path to the Hôtellerie is wide with little climbing. In summer you can do it on horseback or by donkey.
On foot, yes, crossing the Bujaruelo pass. By car there is no direct crossing: you have to go round via Bielsa or the Portalet and climb via Lourdes.
Yes, the liO 965 line, which calls at Argelès-Gazost and Luz-Saint-Sauveur. Lourdes has a TGV station.
From June to September. In June the waterfall carries more water; in winter you go up on snowshoes and the ski resort opens.
Troumouse, the biggest, which you can drive up to in summer, and Estaubé, the quietest, above Lac des Gloriettes.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/france/cirque-de-gavarnie
