42.89° N · 0.11° W
A spa resort in the French Pyrenees, gateway to the Pyrenees National Park, with access to the Pont d'Espagne and Lac de Gaube beneath the north face of the Vignemale.
Part of Pyrenees
What to do
Each plan says how long it takes, who it's for and whether you can book.
The glacial lake beneath the north face of the Vignemale · 2 h 30 round trip, 259 m of ascent · or 20 flat minutes with the gondola and chairlift in summer
Stone bridge over the confluence of two cascading torrents, 7 km from the village · 45 min · car park €8 or shuttle €8.50
Well-marked path among meadows, pines and the torrent to the refuge at 1,865 m · 2 h 30 each way · full day
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 for walking, with the shuttle and the lifts at the Pont d'Espagne running. July and August are the months with the most people. In January and February there is cross-country skiing and snowshoeing at the Pont d'Espagne. Between November and April dogs may not enter the heart of the park.
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.
Cross through the Somport tunnel or the Portalet, drive down towards Lourdes and climb from Argelès-Gazost. In August, leave the car in the village and take the shuttle up to Pont d'Espagne.
Cauterets is a walkers' base: Pont d'Espagne opens up Lac de Gaube, the Marcadau and the Oulettes, at the foot of the Vignemale. The GR10 passes through the village.
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.
With the summer lifts, Lac de Gaube is twenty flat minutes away: it is one of the few high-mountain lakes that a family with small children can reach.
With small children, let the lifts do the climbing and save your legs for the flat walk beside the lake.
From age 14, Cauterets has the sportiest canyon in the valley; for the rest, a full day to the Marcadau refuge.
Where to stay
We show you what suits the way you travel.Change how you travel
Why we like it: Ten-room family hotel inside the national park, beside the Pont d'Espagne waterfalls and five minutes from the Gaube chairlift; open in summer and winter.
Why we like it: Three-star campsite with 100 grass pitches beside the river, a 20-minute walk from the centre of Cauterets, with a free bus to the village, chalets and a motorhome area.
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: A brasserie dish on the terrace, on the way back from Lac de Gaube.
What to order: The garbure, the thick soup of cabbage and pulses from Béarn and Bigorre.
Nearby
The closest places, whichever country they are in.
42.70° N · 0.01° W
By carOn footBy plane
42.77° N · 0.36° W
By car
42.65° N · 0.06° W
By campervanOn footBy 4x4
42.75° N · 0.52° W
By car
Tips
You reach Gaube before the groups and save yourself looking for a space in the Puntas car park.
Together they are more than seven hours of walking. Gaube is a morning; the Marcadau, a whole day with a picnic at the hut.
In the lakes it is forbidden. Finish the day in the hot water of the Bains du Rocher.
At Lac de Gaube air blows down from the glacier even when it is hot in the village.
Walk up to the Pont d'Espagne on the GR10 from La Raillère, beside the river and its waterfalls, and come down on the shuttle with a one-way ticket.
A queue at the entrance, a space far away and people all along the way to the lake. Go up before nine or on the shuttle.
A 19th-century spa village at the bottom of a narrow Pyrenean valley, with hotels with stone façades and iron balconies, the thermal baths building and a shopping street where they sell berlingots, the coloured sweets typical of the village. It is the gateway to the Pyrenees National Park on the side of the Pont d'Espagne and the Vignemale, the highest peak in the French Pyrenees.
People come for two things: walking the high valleys in summer and bathing in thermal water when the sun goes down. In winter add skiing: the Cirque du Lys resort, above the village, and the cross-country trails of the Pont d'Espagne.
The Pont d'Espagne is a stone bridge over a waterfall, about 7 km from the village along the D920 road, inside the national park. From there start the routes to Lac de Gaube and the Marcadau valley. There are two ways up:
It is the classic excursion: from the Pont d'Espagne, about 4.9 km there and back with 259 m of climb, about 2 h 30 in all. You reach a glacial lake with the north face of the Vignemale in the background and the Hôtellerie du Lac de Gaube, which opens in summer. If you don't want to walk up, in summer the Puntas gondola and the Lac de Gaube chairlift leave you about twenty minutes' flat walk away; they have a combined pass with the shuttle. In 2026 the lifts closed on 27 September.
From 15 June 2026 a prefectural order bans swimming in the lakes in the heart of the national park, including Gaube. Dogs can reach in summer only on a lead and via the lifts, as far as the first shore of the lake. From 1 November to 30 April they may not enter the heart of the park.
It is the other route from the Pont d'Espagne, longer and quieter: about 2 h 30 on a well-marked path, among meadows, pines and the torrent, to the Wallon-Marcadau hut, at 1,865 m. Families used to walking like it. From the hut start the loop of the lakes of Nère, Pourtet and Embarrat and the more solitary climb to the Cambalès lakes. La Grande Fâche, the peak above the valley, is only for experienced mountaineers.
The Bains du Rocher have a big indoor pool that continues outside, in the open air, with hot thermal water all year round and mountain views, plus jacuzzis, jets, a hammam and a sauna. According to the village website, the adult entrance costs €20 to €22 and the child's €13 to €14. It closes for a few weeks in November for maintenance.
From Aragon, via the Somport tunnel or the Portalet pass, and then towards Lourdes and Argelès-Gazost, from where a mountain road climbs to Cauterets. The nearest railway station, with TGV, is Lourdes, about 30 km away, with regular buses to the village. From November to March French mountain law requires chains or snow socks in the car, or four winter tyres.
Questions
About 2 h 30 there and back from the Pont d'Espagne, with 259 m of climb. In summer, with the gondola and chairlift, it is about twenty minutes on foot.
In summer 2026, €8 a day in the Puntas car park and €13 if you stay more than 12 hours.
No. Since 15 June 2026 swimming is banned in the lakes in the heart of the national park.
In summer, on a lead and only with the lifts as far as the shore of Lac de Gaube. From November to April dogs may not enter the heart of the park.
Yes. There is a train to Lourdes and a bus to Cauterets, and in the village the shuttle goes up to the Pont d'Espagne from late May to late September.
Two: one for the Pont d'Espagne and Lac de Gaube, with the baths in the afternoon, and another for the Marcadau. With three you add a long route or the Oulettes de Gaube hut, at the foot of the Vignemale.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/france/occitanie/cauterets
