Ariège: A somewhat hidden gem in the French Pyrenees
Having already spent quite some time in the Spanish Pyrenees and other parts of the French side of this range, our travels brought us into the Ariége valley for about a week in the late summer. What we found was a climbers and cyclist paradise that at least we did not have on top of our list.
Climbing and cycling in the Ariège valley
Situated in the Eastern French Pyrenees this valley starts at the historic town of Foix and trends upwards to the southeast before terminating in the mountain passes leading to Spain and Andorra. The main road (the N20) follows the Ariège river and besides the main valley there are many side valleys that can be accessed by smaller deadend roads. From Toulouse you can reach Tarascone-sur-Ariège in about one and half hours while the drive from Barcelona takes about three hours.
Tons of great roads to explore. Both big and small.
As a cyclist you might have heard of some of the towns and especially ski stations here, because they have been used in the Tour the France many times. Particularly noteworthy are the Plateau de Beille (where Pogocar more or less won the 2024 Tour) and Ax 3 Domaines. But besides trying to smash yourself on these famous ascents there are many other very worthwhile roads to ride. One thing I particularly noticed is that there are smaller roads running parallel (and a bit up the valley side) to the N20 - which means you can avoid riding the big main road most of the time. Also riding up the dead side valley roads can bring you up to the high alpine.
Impressions from Sinsat, Calames and Dent d´Orlu
As a climber the area is a real two for one: There are two types of rock with tons of limestone sport and multi pitch climbing on the one hand and big granite alpine climbs higher up. While we were there we climbed great sport routes in Sinsat (which is right by the valley main road), a great multi pitch on Calames overlooking Tarascone and had a big alpine granite adventure on the 2.200m Dent d´Orlu. You could easily spend two weeks or more here just to climb and the different areas allow you to adjust to the weather too (with many different exposures and base heights). In fact I have suggested Ariège as an option for one of next year's climbing trips to my climbing friend bubble.
In terms of technical information on the climbing here: The Rockfax Ariège is a good start but you might need to research on the web further especially if you are looking at the longer more alpine routes like on Dent d´Orlu.
Van hobo-ing Deluxe.
So there you have it: A beautiful alpine valley that is not too crowded and has a lot of great stuff to do. I for one will keep it on my list of options either as a destination unto itself or as an extended stop while traveling further on into France or Spain.
Adventurers: Brigitte, Wolf and Bengt