We had arranged an Airbnb apartment in Andorra, so we left Hendaye with 2 days to get there. We headed overland through the mountains to Pamplona and then East on a fast highway toward Ordesa. There were some good-looking wild camping spots around the Yesa Reservoir, but we were on a schedule so continued onwards.
The highway follows a plateau at the foot of the Pyrenees, with the mountains sharply rising up on the left (to the north) as you head east. The mountains look wild and beautiful, and I was excited about the next stage of our trip. I have spent lots of time in the Alps, Rockies, and Andes, and I love mountains. This was the first time I had ever been to the Pyrenees, and from what I could see from the comfort of the car, I liked what I saw.
Torla-Ordesa
The highway gradually turned into a country lane and wound its way up into the mountains, with fantastic views all around. We arrived in the early afternoon at Torla-Ordesa, and parked the car in the town. During the busy summer months cars are not permitted to drive down the single-track road into the canyon to reach the start point for the hikes. You need to catch a coach there and back, which we didn’t mind. The last coach back to town is at 10 pm, but best to confirm this for yourself with the coach driver as my Spanish isn’t as good as I’d like.
Since we didn’t know where we were camping that night, we didn’t want to stay until 10 pm and then struggle to find a camp. Instead, we opted for a short walk in the canyon. It was fantastic. Considering it was billed as ‘The Grand Canyon of Europe’, there were a lot fewer tourists than I expected. It was an easy fairly flat walk with only a small amount of uphill climbing, so is suitable for all fitness levels.
Moving on from Torla, we headed towards Ainsa down the N-260. I do a lot of my trip planning using Google Maps: using satellite view you get a decent idea of what the terrain looks like. An obvious spot to head towards to camp for the night was Ainsa. From the satellite view, it looked to be an old village located where some valleys merged to create a wider flat-bottomed valley, with a river snaking between gravel beds. It looked like we could find a nice place for a wild camp near the river. After a quick look around the area, it became obvious that wild camping wasn’t permitted this close to the town. With time pressing on we quickly found Camping Ainsa on the Garmin Overlander and headed there. The campsite was fairly basic when compared to the coastal French campsites we had seen, but still much better than most UK campsites. It had shaded pitches, a pool, a shop, and (very important for Suma), clean toilets and shower block.
We left there the next morning after coffee and breakfast, the pack-up routine becoming quite well-oiled by now. We soon found an access track leading onto the bed of a large dried-up reservoir. This would normally have been full of water, but a recent drought in this area had emptied all of the reservoirs.
We did some off-roading for a few miles down a random dirt track that we came across. It led past deserted farms and through lovely scenery until the track became impassable for us. An MX bike, quad bike, or rock crawler would have made it no problem, but I wasn’t going to risk getting our heavily laden vehicle stuck (or worse) by doing something stupid, being so far from any form of help.
We then rejoined the N-260 and headed towards La Pobla De Segur. Ainsa, El Pont De Suert, and La Pobla De Segur look to be great bases for exploring the local mountains. There are plenty of hotels, campsites, and places to resupply.
A quick look on Google Maps revealed some potential wild camp spots around the lake shore just to the south of La Pobla De Segur. Crossing over the rivers to the east of the town, a road heads south around the lakeshore, with some gravel roads leading down to the lake. We found a fantastic wild camp spot. Campervans can access this spot, but having a 4WD we headed a bit further away from the road and parked up in a secluded shady spot with great views across the lake.
Xiringuito restaurant is a little further south, within easy walking distance of this camping spot if you want some cold beers and good food.
The clear skies and lack of light pollution make this a great spot for relaxing with a glass of wine and watching the stars.
The next morning we had a wash in the river, packed up, and headed back to the N-260 towards our next stop: Andorra. Along the way the road takes you over numerous mountain passes with gorgeous viewpoints across to the gorges. The Pyrenees are very different from the Alps. The drier climate on this side of the mountain range gives a more Mediterranean feel to the vegetation. It feels a lot more remote than the Alps too: fewer settlements, empty valleys, vast forests. The remoteness reminded me of the Canadian Rockies. Now and again you drive past a rocky outcrop, on top of which has been built a fortified village, built from the local red ochre-coloured stone which makes them blend beautifully into their surroundings. It feels like you have travelled back in time, the only clues to our modern age being pylons, telegraph poles, and smooth asphalt roads. Life here has changed little over the centuries.
As we crossed the border into Andorra, we instantly left behind the remote and wild Pyrenees that I had been astounded by. In hindsight, I would have spent a week longer on this section of the route. There is so much to explore that we missed; remote valleys to drive up, stunning mountains to hike around, and seemingly endless wild camp spots. You could easily spend the whole summer in just this area. We will need to return one day…
