The Ossau Valley

Artouste Train

Lac d'Artouste, a natural lake perched at around 1,968 metres, was raised by a concrete gravity dam commissioned in 1929 to feed the Artouste hydroelectric plant. To carry workers to the construction site, between 1924 and 1929, a railway was built from the Pic de la Sagette, which was then reached by cable car. In the early 1930s the département proposed running it for tourism, and today its operators present it as the highest tourist train in Europe. The trip begins at Fabrèges with a 15-minute gondola ride, included in the ticket, then the train covers more than 10 kilometres in 55 minutes, at about 2,000 metres, along a ledge high above wild valleys. At the terminus, a well-marked mountain path leads in about 20 minutes to the lake, raised twice and now at around 1,990 metres, ringed by peaks. The Découverte ticket gives you 1h20 at the lake in high season and 1h40 in low season; the Escapade ticket lets you return on the last train so you can hike further, to the Arrémoulit lakes for example. In 2026, the train runs from 8 to 10 May, then from 14 May to 4 October, with departures every 30 minutes in high season. Adults pay €28, children aged 4 to 12 €20.

Ayous Lakes and Pic du Midi d'Ossau

The Pic du Midi d'Ossau rises to 2,884 metres. It is one of the remnants of a volcano formed 278 million years ago, whose roof collapsed into a caldera before being uplifted with the Pyrenees. Perfectly aligned with the axis of the valley and surrounded by lower summits, it can be seen from the plains of Aquitaine, and the people of the Béarn affectionately call it Jean-Pierre. Its first ascent is said to have been made by Béarnais shepherds on 19 August 1790. The Ayous lakes hike offers the best view of it. It starts at Lac de Bious-Artigues, at 1,416 metres, held back by a dam commissioned in 1957; families can stop here for the view of the peak. The path then heads into the forest and reaches in turn Lac Roumassot, Lac du Miey and Lac Gentau, the last at the foot of the Ayous refuge, where the peak is reflected in the water on calm days. The more energetic continue to Lac Bersau, at 2,082 metres, then Lac Castérau, for a 14.2-kilometre loop with 720 metres of ascent, about 5 hours' walking. The site lies in the core zone of the Pyrenees National Park: wild camping, overnighting in the car parks and fires are banned, and parking is charged in season, €8 at Bious-Artigues and €5 at Bious-Oumettes.

Lac de Fabrèges

Lac de Fabrèges takes its name from the Occitan fabregas, itself from the Latin fabrica, workshop, in memory of old marble quarries nearby. Located in the commune of Laruns at an altitude of 1,241 metres and fed by the Gave de Brousset, it is held back by a 51-metre concrete arch dam, owned by the Société Hydroélectrique du Midi and built from 1940 to 1947. The 54-hectare reservoir holds 6.7 million cubic metres and reaches 54 metres deep; through a 107-metre drop it feeds the Artouste power station. Every year the lake is partly drained to store snowmelt, and in spring 2016 it even emptied completely because of a tree trunk stuck in a sluice gate. Its waters are home to brown trout, lake trout, brook trout and minnows. The lake lies at the foot of the Artouste ski resort, which welcomes skiers in winter, and of the gondola for the Artouste train in summer; there is a tourist information office in the Fabrèges area. The Col du Pourtalet road, which runs alongside it, leads to Spain and the Tena valley.

Col d'Aubisque

The Col d'Aubisque, at 1,709 metres, lies in the commune of Béost and looks south to the Pic de Ger, 2,613 metres, and the Gourette ski resort. Its name is thought to come from the Gascon aubisque, a fescue, a pasture grass. Flanked to the east by the Col du Soulor, it links the Ossau Valley, via Laruns and Gourette, to the valley of the Gave de Pau, via Argelès-Gazost, on a ledge road that crosses the Cirque du Litor in the upper Ouzom valley. It is a spa road, built at the instigation of Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, who wanted to link Eaux-Bonnes to the other Pyrenean spa towns; the work, completed in 1864, employed up to 500 labourers. The pass is generally closed to traffic from early December to early May, as the stretch towards the Soulor is often blocked by avalanches. A legendary Tour de France stage, regularly used by the Vuelta, it draws cyclists from all over the world every summer. From the pass, a broad ridge leads on foot to the Soum de Grum, at 1,870 metres, for an even wider view.

Eaux-Bonnes

The name comes from mineral springs known in the 16th century as eaux d'Arquebusades, because gunshot wounds were treated there. The small town of Eaux-Bonnes grew up from the 18th century around the thermal spring, and in the 19th century it was so fashionable that one visitor described a disastrous spa establishment where three thousand patients fought over six bathtubs. The Jardin Darralde, around which the main hotels are grouped, is still the centre of the resort, in a narrow valley floor overlooked by wooded slopes. Empress Eugénie had the Aubisque road built to link the resort to the other Pyrenean spa towns, and the commune now includes the Gourette ski resort, its most recent development. The hamlet of Aas is known for the whistled language its inhabitants used to communicate from one side of the valley to the other. The Camin d'Aussau greenway ends at Eaux-Bonnes, and the tourist information office is on Avenue Castellane. The resort can be seen in an hour, but it deserves a night to enjoy its tranquillity once the Aubisque traffic has gone.

Laruns

Laruns is the main town of the upper Ossau Valley, a commune of just under 1,200 inhabitants whose huge territory stretches to the Spanish border: it takes in Lac d'Artouste, the Fabrèges dam, the Hourat and Bious-Artigues power stations, the Artouste ski resort and the Arrémoulit lakes. As early as 1514, a treaty with the Spanish Tena valley placed the mountain hospices and religious houses under protection, a sign of long-standing exchanges across the passes. In 1776, after logging the forests of the Aspe valley, the French Royal Navy settled in Laruns, built an arsenal on what is now Place du Port and the Maison de la Marine, and had the tracks to Eaux-Chaudes and Gabas improved to bring down the timber. Today's village is organised around Place de la Mairie and the Maison de la Vallée d'Ossau, which houses the tourist information office. On the first Sunday in October, the cheese fair, Hera deu hromatge de Laruntz, brings together shepherds showing the year's production: this is the moment to buy a farmhouse Ossau-Iraty directly from the person who made it. The 15 August festivities, with parades in traditional Ossau costume, are the village's other big event.