France · Hautes-Pyrénées / Haute-Garonne · Premium route guide
Central Pyrenees cols (Tourmalet, Aspin, Peyresourde)
430 kilometres over the four cols every rider comes to the Pyrenees for — Tourmalet (2,115 m), Aspin, Peyresourde and Portillon — plus Luz, Barèges and the drop into the Val d'Aran. Full route on the map, GPX for your GPS, rider-vetted stays at either end.
- Distance
- 428.7 km
- Peak elevation
- 2,205 m
- Elevation gain
- 10,915 m
- Best months
- Jun–Oct
The route
From Lourdes south through Argelès-Gazost and Luz-Saint-Sauveur, up Barèges to the Col du Tourmalet (2,115 m), down to Sainte-Marie-de-Campan, then east over Aspin (1,489 m) to Arreau, over Peyresourde (1,569 m) to Bagnères-de-Luchon, and finally the Col du Portillon (1,293 m) into the Val d'Aran. Pins are motorcycle-friendly stays other riders have vetted.
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Works with Garmin, TomTom, BMW Navigator, Calimoto, Kurviger, komoot, MyRouteApp. Import as a track to ride the exact line. Road data from OpenStreetMap (ODbL); elevation from SRTM.
Track vs. route — how to load this into your GPS
What you're downloading is a GPX track — a dense, road-snapped breadcrumb of the exact line, with elevation on every point. It's not a GPX route (a short list of turn waypoints your device re-plans between). Tracks preserve our road choice; routes let the device pick its own way and can send you down a boring motorway shortcut.
How to use it on your navigator:
- BMW Navigator / Garmin Zumo / zūmo XT: import as a track, then Convert to Route (or Trip Planner → new trip from track) if you want turn-by-turn prompts. Keep Recalculation off so it stays on our line.
- TomTom Rider: import the GPX in MyDrive — it loads as a track / itinerary. Enable Follow the exact route so it doesn't re-plan.
- Calimoto: open the GPX and choose Import as tour — Calimoto follows the track line.
- Kurviger / komoot / MyRouteApp: open the GPX and pick Import as track to keep the road choice. Only choose Import as route if you want the app to re-plan for your bike profile.
- Google Maps / Apple Maps: these don't read GPX. Use the map on this page for turn cues, or import the file into a GPX-capable app first.
Rule of thumb: if your device asks "track or route?", pick track to ride our exact line — pick route only if you want the device to re-plan.
Elevation profile
From ~389 m at the base to 2205 m at the top — 10,915 m of total climbing across the route.
Four cols in a day is very doable but doesn't leave much time to stop. Split it: sleep in Argelès-Gazost the first night, do Tourmalet–Aspin–Peyresourde down to Luchon on day one, then Portillon into the Val d'Aran (with the option of Bonaigua and Bielsa loops) on day two.
This is the Pyrenees you came for — high, treeless, with sheep on the road at the top of every pass and a hairpin sign every 200 metres.
The road, honestly
The Tourmalet is the Pyrenees' Stelvio — the pass that every cycling and biking guide puts at the top, and it earns it. 2,115 m, cold at the top even in July, and the view of the Pic du Midi de Bigorre is worth the ride even if the road weren't. Aspin is the pretty one — shorter, wooded, gentler. Peyresourde is the fast one — long, open sweepers on both sides, and the descent into Luchon is arguably the best road in the range.
Traffic is heaviest during the Tour de France (early July — check the route before booking) and lightest in September. Cyclists are everywhere in summer; give them a wide berth on the ramps.
Where to sleep between cols
Argelès-Gazost is the natural base at the west end — spa town, plenty of hotels, easy access to Tourmalet, Aubisque and Hautacam. Bagnères-de-Luchon is the base at the east end — spa town again, at the foot of Peyresourde and Portillon, and the last French town before the Val d'Aran. Sleep at one, ride to the other, sleep back at the first: a perfect two-night pattern.
Weather, fuel and closures
Rideable June through October. The Tourmalet and Peyresourde are usually open by early June, though snow-melt water on the road makes early-morning descents chilly. October afternoons can bring the first snow and close the passes overnight.
Fuel: fill up in Argelès, Luz, Arreau, Luchon and Vielha. Nothing on the passes themselves. Barèges has a small station but it's not always open on Sundays.
What to see along the way
- Col du Tourmalet (2,115 m) — The highest paved road in the French Pyrenees. Summit statue of Octave Lapize, café, the classic photo.
- Pic du Midi de Bigorre (2,877 m) — Cable car from La Mongie to the observatory. Add half a day if you want the summit view.
- Col d'Aspin (1,489 m) — Wooded, pastoral, and one of the prettier cols in the range.
- Col de Peyresourde (1,569 m) — Fast, open, and the descent to Luchon is one of the great roads of France.
- Bagnères-de-Luchon — Spa town at the foot of Peyresourde. Palm-lined boulevard, hotels that expect bike gear at breakfast.
- Col du Portillon (1,293 m) — The border pass into the Val d'Aran. Narrow, technical, and the point where French Pyrenees hand off to Spanish.
Rent a bike
Rent a motorcycle or scooter for Central Pyrenees cols (Tourmalet, Aspin, Peyresourde)
Flying in? Pick up a bike near the start of the route. We've pre-filled the pick-up city with Argelès-Gazost / Bagnères-de-Luchon — change it if you're basing elsewhere.
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Rider-verified stays within 30 km
Automatically selected by proximity to the traced route — no editorial cherry-picking. Sorted by how close they are to the road.
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