Andorra / France · Eastern Pyrenees · Premium route guide
Eastern Pyrenees (Andorra → Céret)
340 kilometres from Andorra to the Mediterranean — Port d'Envalira at 2,408 m, the Cerdagne plateau, Col d'Ares (1,513 m), the Vallespir and a finish in Céret with orange trees in the town square. High, dry, sunny and quieter than the central range.
- Distance
- 339.8 km
- Peak elevation
- 2,417 m
- Elevation gain
- 5,494 m
- Best months
- May–Oct
The route
From Andorra la Vella east over Port d'Envalira (the highest paved pass in the Pyrenees at 2,408 m), through the Cerdagne plateau via Font-Romeu and Mont-Louis, down through Villefranche-de-Conflent, up over the Col d'Ares (1,513 m) into the Vallespir, and finally Amélie-les-Bains and Céret. Pins are motorcycle-friendly stays other riders have vetted.
Interactive map needs cookie consent.
Accept cookies at the bottom of the page to load OpenStreetMap tiles for this route.
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 ~41 m at the base to 2417 m at the top — 5,494 m of total climbing across the route.
This is the sunniest quarter of the Pyrenees — the eastern end is in rain shadow of the central range and gets Mediterranean sky when Bagnères-de-Luchon is under cloud. The Cerdagne plateau (Font-Romeu, Mont-Louis) sits above 1,500 m for kilometres at a stretch — long open riding with the range on one side and the Mediterranean plain sliding into view on the other.
One long day or an easy weekend. Font-Romeu makes a great overnight if you want to split it.
The road, honestly
Port d'Envalira is the road most people arrive in Andorra on and leave without noticing — it's the highest paved pass in the entire Pyrenees at 2,408 m. Ride it as a proper pass rather than a transit and it's excellent: fast, wide, open, and empty of trucks now that the tunnel takes most of the traffic.
Col d'Ares is the road nobody tells you about. It's the border pass from the Ripollès in Spain into the Vallespir in France, and it's a proper 25 km of switchbacks with beech forests below and open meadow at the top. Ride it slow both ways.
Andorra is a tank of fuel
Fuel in Andorra is roughly 30% cheaper than in France or Spain. Fill up before you cross out either side — this is normal biker behaviour and expected at the pumps. Andorra is also duty-free; the border checks are usually quick but they exist, and a fully-loaded top box will draw a raised eyebrow.
Weather, food and fuel
Rideable May through October — Envalira is high enough that snow can close it into June or from early November. The Cerdagne is the driest region in the French Pyrenees; you can ride it in shorts in September when the west is under cloud.
The food is Catalan-French — cargolada (grilled snails with garlic butter), boles de picolat, and vin de Banyuls at the end. Céret has the last of the plane-tree squares before the Mediterranean.
What to see along the way
- Port d'Envalira (2,408 m) — Highest paved pass in the Pyrenees. The N320 climbs from Andorra and drops down to Porta on the French side.
- Col de Puymorens (1,920 m) — Ten km after Envalira. Together they're one of the great high-plateau back-to-backs in Europe.
- Font-Romeu — High-altitude ski resort and training town for French Olympic athletes. Café stop, or overnight if you want to split the ride.
- Mont-Louis — Vauban walled town at 1,600 m — smallest town in France to have UNESCO listing.
- Col d'Ares (1,513 m) — The Vallespir pass into France from the Catalan side. Under-ridden, and one of the best surfaces in the range.
- Céret — End of the line — orange trees, Cubist museum (Picasso, Braque and Soutine all lived here), and the last biker café before the Med.
Rent a bike
Rent a motorcycle or scooter for Eastern Pyrenees (Andorra → Céret)
Flying in? Pick up a bike near the start of the route. We've pre-filled the pick-up city with Font-Romeu / Prats-de-Mollo — change it if you're basing elsewhere.
Rentals powered by BikesBooking. StayToRide may earn a small commission — no extra cost to you.
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.
Ridden this road and stayed somewhere great?
This whole directory grows one rider recommendation at a time. Add a stay and it'll appear on this guide automatically if it's within 30 km of the route.
Suggest a stay