Gavarnie Travel Guide: Cirque, Waterfall & Brèche de Roland

DepartmentHautes-Pyrénées
Altitude~1,375 m
UNESCOPyrénées–Mont Perdu, 1997
Stay1–2 nights

The village of Gavarnie sits at around 1,375 metres, at the very top of the valley south of Luz-Saint-Sauveur. Beyond it rises the Cirque de Gavarnie, a curved wall of limestone over 1,400 metres high, part of the cross-border Pyrénées–Mont Perdu UNESCO World Heritage Site shared with Spain's Ordesa.

The walk to the Cirque

A broad, easy path leads from the village to the Hôtellerie du Cirque at the foot of the walls in about 1 h 15 to 1 h 30. Donkeys and horses can be hired for the trip. From there, a rougher path continues to the base of the Grande Cascade, one of the highest waterfalls in Europe.

Brèche de Roland

Legend says the knight Roland cut this 100-metre notch in the ridge with his sword. Experienced hikers reach it from the Col des Tentes via the Refuge des Sarradets, a long, high day that may involve snow early in summer.

Troumouse and Estaubé

Two quieter cirques lie in the neighbouring valleys. A toll road climbs to the vast, grassy Cirque de Troumouse, while the Cirque d'Estaubé is reached on foot from the Lac des Gloriettes.