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amondeggs



Member Since: 06 Mar 2011
Location: Telford
Posts: 452

United Kingdom 1999 Defender 90 Td5 HT Woodcote Green
Trans Pyrenean overland trip from med to Atlantic.
I'm currently planning a trip for next year across the pyrenees from the med to the Atlantic side. I've never been before but now it's only 6 months away I'm getting really excited at the prospect. Im going with one other car so it is hoped that we should be able to cover the ground reasonably quickly.

Main reason for the post is to pick the brains of those who have been before.

Our trip will be over a week. Driving down to Spain from the uk and then beginning the mountain trails on the Sunday. I'm aware that we will not be able to complete the complete traverse in the time that we have as we have to be on the ferry from Santander on Saturday night to arrive back in the uk Sunday night.

Im looking for any must do's whilst there and particular routes that you think unmissable or equally routes that you have tried that are to be avoided. This information will be of huge help as we will be plotting our route over the next few weeks.

Our route will roughly follow this one

http://en.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=4489504

But we are looking to personalise it a bit. So any suggestions you have about the route are very much appreciated 👍

Thanks in advance.


Last edited by amondeggs on 2nd Jan 2016 4:41pm. Edited 1 time in total
Post #286648 30th Nov 2013 11:11pm
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kevb



Member Since: 03 Apr 2012
Location: AllPackedUp
Posts: 34

Montgarri & Val D'Aran & smugglers route in & out of Andorra would be high on my list but that is off your proposed route.



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Post #288396 7th Dec 2013 3:53pm
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amondeggs



Member Since: 06 Mar 2011
Location: Telford
Posts: 452

United Kingdom 1999 Defender 90 Td5 HT Woodcote Green
The route I have at present is one I have seen on wikiloc and is only the initial idea,

I will have a look at the places that you have mentioned, thank you 👍

Have you mentioned them for the scenery or the fact that the roads are good routes?

Many thanks again 👍
Post #288403 7th Dec 2013 5:10pm
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kevb



Member Since: 03 Apr 2012
Location: AllPackedUp
Posts: 34

The routes I mentioned wont be too demanding unless like this year lots of washouts due to flash floods but the scenery is great & probably more mountainous than your proposed route, depends what you are looking for. Have a look at Vibraction road books too, very easy to follow with GPS references & tulip style diagrams, gives your co-driver something to do as well Smile

Google maps are a great tool as all the main tracks are visible, once you are on the ground a lot of routes are signposted as suitable/legal for 4x4s.

More of our photos & info here if you are interested http://www.allpackedup.com/spanish-pyrenees/


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Montgarri

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Tor

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Last edited by kevb on 14th Dec 2013 2:33pm. Edited 1 time in total
Post #288523 8th Dec 2013 4:39am
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uncas



Member Since: 22 Nov 2012
Location: Wentworth near Rotherham
Posts: 340

United Kingdom 
We had planned a trip through the Pyrenees two years ago but I got made redundant and approaching the age of 59
I didn't know how long it would take to find another job so we shelved the idea its still on cards to do hopefully in 2015.
Good luck with the trip. We had loosely based our route on an article in the LRO magazine but planned on going to Barcelona for the Landyrally.
which looks as though it could be a good event.
Keep us posted with your plans.

Uncas
Post #288544 8th Dec 2013 10:42am
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amondeggs



Member Since: 06 Mar 2011
Location: Telford
Posts: 452

United Kingdom 1999 Defender 90 Td5 HT Woodcote Green
Thanks Kev for the info, very interesting reading your blog, thanks,


I have road books numbers 2, 4 , and 18 that i intend to study and translate as much as possible.

The route I posted was basically because we wanted to cross as much of the pyrenees from the med side to the atlantic side as possible. We only have a week to travel from the uk, leaving on the Fri night arriving back in the uk on by ferry from Santander on Sun night at 8.30pm.

I now have a wikiloc route for the smuggers and have it plotted now need to see if timewise it all works?

cheers again
Post #288595 8th Dec 2013 1:28pm
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grzesiul



Member Since: 06 Jul 2011
Location: Slough
Posts: 16

United Kingdom 
I can provide some good track points in gpx format I found on wikiloc as well for around 14 or more days coast to coast trip should you be able to send me your email.

also planing to do it next year but chatting to some folk to get a few days out of the trip in more demanding conditions with some proper technical off-road

G
Post #290476 15th Dec 2013 2:47pm
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strang



Member Since: 16 May 2012
Location: Happy Valley
Posts: 1362

United Kingdom 2009 Defender 90 Puma 2.4 XS CSW Galway Green
Some mates of mine went to the Pyrenees this year in series ones, and bought their road books from here - http://vibraction.pagesperso-orange.fr/espagne/rb_1.htm . They reckoned that they were pretty easy to understand. There is a link to a their trip on the website. Euro-Leafing to infinity and beyond.....
Post #290623 15th Dec 2013 9:47pm
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amondeggs



Member Since: 06 Mar 2011
Location: Telford
Posts: 452

United Kingdom 1999 Defender 90 Td5 HT Woodcote Green
Well just a couple of days to go now until I set off for the pyrenees. There are many options that we have round the route but will be travelling from the med to the Atlantic over a period of 6 days.

Have done a lot of preventative maintenance to the car to try to ensure I have no problems. This included new turbo and new crank pulley.

Car almost loaded



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Just one other car in the party and it's this



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Should be fun


Will post some updates as we travel and video upon return Thumbs Up

Any tips gratefully received Thumbs Up
Post #332474 20th May 2014 11:28pm
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trooper



Member Since: 11 Mar 2014
Location: west sussex
Posts: 101

United Kingdom 2002 Defender 90 Td5 HT Tamar Blue
It's a nice trip to do, it took us the best part of two weeks and I thought that was a bit of a rush. The weather can play a big part, it can be very misty & wet at times which slows things down and generates the need for increased off road driving skills. Smile
Post #332493 21st May 2014 8:43am
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uncas



Member Since: 22 Nov 2012
Location: Wentworth near Rotherham
Posts: 340

United Kingdom 
Have a good in. It's on my list for next year.

Uncas
Post #332501 21st May 2014 10:17am
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amondeggs



Member Since: 06 Mar 2011
Location: Telford
Posts: 452

United Kingdom 1999 Defender 90 Td5 HT Woodcote Green
Well made it back from adventures in Pyrenees Thumbs Up

we completed the route as explained but it did involve some longs days driving.

mixture of camping on campsites and wild camps, which were great fun especially camping at over 5000 feet where we woke up to ice covered tents Very Happy

around 2400 miles covered as we returned on the Santander ferry which was an excellent end to our trip.

here are a couple of photos, I will add more when I get chance to go through them all Thumbs Up

The impressive Milau Bridge



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Campsite 2 overlooking the Med


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leaving the Med behind

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fantastic views


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interesting bridges


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don't look down moments


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playing in the snow we found



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up above the clouds



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weird desert like places



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spotting vultures


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great rock formations


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strange mud type rock


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and finally the Atlantic sea at Santander



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will pass on the link to the video when I get around to editing it all Thumbs Up

hope you like the photos Thumbs Up
Post #335456 3rd Jun 2014 4:10pm
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trooper



Member Since: 11 Mar 2014
Location: west sussex
Posts: 101

United Kingdom 2002 Defender 90 Td5 HT Tamar Blue
Great I remember it well, ice on the tent as well.
Post #335472 3rd Jun 2014 5:27pm
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Pickles



Member Since: 26 May 2013
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 3751

Australia 2013 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 CSW Keswick Green
FANTASTIC photos.
Not too keen on that "narrow" cliff road though,...what would happen if something came the other way?
Thanks, Pickles.
Post #335572 3rd Jun 2014 11:16pm
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amondeggs



Member Since: 06 Mar 2011
Location: Telford
Posts: 452

United Kingdom 1999 Defender 90 Td5 HT Woodcote Green
Cheers Pickles Thumbs Up

I guess that lots of reversing would have been done Laughing

I could not get over how quiet it was we drove all day some days and did not see another car or person

It was another world Thumbs Up
Post #335578 3rd Jun 2014 11:33pm
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