The TBD Pyrenees Guide
As a cyclist in New York City, whenever I’ve met a new person and told them I ride a lot, they ask if I’ve done the 5 Boro Bike Tour. Or they ask if I’ve done the Tour de France. Sort of the two ends of the spectrum of biking. I don’t think people really understand the scale of how hard the Tour must be. So many days of riding so far, at such a high intensity. Or that it takes a special type of person to fly to France at least once to watch the pros zip by. If you’ve been considering it, here are some lessons we learned on our trip to the Pyrenees for the 2025 edition.
An iconic climb
What to do on a TDF spectating trip to the Pyrenees
Find a central home base. Our group has stayed in Gere-Belesten twice because we found a house we liked. It’s in the middle of a valley and close to a number of iconic climbs
Plan some days that aren’t just 80+ miles with a million feet of climbing - there’s a lot of other stuff to do in the Pyrenees. We enjoyed a day in Pau, a waterfall hike, and some other relaxing stuff
If you plan to watch the Tour, find a day you can bike to the race. Driving and parking can be a headache!
Try to find a friend who speaks French marvelously. We were in luck that one person in our group is crazy enough to not only speak fluent French, but she had recently taken a really hard exam. She spoke so marvelously that she could even explain where our obscure house was to a tow truck company (long story!!!)
Enjoy the small towns in the Pyrenees with their markets and other delightful features. Our house was close to Laruns. Not only does this village have a farmers market a few days a week, it has multiple boulangeries. One of them even has a bread dispenser that’s sort of like a vending machine
There are flies…. many flies. Luckily we discovered a hidden talent in our group - Lucia was a majestic fly swatter
The whimsy of the TDF caravan cannot be overstated
Things we might do differently next time
Don’t run into anything with your rental car. Just…. don’t
The summers in France continue to get hotter. Consider the air conditioning situation at any house or hotel you wish to book!
When you go to watch the Tour, bring 3 times as much water as you think you need. Our group ended up riding to a zoo and buying out their water supply
It might just be me, but I wouldn’t really try that hard to see the Tour go by. What I would do instead is go to a town where the race starts for the day and wander around, see the atmosphere, etc. You are more likely to see the riders this way and when they go by mid-race, it’s so fast that you won’t see much
Do not try to ride a full stage. The rides are really hard! We tried our best to do some of the most iconic climbs. You will do them a lot slower than the pros, I promise. Unless you are a pro cyclist in which case what are you doing trying to get ideas from this blog?!
Watch out for wildlife
The Pyrenees are quite vast. If we were going again, I’d look to stay farther east. That way we could try some of the other iconic climbs and maybe do some mountain biking.
We haven’t tried going to the Alps yet, but maybe next year. If you are looking to plan your trip, I hope you love it. France is a beautiful country and so bike friendly.
