Thirty kilometres south of Lourdes, CAUTERETS is a pleasant if unexciting little town that owes its fame and its rather elegant Neoclassical architecture to its waters, still much in demand for the treatment of rheumatism and ear, nose and throat complaints. In modern times, it has also become one of the main Pyrenean ski and mountaineering centres.Its origins as a spa began with Count Raymond de Bigorre's grant of land to the monks of St-Savin in 945 AD. In the seventeenth century, Marguerite d'Angoulême came to take the waters and wrote her Heptameron here. The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were its heyday, especially the latter with its Romantic worship of mountains. Hugo visited, as did Chateaubriand, Baudelaire, Debussy, Edward VII and many other celebrities. The modern town is so small that there's no difficulty in finding your way around. Most of it is still squeezed between the steep wooded heights that close the mouth of the Gave de Cauterets valley. Next door to the gare routière on the north edge of the centre, where SNCF coaches stop, the Maison du Parc (daily 9.30am–noon & 3.30–7pm; tel 05.62.92.52.56) has a small museum of flora and fauna (free), and film shows on Wednesday and Saturday in season (5.30pm; €3.80). In the centre, three minutes' walk from here, you'll find the tourist office in place Maréchal Foch (daily: July & Aug 9am–12.30pm & 1.30–7pm; Sept–June 9am–12.30pm & 2–6.30pm; tel 05.62.92.50.27, www.cauterets.com); adjacent stands the Bureaux des Guides (daily: mid-June to mid-Sept 10.30am–12.30pm & 4.30–7.30pm; tel 05.62.92.62.02), which organizes walks and other activities. Inexpensive hotels include Le Bigorre, 15 rue de Belfort (tel 05.62.92.52.81, www.bigorrehotel.com; under €30; closed Nov to mid-Dec & May), and Le Centre et Poste, 11 rue de Belfort (tel 05.62.92.52.69, fax 05.62.92.05.73; under €30, closed Apr, Oct & Nov). For something a little more upmarket, try the César, 3 rue César (tel 05.62.92.52.57, www.cesarhotel.com; €30–40; closed May & Oct), or the atmospheric Lion d'Or nearby (tel 05.62.92.52.87; €30–40; closed Nov to mid-Dec). There are also a couple of gîtes – Le Beau Soleil, at 25 rue Maréchal-Joffre (tel 05.62.92.53.52; under €30) and Le Pas de l'Ours, 21 rue de la Raillère (tel 05.62.92.58.07, www.lepasdelours.com; under €30). There are several well-equipped campsites along the road north out of town, one of the quietest being Les Bergeronnettes (tel 05.62.92.50.69; closed Oct–May), across the river on the right. As most hotels require half-board, independent restaurants are thin on the ground: the Giovanni Pizzeria at 5 rue de la Raillère and Casa Bodega Manolo nearby at no. 11 are pretty much it. However, La Brulerie du Gave, at no. 7 on pedestrianized avenue de l'Esplanade, by the river, is an excellent spot for English breakfasts, crêpes, coffee, tea and juice.
Pages in section ‘Cauterets’: Hikes around Cauterets.
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