Cycling the Pyrenees Coast to Coast – Bikepacking w. P. Baumeister

Last Updated on 31 January 2026 by Cycloscope

Cycling the Pyrenees

888 Km bike touring route [Sainte Marie La Mer to La Arena]
GPX track & Map + Where to Sleep (lodges/camping), road & climbs

Bikepacking with Peter Baumeister

Looking for a true wilderness experience in raw and thrilling mountains? Check out my remote bikepacking route across the entire Pyrenees from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean.

A true cycling adventure awaits you with some of the most beautiful landscapes you can ever imagine.

THINGS TO SEE ALONG THE ROUTE

• Stunning mountain wildlife (if lucky) – I saw lots of deer, wild boars, marmots, and many big raptors
• raw and beautiful nature
• Lots of solitude (if you go off-season)

MY EXPERIENCE

Crossing the Pyrenees by bike (especially in November) was a very rare and unique adventure, and probably not many people would do it at this time of year.

Therefore, I was able to witness a great wilderness experience – not meeting any people up in the mountains – which was exactly what I was looking for.

Starting my cycling route from the Mediterranean Sea, I had no idea which way to go, so I did what I always did: I simply started.

Firstly, I wanted to see Andorra. A lovely state in the mountains, with really friendly people living there. But to be fair, it is quite a developed country.

So the roads are paved up high, and it’s full of ski resorts. Not exactly what I was looking for. Luckily, it is super small, so it takes you only a day on the bike to cross it completely.

Crossing the border into Spain at a high mountain pass changed the circumstances immediately: from now on, mountain roads are all gravel, and the valleys are rarely settled, with only very small villages and just a few people living there permanently.

Since I was looking to cycle through the remotest and wildest places here, I wanted to sleep high up in the mountains. Luckily, there are a lot of little self-supported rifugios everywhere in the Pyrenees, which gave me shelter from the long, cold nights and strong winds.

I always carry my tent when bikepacking, which you should too. You don’t wanna rely on these shelters being open or even existing. This way, I could create my own individual route through some of the most beautiful mountains I ever visited.

The 8-day bikepacking route from the border of Andorra until I left the High Pyrenees was absolutely spectacular. I fell in love, especially with the mornings. Waking up in these rifugios with no human being even close to me was such a fulfilling and intense experience.

In Episode Four of my video series from Munich to Lisbon, I show you how I planned my routes and how I found these little shelters. So if you are interested, you can check that out.

My cycle touring days would normally start in solitude in the mountains, before coming into the valley around midday. That’s the only time I meet other people: when I have coffee and stock up on food at the little supermarkets.

As soon as you leave these villages it is solitude again until next midday.

I don’t wanna lie: The mountain biking was super challenging at times – you will not find a lot of flat areas to ride in the Pyrenees, which is as hard as mountain biking in the French Alps

So in order to always sleep up high, I pulled off more than 2000vm nearly every day – considering that days were already super short, that was really exhausting. But I also love the physical challenge in the mountains, so for me, that was great too.

If this report sounds appealing to you and you also love the combination of physical challenge, solitude, and beautiful nature, I can honestly recommend going bikepacking in the Pyrenees yourself.

If you wanna see more spectacular projects by Peter, check out his YouTube Channel.