Limoges to Bacelona

[hod]

Hi. We are cycling the above in September and are looking for info. We have done Limoges to the Med previously and its the last bit that is intimidating. We will be fully loaded for camping so are looking for the easiest crossing of the Pyrenees. Any recommendations re maps for the crossing. Are there many camp sites on the Spanish side? Last but not least are Spanish trains bike friendly? Thanks in advance. Kevin

[pwa]

In the late 1980s my wife and I cycled across France and into Spain, passing close to Limoges. I cannot remember the name of the pass we used, but our intention that day was to stop at a camp site on the French side and go over into Spain the next day. But the camp site had closed. So we plodded on over a quiet col and into Spain. We reached a village called Sort, which should pinpoint where we crossed. If I remember correctly the col was little used by cars because they used a tunnel lower down. The roads were nice but that part of Northern Spain did not appeal to us so we re-crossed by the big col in Andorra.

[robing]

Last year I crossed the Pyrenees through Andorra, then went to Reus on the coast via Artesa de Sagre and Montblanc. Not many campsites in Spain until you get to the coast. There were a few in Andorra. There's plentiful and cheap accommodation in Spain though.

[croxtoncycling]

Early stages of planning a similar route myself for next year. Devon to Angouleme, then on to Barcelona. Very interested to hear your experience once you're back.

[ossie]

There is a cycle friendly, relatively low level crossing that pops down into Figueres from France with not much climbing. It starts in Las Illas..some of it is gravel apparently .

Anything further west is a nightmare as you know fully loaded( I did Camprodon / Le Tech from the Spanish side.. )The alternative is the N11 (decent shoulder) or the coast road, both very busy.

Plenty of camping on the Spanish side. ..look at archies camping.

[pq]

Good advice above on crossing the pyrenees - just to add that Barcelona is a notoriously unpleasant place to cycle into. If it was me I'd take a train for the last bit.

[whoof]

A few years ago I cycled from Toulouse to Barcelona but our route was along the Pyrenees. The mountains tend to get smaller as you get closer to the med.

We crossed from France into Spain at Cerebere right on the coast. Not flat, coast roads rarely are but not mountainous either see proile below.

There are plenty of campsites down the coast all the way to Barcelona, see CycleTravel link below, it shows lots.

http://cycle.travel/map?from=cerebere&t ... ,3.1588658

We found the road got more unpleasant with volume of traffic the closer we got to Barcelona and gave up about 15 mile before getting there. Fortunately there is a very good light railway running along the coast right into central Barcelona. You can take your bike on except during rush-hour.

[mjr]

Good advice above on crossing the pyrenees - just to add that Barcelona is a notoriously unpleasant place to cycle into. If it was me I'd take a train for the last bit.

Is it still? It looks like there's a cycleway along Parc Fluvial del Besos now. There's also cycleways/promenades along most of the coast from the north, but it looks like there's a gap through an industrial estate just north of the Besos bridge which looks annoying.