Local Info
The village of Sarrancolin is located in the Vallee d'Aure and is known for its Romanesque church of Saint-Ebons. It is a quiet village with a couple of bars and one restaurant that opens at the weekend serving local cuisine.
The Valley is the main route to the Parc National des Pyrenees where Europe's rarest bird of prey, the lammergeier, can be found along with griffon vultures and golden eagles.
The parc also boasts over 200km of established trails and a number of staffed refuges.
There are 4 ski resorts within 30 - 45 minutes drive from the village (snow chains are a must in winter and there are a couple of sets at the house) with more resorts available if you are prepared to travel a bit further.
The various cols also make this area a fantastic place for motorbike riders and Sarranolin makes a good base from which to start your daily rides through some spectacular scenery.
The spa town of Saint Lary Soulan (about 20 mins drive from Sarrancolin) boasts a fitness centre where you can swim, relax in the jacuzzi or ease away the aches and pains of the day with various massages and beauty treatments. The town also hosts a variety of restaurants serving anything from fondue to pizza.
It is also from Saint Lary that various mountain pursuits, such as kayacking, canyoning, climbing etc can be booked.
The area is known for some of the mountain stages of the Tour de France as they travel over the Col d'Aspin and onto the Col du Tourmalet, keen cyclists can attempt one of these for themselves.
Aside from the many energetic pursuits there are lots of places to visit such as the fabulous waterfalls at Pont Espagne (about 1 and a half hours drive away through some spectacular scenary), an adventure parc at Val Louron, various caves, the towns of Lourdes and Toulouse, and some stunning lakes high up in the mountains to name just a few.
The area has not seen a huge amount of British tourists and because of this there is not much english spoken so it is quite important you have a little bit of french vocabulary or a good phrase book.
Below are a couple of links to websites giving more information on Saint Lary and activites and places to see in the Pyrenees.
