Cirque de Gavarnie

Gavarnie is where the Pyrenees stage their grand finale: a glacial cirque of stacked rock walls rising some 1,500 metres in tiered galleries, crowned by three-thousand-metre summits along the Spanish frontier ridge and split down the middle by the Grande Cascade, which free-falls 422 metres as the tallest waterfall in mainland France. Victor Hugo called the place a 'colosseum of nature', and the description has never been improved on - the walls really do curve like seating tiers around the valley floor. The classic approach is a gentle hour's walk from Gavarnie village along the torrent, meadows giving way to moraine as the amphitheatre fills the sky; stronger legs continue toward the waterfall's base or up to the hotel-refuge balcony views. The cirque anchors the Pyrenees - Mont Perdu World Heritage landscape shared with Spain's Ordesa canyon since 1997, a listing that honours the mountain pastoral life still run through these valleys.

What you actually see

• The tiered walls - snow-banded rock galleries 1,500 metres high.
• La Grande Cascade - the 422-metre falls threading the headwall.
• The village approach - the classic riverside walk into the amphitheatre.
• The Breche de Roland - the giant notch in the frontier ridge above.

When to go

June and July give the waterfall its snowmelt fury and the meadows their flowers; September brings stable weather and thinner paths. Late season shrinks the cascade; winter turns the cirque into serious mountaineering country.

Honest expectations

The main trail is easy but immensely popular - August middays move in procession, and the village car parks charge and fill early. The waterfall's base adds rougher walking beyond the casual path. Mountain weather flips fast here; carry layers even on a blue morning.

Nearby

The Breche de Roland, Cirque de Troumouse and Lourdes down the valley.