What equipment do you need for walking the GR 10 across the Pyrenees, how long does it take, which are the most interesting sections? Here are my answers. This is not meant to be a definitive guide to the GR10 — it is very much my personal advice. It also saves on the knees and shoulders. And I am prepared to pay the cost of staying in hostels rather than camping. It would be great to have other comments and suggestions…. For a quick overview of the route see the section on navigation below.
The Wikiloc maps show both the route and the saw tooth profiles. The GR 10 is a classic mountain walk, large scale. It crosses France from one side to the other, links the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, and takes a whole range of mountains, the Pyrenees, in its stride. The western end is lusciously green, the middle austere and rocky, but as the Mediterranean approaches, dry garrigue and blue skies take over.
One of them, the Vignemale m , an optional extra involving crossing a glacier, can be tackled in a single memorable additional day see below. And yet, despite the sometimes rugged terrain, there are hostels to be found most evenings; the GR 10 combines days in natural surroundings with nights under a solid roof. As there are only a limited number of hostels, this means you keep bumping into walkers met along the way — conviviality assured.
Walking in the other direction must be a completely different experience, with more interaction with nature than with other walkers. Typically between 45 and 60 days of walking hours a day.
Plus rest days. Plus a few days more if you follow one or other of the variants. At the other end of the season, the weather deteriorates from the beginning of October. So the ideal dates are 12 June to 30 September. Unfortunately in July and August it is hot and hostels may fill up early in the day, particularly between 14 July and 15 August.
