Pau › Oloron-Sainte-Marie

🗺️ Stage Map

📖 Stage Description

The path leaves Pau and descends toward the Gave d'Oloron, a Pyrenean torrent of turquoise, ice-cold water. The route crosses the Béarnais piedmont between wooded hills and damp meadows. The landscape is lush and restful, with ever-clearer views of the border ridges ahead.

Oloron-Sainte-Marie, where the GR78 and GR653 converge, is a major pilgrimage waypoint. The Romanesque portal of the Sainte-Marie cathedral — a 12th-century Descent from the Cross listed as a UNESCO masterpiece — is among the finest in France. The old town of Oloron, with its Sainte-Croix quarter, retains a well-preserved medieval character. A well-equipped town for stocking up before the Pyrenees.

Estimated Time for You

Estimate your time based on your profile — Naismith rule.

⚠️ Practical Information

• ⛰️
  Terrain and difficulty

  Moderate stage, 38,3 km · D+ 639 m · D− 625 m
  Highest point: 349 m · Lowest point: 141 m
• 💧
  Water points

  Pau km 0 · Navarrenx km 22 · Oloron km 38
• 🏛️
  Monuments and heritage

  Cathedral Sainte-Marie d'Oloron, tympan roman UNESCO (km 38) · Remparts de Navarrenx (km 22) · Gave d'Oloron
• 📖
  Pilgrim resources

  miam-miam-dodo.fr · gites-refuges.com · gronze.com (Espagne)

Walking Conditions

Sun exposure and terrain type over 38,3 km

Sun Exposure

Terrain