Luchon to Fos
Up to the High Frontier
From a 19th-century spa town up through high pastoral villages to a 2,193m border ridge with the Spanish peaks laid out beyond it.
GR10 Section 5: Luchon to Aulus les Bains
Your walk from
Luchon to
Aulus les Bains
You'll walk 124 kilometres of the GR10 through the French Pyrenees — over seven cols above 1,700 metres, through abandoned zinc mining country, and across the Spanish border ridge at Pic de Bacanère. A serious section, with 8,335 metres of ascent and a thermal village at the end.
French Pyrenees
France
Trail Essentials
- Start
- LuchonHaute-Garonne
- End
- Aulus les BainsAriège
- Distance
- 124 km77 miles
- Total Ascent
- 8,335 m27,347 ft
Difficulty
Demanding
Hilliness
Mountainous
Time to Complete
Hiker
5 days ~24 km/day
When to Walk
Best
Good
Avoid
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Section 5 of the GR10 runs 77 miles from the spa town of Luchon in the Haute-Garonne to the thermal village of Aulus les Bains in the Ariège — up to the Spanish border ridge at Pic de Bacanère, over the Plateau d'Uls and past the abandoned Bentaillou mines, through the high pastures and three valleys of the Couserans, and down to a small village built around a 19th-century cure. It's the most mountainous section of the full GR10. At a Hiker pace it's eight days of walking, 8,335 metres of climb spread across seven cols above 1,700 metres, and the satisfaction of having crossed one of the wildest stretches of the French Pyrenees on your own two feet.
Walking the GR10 Section 5: Luchon to Aulus les Bains
How The Trail Unfolds
Your route divides naturally into three parts — not by day, but by country. You climb onto the Spanish border ridge, then walk through the abandoned mining heart of the Couserans, then drop down through beech forest and stone bridges to a thermal village in the Garbet valley.
Fos to Maison du Valier
The Mining Country
Three high cols, abandoned zinc mines, and the most remote refuges on the route — the heart of the Couserans on foot.
Maison du Valier to Aulus les Bains
Down to the Garbet
Three valleys in three days, a Gallo-Roman bridge, and a thermal village at the trail's end.
Included with every trip
Your personalised
Trail Book
Everything you need for every day of your trail — built around your exact itinerary. Your route, your accommodation, your packing list. Ready before you leave, works offline when you're out there.
Tonight's accommodation
Check-in time, room type, phone number and directions — all in one place
Day-by-day trail description
Route map, elevation profile and written description for each stage
Packing list and pre-trip checklist
Everything you need, nothing you don't. Tick items off as you go
Works offline
Open it once with data and it's yours — no signal needed on the trail
Included with every trip
Your route on every device you use
Your custom GPX file is built around your exact itinerary — day by day, door to door. Load it onto any device or app before you set off and navigate with confidence.
Works with
Talk to a Specialist
Knows the trail. Plans yours.
Craig
Trail Specialist
Section 5 is the one I send people to when they've done one of the British classics — Coast to Coast, or the West Highland Way — and want something more demanding without going self-sufficient. Book the refuges early. The ascent figures are real, not generous estimates.
Craig has spent over ten years in adventure travel — most of it talking walkers through trails like this one. He's helped customers plan their GR10 sections, knows where people typically misjudge the cumulative ascent and which refuge bookings to lock in first, and has the calls in his pocket from people who've walked it the week before.
Ask Craig about the GR10 Section 5: Luchon to Aulus les Bains
If you want to talk through your timing, your fitness, your pace, or anything the planner can't answer — call. Most of our customers do, and Craig's the one who'll answer.
The Practical Side
Before You Book
The things walkers ask us most often — answered plainly, so you don't have to ring to find out.
How fit do I need to be?
You'll want to be comfortable walking 15–20 km a day with around 1,000 metres of climb, on mountain terrain with some scrambling on rocky cols. This is one of the more demanding sections of the GR10 — the day from Fos to Araing Lake involves 1,680 metres of ascent, and the descents are long. If that feels steep, the Explorer pace stretches the trail to ten days at a more measured rhythm.
When should I walk it?
June to September is the realistic window. The route crosses cols above 2,000 metres, and snow can linger on the highest passes into June. July and August give the most reliable weather but are also the busiest. Early September is often the sweet spot: paths still clear, refuges quieter, and the high country starting to turn. We don't run the route before June or after early October because the higher cols carry serious snow risk.
Do you include luggage transfer?
Yes — between road-accessible accommodation, up to 20 kg per bag. The exception is the Refuge d'Araing at the end of Day 4: it sits beside a mountain lake with no vehicle access, so for that night you'll carry an overnight kit yourself. Your main bag waits for you at Eylie the next afternoon.
What kind of accommodation do you book?
On the Standard package, gîtes d'étape and mountain refuges with breakfast — small, well-kept, the kind of places where the gardien remembers your name by the second night. On Premium, village hotels and guesthouses where the trail passes through inhabited valleys. The Refuge Jacques Husson at Araing is dorm-only for everyone — there are no rooms on a mountain lake — but the food is good and the staff have walked the route.
Can I walk it solo?
Yes — the GR10 is well-waymarked (red-and-white blazes the whole way), and the section is busy enough in summer that you'll meet other walkers most days. We book single-occupancy rooms with a single supplement where the accommodation has them. The exception is the dorms at Araing — those are shared, but most refuges have a women-only option. The remote middle days are the ones where you'll go longest without seeing anyone — fine in good weather, worth checking the forecast.
What's the realistic total cost?
Our Standard package is £1,631 per person for the eight-day Hiker pace, based on two people sharing. That covers accommodation (gîtes and refuges with breakfast), baggage transfer where the route allows, a route pack with maps and notes, and 24-hour support. On the trail, budget around €25–40 a day per person for lunches, evening meals, and drinks. Most refuges offer a demi-pension — dinner, bed, breakfast for around €55–70 — which is the easiest way to handle food and lodging.
Still not sure? Ring us on 0131 560 2740 — Craig usually answers.
Still Thinking?
Speak to Craig
If you've scrolled this far, we need to help you get onto this trail. The bit the planner can't help with — "is the pace right for me?", "is August really that busy?", "can we add a rest day in Keswick?" — that's a two-minute phone call. Most people who book the GR10 Section 5: Luchon to Aulus les Bains ring first.