ACT Pyrenees: From sea to sea

ACT Pyrenees: From sea to sea

One of the most spectacular mountain ranges in Europe runs along the border between France and Spain: the Pyrenees. The Adventure Country Tracks e.V. team has scouted an adventurous route right through this unique mountain world, from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic.

It is the morning of 16 September 2021 and accompanied by a stunning sunrise over Cap de Creus - the easternmost point of the Iberian Peninsula - the ACT team sets off on their scouting and photo tour for what is now the fifth Adventure Country Track.


Narrow former "smuggler's paths" lead the team to Andorra and out again.

The clouds of the night have dispersed and already after a few kilometres of road the first easy offroad sections lead up into the mountains. Soon the narrow tracks lose themselves in the loneliness and we begin to sense what this trip through these mountains will demand of us. What we don't yet realise is that this first day, with its 210 kilometres and balanced onroad and offroad stretches, is just acclimatising us for what is to come. The final destination for this day's ride is beautiful Setcases, where we spend the night in the traditional Hotel La Coma.

Remote, idyllic mountain villages line the tracks in the mountain world around Andorra.

The second day starts early, at seven o'clock, with a "breakfast fully geared". This means that the motorcycles are already packed, ready to go, and the entire team is present at breakfast in motorcycle gear. Tough for those who couldn't resist enjoying an extra bottle of Spanish wine after the delicious dinner yesterday.

A regular vehicle check and, every now and then, a short reel for Instagram, provide time for a break and a few minutes of relaxation.

The route also shows us no mercy. Unpaved stretches await us right from the start. During the course of the day, we cross over the border to the French side of the Pyrenees time and again. In the forests, due to the lack of control and border posts, we sometimes no longer know which country we're in.

The second day has a much higher proportion of offroad terrain, and the first tricky ascents already place demands on man and material. The landscape becomes increasingly stony as the horizon widens. The track ascends to over 2000 metres, meaning that temperatures are already down to single digits at this time of the year. To make matters worse, it starts raining in the afternoon, making a briefing necessary before the last stage of the day, which will bring us to Andorra. It's already 6 p.m., and although the thunderstorm has just blown over, it's still raining. We have the option of either going directly to Andorra, to the hotel, or "sneaking up" on Andorra via the smuggler's track at 2000 metres. The team splits up and only a small group of experienced offroad volunteers follows the film crew into the mountains on partially rain-soaked tracks. It is not until after sunset, around 9.30 p.m., that this group reaches the hotel. 230 spectacular kilometres lie behind us, and after a small dinner we go straight to bed.

The team leaves Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean Sea just after sunrise.

Day 3 begins with clear skies and a fresh five degrees Celsius. One part of the team rides a fast, breath-taking onroad stretch this morning, with views of the low-hanging fog in the valleys, while the other leaves Andorra on a smuggler's trail once again. This route, too, has its challenges and, with its stony descents and washed-out tracks, is only recommended for experienced riders. After about 60 kilometres, both groups meet and ride straight on into another offroad section.

Water crossings can quickly become challenging after rainfall.

This day offers the highest percentage of unpaved tracks and the most metres of altitude. One panoramic track merges into the next, with wild horses, herds of cattle and sheep along the way. The route hugs the scarps below the peaks tightly, and the landscape of the national parks never ceases to amaze even our well-travelled team.


Harmless falls are on the agenda and strengthen the team spirit.

Numerous photo and film stops extend today's stage once more until shortly before nightfall. It ends, after 230 kilometres, at Hotel Cotori in El Pont de Suert. We celebrate our adventures at the motorcycle-friendly restaurant Las Cumbres.

Cafés and restaurants in narrow village alleys invite you to stay awhile.

The fourth day is the longest of our tour. Again, the track leads us into a steep offroad section after just a few kilometres. Although the day's trip as a whole, with its higher proportion of road, loosens our tense muscles a little, we feel the previous day's hard ride as we travel these demanding first kilometres.


Curvy asphalt roads offer variety between the offroad stretches.

A muddy section in a fairytale woodland prompts the first slips, but the team fights its way through together and is rewarded by extraordinary landscapes. We stop again and again to enjoy nature. Through the Sena communication devices, we keep hearing, "This is Adventure Country Tracks!" That sums up this incredible feeling, the mixture of awe for this wonderful nature and the freedom that exists here, combined with gratitude for being able to ride these tracks.

Mud bath on the smuggler's path to Andorra, late at night on the second day of the tour.

After 265 kilometres, through a narrow gorge, we reach Anso in Aragon where Hostal Kimboa has stayed open an extra day, just for us. Even though this time we park our motorcycles on the street in front of the hostel, in this wonderful little mountain village this does not worry us in the slightest.

On this route, encounters with grazing animals are the order of the day and not always without danger.

On the morning of the fifth day's ride, we get up early and pack the motorcycles for the last time, in the dark. It's crazy how fast these days have gone by. We feel every muscle, of course, and our socks are still wet from yesterday's puddles, so we're glad that, after a short briefing, the morning starts with fast, single lane asphalt sections.

Filming and photography are particularly challenging on narrow stretches.

The sheer joy of riding breaks through, and we lose ourselves in gobbling up hairpin bends. But we need to be careful: ACT's tracks run exclusively on legal routes, so it's important to watch out for oncoming traffic both onroad and offroad.

The landscape is changing, becoming more fenced in again. Cattle breeding and agriculture are run in a more orderly and "civilised" fashion here than in the mountains. Nevertheless, we climb once more. Just when we think the worst is over - after constantly changing between onroad and offroad sections - we suddenly find ourselves on a last, short, unpaved section. And this is definitely in a class of its own. Three bikes land in the bushes on the way up the steep ascent. But then, we've really done it. The last metres lead through San Sebastian to the Mirador Jaizkibel, the end point of this fantastic journey on one of the last adventure routes in Europe.

Travel information

ACT Pyrenees | Distances
  • Day 1 - 210 km
  • Day 2 - 230 km
  • Day 3 - 230 km
  • Day 4 - 265 km
  • Day 5 - 225 km
  • Total - 1160 km

Hotel recommendations

  • Day 0: L'Arcada de Fares in Fares to prepare the tour, for larger teams with shuttle to Barcelona Airport, but 70 km from the starting point, Cap de Creus, www.arcadadefares.com/de

  • Day 1: Hotel La Coma in Setcases, www.hotellacoma.com/en

  • Day 2: Andorra has many hotels, but they are very expensive and crowded. La Seu d'Urgell is certainly better, 30 minutes away on the Spanish side with various Casas Rurales or, somewhat more luxurious, the well-known, extraordinary Parador, www.parador.es/de/paradores/parador-de-la-seu-durgell

  • Day 3: Hotel Cotori is a small, lovingly decorated hotel in the heart of the city with a garage 100 metres from the hotel, great breakfasts and a restaurant with a motorcycle-friendly owner and good food, hotelcotori.com and www.restaurantlescumbres.com

  • Day 4: Hostal Kimboa. Simple hostel, parking on the street, with super friendly owners, hostalkimboa.com

  • Day 5: Where you stay the night depends on whether you travel north from San Sebastian or on to Bilbao.

Motorcycle transport

  • Regular motorcycle transports between Memmingen, Germany, and Bilbao (and other locations in Spain) by Overlanders (with motorcycle storage in a secure airport garage for days or weeks), www.overlanders.ie | Individual transports to starting point and destination for up to 12 motorcycles with Moto-Bike3, https://moto-bike3.com

About ACT

ACT, Adventure Country Tracks, has set itself the goal of maintaining legal offroad routes in Europe and developing them for gentle motorcycle tourism. At the same time, the tourism infrastructure in rural areas will be promoted. Founded by Touratech, ACT Adventure Country Tracks e.V." now operates as a registered association. Touratech continues to be a strong sponsor, and numerous other companies from the motorcycle industry support the project. Interested adventure bikers have the opportunity to join the association and get involved in the project.

After Portugal, Greece, Romania and Italy, the Pyrenees is the fifth destination for which an Adventure Country Track has been developed. The film documentation will be released sometime in the autumn as will the GPS data and all the travel information.

Further information can be found at adventurecountrytracks.com



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