Pyrenees 4X4 Adventure

Sea to sea along the Pyrenees, Mediterranean to Atlantic, on the tracks rather than the passes. Ten days in your own 4×4 from Banyuls on the Catalan coast to the Basque coast at Hondarribia, crossing three countries on the way.

The route climbs west from the Mediterranean through the Parc Natural de l’Alt Pirineu and into the Val d’Aran, then works through the valleys of Camprodon and Ribes before picking up the old smugglers’ trails through Andorra, which are exactly what they sound like. The Cerdanya reserve and the Ordesa National Park follow, and then the mountains drop away into the Basque Country and the Atlantic.

It is guided off-road driving throughout, with the group moving together, and the days carry more than just the wheel. A tree canopy course, a 430 metre zip line and river canyoning are all included, which suits a trip that runs for ten days in genuinely mountainous country and benefits from the occasional change of activity.

Active 4×4 Adventures include all three meals a day for the duration, every campsite fee, the canopy course, the zip line, the canyoning and the guiding. You supply the vehicle and its fuel and get yourself to Banyuls. The price is per person based on two adults sharing a vehicle, with a supplement for a single traveller or a third adult. Crossing a mountain range end to end is a satisfying shape for a trip, and doing it on the unsurfaced routes rather than the famous cols is a different proposition entirely.