Who Are We ?
In 1984 a small walking holiday company was created, based in the beautiful Val d’Azun in the heart of the French Pyrenees. This company, named « La Balaguère » after the warm breeze that blows upwards from the Sahara to the Pyrenees, offered guided walking trips led by a small group of friends with a huge passion for the mountains.
Little by little La Balaguère expanded and more than 35 years later we help over 13,000 people every year enjoy walking and cycling holidays in the Pyrenees and further afield, to the most unspoilt areas of the world.
In 2018 we launched a new and exciting project. Purely Pyrenees is the English language branch of our business, offering self-guided and guided trips, walking and cycling from Spring to Autumn and snowshoeing in the Winter. Using our decades of experience we created a new range of holidays designed for English speakers who come, maybe for the first time, to experience the best the Pyrenees has to offer. Our focus is always to provide highlights, iconic places to visit, wonderful itineraries, authentic hotels and, of course, tremendous cuisine.
Purely Pyrenees and La Balaguère are now owned by the UCPA (Union des Centres Sportifs de Plein Air) which is a non-profit organisation in France that specialises in making outdoor sports holidays available for all. We are still based where we have always been, in the Pyrenean village of Arrens-Marsous.
We are very proud of our Pyrenean chain and of the knowledge that we have of it, amassed over years of providing guided and self-guided holidays. You can be sure that if you travel with us we will do everything we can to make sure you have a wonderful trip.
The website "Complete France" which is your go-to reference site when you need to know anything about ' La Belle France ' is running an advent calendar competition this year, and the star prize is a fabulous 8 day guided snow shoeing holiday with Purely Pyrenees, what a treat !
The winner of the competition, which is free to enter, will be able to take a partner or a friend to discover the magic of snow shoeing in the Pyrenees. Excellent, comfortable accomodation with meals included, a bi-lingual guide, equipment included. Once you touch down in France there is nothing to worry about other than soaking in your surroundings, meeting new people, and perfecting the very simple art of snow shoeing.
If you have never tried snow shoeing it really is worth a go. All our trips are with an experienced guide who will take you off the way marked snow shoe tracks and into the forests and pretty, peaceful hidden corners of the Pyrenees under it's coat of snow. It's a winter experience very far removed from the rush and crush of the ski slopes and mechanical lifts.
The trip that we are giving away is The Best Pyrenean Winter Walks (FP6PUAZ) and make a note in your diary, it's only possible to enter this competition on Christmas Eve, 24th December 2018 !